Tag: real estate dispute

Plaintiff Shows Actual and Constructive Fraud in Fraudulent Transfer Suit – IL Court

The plaintiff mortgage lender in Summitbridge Credit Investments II, LLC v. Ahn, 2017 IL App (1st) 162480-U sued the husband and wife borrower defendants for breach of a mortgage loan on two commercial properties in Chicago

Two days after the plaintiff obtained a $360K-plus default judgment, the defendants deeded a third commercial property they owned to their adult children.

The plaintiff caught wind of the post-judgment transfer during citation proceedings and in 2015 filed a fraudulent transfer suit to undo the property transfer.  The trial court granted summary judgment for the lender and voided the defendants’ transfer of property. The defendants appealed.

Affirming, the First District recited and applied the governing standards for actual fraud (“fraud in fact”) and constructive fraud (“fraud in law”) under Illinois’s fraudulent transfer act, 740 ILCS 160/1 et seq. (the “Act”)

The Act allows claims for two species of fraud under the Act – actual fraud and constructive fraud, premised on Act Sections 5(a)(1) and 5(a)(2) and 6(a), respectively.  (Also, see http://paulporvaznik.com/uniform-fraudulent-transfer-act-actual-fraud-constructive-fraud-transfers-insufficient-value-il-law-basics/5646)

Actual Fraud and ‘Badges’ of Fraud

Actual fraud that impels a court to unwind a transfer of property requires clear and convincing evidence that a debtor made a transfer with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors.

Eleven badges or indicators of fraud are set forth in Section 5(b) of the Act.  The factor the Summitbridge Court particularly homed in on was whether there was an exchange of reasonably equivalent value.  That is, whether the defendants’ children gave anything in exchange for the transferred commercial property.

In analyzing this factor, courts consider four sub-factors including (1) whether the value of what was transferred is equal to the value of what was received, (2) the fair market value of what was transferred and what was received, (3) whether it was an arm’s length transaction, and (4) good faith of the transferee/recipient.  Reasonably equivalent value is measured at the time of transfer.

In opposing the plaintiff’s summary judgment motion, the defendants made only conclusory assertions they lacked fraudulent intent.  Moreover, they failed to come forward with any evidence showing they received consideration for the transfer.

In summary, because there were so many badges of actual fraud present, and the debtors offered no proof of consideration flowing to them in exchange for quitclaiming the property, the appeals court affirmed the trial court’s actual fraud finding.

Constructive Fraud

Unlike actual fraud, constructive fraud (i.e., fraud in law) does not require proof of an intent to defraud.  A transfer made for less than reasonably equivalent value of the thing transferred that leaves a debtor unable to meet its obligations are presumed fraudulent.  A fraudulent transfer plaintiff alleging constructive fraud must prove it by a preponderance of evidence – a lesser burden that the clear and convincing one governing an actual fraud or fraud in fact claim.

Constructive fraud under Act Section 5(a)(2) is shown where a debtor did not receive a reasonably equivalent value for the transfer and the debtor (a) was engaged or was about to engage in a business or transactions for which the debtor’s remaining assets were unreasonably small in relation to the business or transaction, or (b) intended to incur, or believed or reasonably should have believed he would incur, debts beyond his ability to pay as they came due.

Section 6(a) constructive fraud applies specifically to claims arising before a transfer where a debtor doesn’t receive reasonably equivalent value and was insolvent at the time of or resulting from a transfer.

The First District agreed with the lower court that the plaintiff sufficiently proved defendants’ constructive fraud.  It noted that the plaintiff’s money judgment pre-dated the transfer of the property to defendant’s children and there was no record evidence of the debtors receiving anything in exchange for the transfer.

Take-aways:

Summitbridge provides a useful summary of fraud in fact and fraud in law fraudulent transfer factors in the context of a dispositive motion.

Once again, summary judgment is the ultimate put-up-or-shut-up litigation moment: a party opposing summary judgment must do more than make conclusory assertions in an affidavit.  Instead, he/she must produce specific evidence that reveals a genuine factual dispute.

The defendants’ affidavit testimony that they lacked fraudulent intent and transferred property to their family members for value rang hollow in the face of a lack of tangible evidence in the record to support those statements.

 

 

 

Six-year Delay in Asking For Earnest Money Back Too Long – IL Court Applies Laches Defense

Earlier this year, an Illinois appeal court examined the equitable defense of laches in an earnest money dispute between two contracting parties and former friends.  Derived from an archaic French word – laschesse – meaning “dilatory,” laches applies where a plaintiff sits on his legal rights to the point where it’s unfair to make a defendant mount a defense to the delayed claim.

The 2005 real estate contract at issue in Gardner v. Dolak, 2016 IL App (3d) 140848-U fell through and at different points in 2009 and 2011, the plaintiff buyer asked for her $55,000 deposit back.  The seller’s exclusive remedy for a buyer breach was retention of the buyer’s earnest money.

The contract also set specific deadlines for the plaintiff to complete a flood plain study and topographical survey.  When the plaintiff failed to meet the deadlines, the sale fell through.  Plaintiff sued when the Defendant refused to refund the earnest money deposit.

After a bench trial, the trial court entered judgment for the seller defendant on the basis that the plaintiff waited too long to sue and the delay in suing prejudiced the defendant.

The appeals court affirmed and sketched the contours of the laches doctrine:

  • Laches is an equitable doctrine that prevents a party from asserting a claim where he unreasonably delayed pursuing the claim and the delay misled or prejudiced his opponent;
  • Laches is based on the principle that courts will not aid a party who has knowingly sat on his rights that could have been asserted earlier;
  • To win a laches defense, the defendant must show (1) plaintiff lacked diligence in presenting his claim, and (2) the plaintiff’s delay resulted in prejudice;
  • The mere passage of time is not enough though; the defendant must show prejudice or hardship on top of the chronological delay;
  • In the context of real estate, wide property value fluctuations that harm the party claiming laches is evidence of prejudice that will support a finding of laches;
  • A party can successfully assert laches where the plaintiff remains passive and the defendant incurs risk, enters into obligations, or makes monetary expenditures.

Agreeing that the evidence supported the laches finding, the appeals court pointed out that plaintiff didn’t notify the defendant she wasn’t going through with the purchase until 6 years after the contract was signed.  During this six years, the value of the property declined markedly and the seller defendant spent considerable funds to maintain the property.

Taken together, the passage of time between contract execution (2005) and plaintiff’s lawsuit (2011) and measurable prejudice (based on the property’s drop in value) to the seller defendant was enough to support the trial court’s laches judgment.

Afterwords:

This case presents a straightforward summary of laches in the real estate context.  The party claiming laches must show more than mere passage of time between the claimed injury and the lawsuit filing date.  He must also demonstrate changed financial position as a result of the lapse of time.

Here, the property’s precipitous drop in value in the six years between contract’s execution and termination was a key factor cementing the court’s laches finding.  The question I had after reading this was what if the value of the property doubled or tripled in the interim 5 years?  Would the defendant still be able to prove laches?  Maybe so but that would be a harder sell.  The defendant would need to show the amount he spent maintaining the property over the six years exceeded the increase in property value.

 

Condo Buyer’s Illness Not Enough to Make Closing ‘Impossible’ – IL First District

An Illinois appeals court recently followed case precedent and narrowly construed the impossibility of performance and commercial frustration defenses in a failed real estate deal.

The parties in Ury v. DiBari, 2016 IL App (1st) 150277-U contracted for the sale and purchase of a (Chicago) Gold Coast condominium.  The contract called for a $55K earnest money payment and provided that the seller’s sole remedy in the event of buyer breach was retention of the buyer’s earnest money.

The seller sued when the buyer failed to close.  The buyer filed defenses saying it was impossible and commercially impractical for him to consummate the purchase due to a sudden serious illness he suffered right before the scheduled closing.  The Court rejected the defenses and entered summary judgment for the seller.  In doing so, the Court provides guidance on the nature and scope of the impossibility of performance and commercial frustration doctrines.

In the context of contract enforcement, parties generally must adhere to the negotiated contract terms.  Subsequent events – especially ones that are foreseeable – not provided for do not invalidate a contract.  The legal impossibility doctrine operates as an exception to the rule that holds parties to their contract obligations.

Legal impossibility applies where the continued existence of a particular person or thing is so necessary to the performance of the contract, it is viewed as an implied condition of the contract.  Death (of the person) or destruction (of the thing) excuses the other party’s performance.

The impossibility defense is applied sparingly and requires that a party’s performance be objectively impossible; not a subjective inconvenience or hardship.  Objective impossibility equates to “this can’t be done” while subjective impossibility is personal (“I cannot do this”) to the promisor.  A successful impossibility defense also requires the party to show it ” tried all practical alternatives available to permit performance.” (¶¶ 21-24, 29)

The defendant’s illness failed the law’s stringent test for objective impossibility.  His sickness was unique to him and therefore made closing only subjectively impossible.  The court pointed out that the condominium property was not destroyed and was still capable of being sold.

Another factor the court considered in rejecting the impossibility defense was that the defendant never tried to extend the closing date or sought accommodation for his illness.

The Court also discarded the defendant’s commercial frustration defense.  A party asserting commercial frustration must show that its performance under a contract is rendered meaningless due to an unforeseen change in circumstances.  Specifically, the commercially frustrated party has to demonstrate (1) the frustrating event was not reasonably foreseeable, and (2) the value of the party’s performance is totally destroyed by the frustrating cause.

Like with the failed impossibility defense, the claimed frustrating event – the buyer’s sickness – was foreseeable and did not destroy the subject matter of the contract.  Since the defendant’s weakened condition did not make the property worthless, there was no unforeseen frustrating event to give color to the buyer’s defense.

Afterwords:

1/ Impossibility of performance and commercial frustration are valid defenses but only in limited circumstances;

2/ Objective impossibility (“this can’t be done”) can relieve a party from contractual performance while subjective impossibility (“I can’t do this”) will not;

3/ Commercial frustration generally requires the contract’s subject matter be destroyed or rendered financially valueless to excuse a party from performance.