Government Financial Services One Ltd. Partnership v. Peyton Place, Inc.Government Financial Services One Ltd. Partnership v. Peyton Place, Inc.
Peyton Place, Inc., appeals from the district court’s denial of both its motion for relief from judgment,
see
I
At the time of the events underlying this suit, Robert Guastella was President of Management Equities Corp. (“MEC”), now known as I — 10, Inc., and a shareholder and employee of Peyton Place, Inc. (“Peyton Place”). MEC executed a promissory note in the amount of $600,000 in favor of Southern Savings Bank (“Southern Savings”). The $600,000 note was secured by a mortgage encumbering a hotel in New Orleans, Louisi
Several years after the hotel mortgage was executed, Robert Guastella obtained a loan from Southern Savings in the amount of $114,000, which was secured by a mortgage on his residence, 3721 Rue Chardonnay, in Metairie, Louisiana. Soon thereafter, Pey-ton Place executed a mortgage encumbering two units of Metairie condominiums known as Peyton Place Condominiums, both of which are owned by Peyton Place.
The Resolution Trust Corporation (“RTC”), during the time it was the receiver for Southern Savings, 1 filed suit in state court against Peyton Place and I — 10, seeking to foreclose on the condominium mortgage. The RTC contended that the condominium mortgage was executed as additional security for the $600,000 note, which is past due. Peyton Place contends that the condominium mortgage was executed as additional security for the $114,000 residential loan.
The court presiding over the foreclosure proceedings scheduled a sheriffs sale of the condominiums. Before the sale could take place, however, Peyton Place filed a “Petition for Issuance of an Injunction to Arrest Seizure and Sale under Executory Process,” and the RTC removed the matter to federal court.
At the federal district court’s hearing on Peyton Place’s request for injunctive relief, Peyton Place submitted to the court a photocopy of the condominium mortgage that is on file in the Jefferson Parish Mortgage Office. 2 On its face, the mortgage stipulates that it secures the $600,000 promissory note assumed by Peyton Place. Peyton Place contended at the hearing that the mortgage had been altered before it was filed, and called several witnesses to testify in support of its assertion.
The district court denied Peyton Place’s request for injunctive relief, concluding that Peyton Place “had not sustained their burden on the issue of fraud or lack of authenticity so as to justify setting aside a mortgage which on its face[ ] appeared to be duly prepared, executed, and recorded.” Peyton Place filed a “Motion to Supplement, for New Trial and/or for Relief from Judgment,” in which it moved for a new trial under
With the motion, Peyton Place filed a “Memorandum in Support of Motion to Supplement, for New Trial and/or for Relief from Judgment” (the “First Memorandum”), in which it stated that it had obtained three appraisal sketches of 3721 Rue Chardonnay. Peyton Place argued that the court should reconsider its judgment in light of the sketches.
Peyton Place later filed an “Ex Parte Motion to File Supplemental Memorandum and Memorandum in Support” (the “Second Memorandum”), in which it informed the court that it had obtained a copy of a forbearance agreement between Peyton Place and Southern Savings,
3
and that it had discovered that the first page of the condominium mortgage filed in the Jefferson Parish mortgage records is a photocopy.
4
Peyton Place argued that its discovery of the agree
Peyton Place then filed an “Ex Parte Motion to File Second Supplemental Memorandum in Support of Motion for New Trial and/or Relief from Judgment and Memorandum in Support” (the “Third Memorandum”), in which it stated that it had received a letter from Oster & Wegener, Southern Savings’ attorneys, and that Oster & Wegener claimed in the letter that all of the documents in their possession concerning the relevant loans and mortgage had been seized by the RTC before the trial. In its Third Memorandum, Peyton Place argued that the RTC’s failure to produce these documents at trial provided additional grounds for the court to reconsider its judgment.
The district court denied Peyton Place’s motion, concluding that it “amount[ed] to little more than an attempt to reargue its case through a new attorney.”
5
Peyton Place appeals the district court’s denial, claiming that the court erred in holding that it was not entitled to either a new trial under
II
Under
A
Peyton Place contends that the district court’s denial of its
In its Third Memorandum, Peyton Place provided a “summary of the new evidence obtained by Peyton Place, Inc. since the trial,” listing: (1) “The fact that the first page (front and back) of the condominium mortgage in the Jefferson Parish mortgage records is a photocopy, while the last page is an original;” (2) “The Assignment of Proceeds of Contract in which Southern Savings agreed to forbear from foreclosure over a month before the condominium mortgage was, according to the R.T.C./Southern Savings, executed in order to obtain forbearance;” and (3) “The response from Oster & Wegener that the R.T.C. seized all of the Oster & Wegener files in [DJecember 1990 or January 1991, including the files relating to the $114,000 loan and the condominium mortgage.” 11
Peyton Place all but concedes that the fact that the first page of the condominium mortgage in the Jefferson Parish mortgage records is a photocopy is not newly discovered evidence, stating in its brief on appeal that “the physical evidence of alteration on the first page of the mortgage is not newly discovered evidence, but evidence that was already entered into evidence at trial.” Although the fact that the first page of the recorded mortgage is a photocopy was not mentioned at trial, evidence at trial showed that Peyton Place did have access to the document.
12
Peyton Place did not contend in its memoranda in support of its
Peyton Place contends on appeal that the “Assignment of Proceeds of Contract and the forbearance agreement referred to in it were not found until after the trial and judgment.” However, in its Second Memorandum, Peyton Place stated that it obtained a copy of the assignment of proceeds of contract containing the forbearance agreement “from the records of Jefferson Parish.” Pey-ton Place has never contended that it did not have access to this document either before or during the trial. Therefore, we conclude that Peyton Place failed to demonstrate to the district court that it could not have obtained a copy of the contract and agreement contained therein before or during the trial even if it had exercised due diligence. See id.
Peyton Place contends on appeal that: “The fact that the Oster & Wegener files were seized by the R.T.C. years before trial was not discovered until after trial.” However, in its Third Memorandum, Peyton Place describes how it obtained this information, stating: “Peyton Place, Inc. served a subpoena duces tecum on the law firm of Oster & Wegener for its files concerning the $114,000 loan from Southern Savings Bank to Robert Guastella and for the ‘duplicate original’ and other documents relating to the Peyton Place condominium mortgage.” In response to the subpoena, Peyton Place notes, Oster & Weg-ener sent a letter stating: “ ‘In response to the Subpoena issued by you ... please be advised that all of the documents requested were seized by the Resolution Trust Corporation in December of 1990 or January 1991.... If any of the alleged documents exist, it would be in the possession of the R.T.C.’ ” (ellipses in Third Memorandum). Peyton Place has never contended that it could not have obtained this information either before or during the trial. Therefore, we conclude that Peyton Place failed to demonstrate to the district court that it could not have obtained the information before or during the trial even if it had exercised due diligence, and hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant Peyton Place’s
B
Peyton Place next contends that the district court’s denial of its
Peyton Place argues that the “R.T.C.’s failure to produce critical documents is sufficient misconduct to require relief from the judgment under
“Our eases have held that a party may engage in rule 60(b)(3) misconduct if he fails
Even if Peyton Place had shown that the RTC possessed an original duplicate of the mortgage, a photocopy of the mortgage, or any other document it hypothesizes might have been seized by the RTC, Peyton Place did not provide the district court with clear and convincing evidence that the RTC’s failure to produce any of these documents prevented it from fully and fairly presenting its case.
See Washington,
C
Lastly, Peyton Place contends that it is entitled to relief from the district court’s judgment under
Peyton Place contends that the district court erroneously refused to exercise its equitable powers under
Even if we assume what Peyton Place fails to argue, that Peyton Place has stated a
III.
Peyton Place also contends that the district court erred in denying its
“Ordinarily, a district court’s decision not to grant a new trial under
IV
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Peyton Place’s
Notes
. Government Financial Services One Limited Partnership (“GFS”) is currently the receiver for Southern Savings and has been substituted as Plaintiff-Appellee for the purposes of this appeal.
. Peyton Place claims that it has not been able to find a copy of the condominium mortgage in its own files. Robert Guastella testified at the hearing that he was present at the signing, but that he did not receive a copy at that time. He further testified that he does not know if Peyton Place ever received a copy of the condominium mortgage.
. In the forbearance agreement, Southern Savings agrees to forbear from foreclosing on the hotel mortgage securing the $600,000 promissory in exchange for the assignment of Peyton Place’s proceeds from a contract that Peyton Place had entered into with a third party. Pey-ton Place contends that the forbearance agreement, which was executed slightly over a month before the condominium mortgage, is evidence that the condominium mortgage was not executed as security for the $600,000 note.
.The front and back of the "first page” of the condominium mortgage on file in the mortgage office are the first two pages of the original mortgage, and both sides are photocopies. Both
. Peyton Place obtained new counsel after the denial of its request for injunctive relief.
. Our caselaw provides some support for the contention that motions brought under
Recognizing thatFederal Rules of Civil Procedure 59 and 60 may be used to correct similar errors, this Circuit has established a bright line rule for distinguishingRule 59 motions fromRule 60 motions. If a motion is served within ten (10) days following the entry of judgment and draws into the question the correctness of the judgment, it will be treated as aRule 59 motion for purposes of determining the timing of notices of appeal from the judgment.
Id.
at 623 n. 2;
accord Prudential-Bache Sec., Inc. v. Fitch,
.
relieve a party ... from a final judgment ... for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial underRule 59(b) ; (3) fraud ..., misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.
. Although Peyton Place specifically refers only to subsections (3) and (6) as bases for its
.
.
See Chilson
v.
Metropolitan Transit Auth.,
. Peyton Place did not include the appraisal sketches discussed in its First Memorandum in its Third Memorandum’s list of "evidence obtained since trial." Because Peyton Place does not mention the sketches in its brief on appeal, we do not consider them as a basis for its 60(b)(2) claim.
. When asked about the condominium mortgage at trial, Robert Guastella testified that he, Charles Kovacs, and Donald Guastella "went down to the Mortgage Office” and "[tjhat's when we found it.” When asked about the condominium mortgage, Donald Guastella testified that: "I saw it across the river in the Mortgage Office [in Gretna]."
. We note that Robert Guastella did not testify that Peyton Place subpoenaed Oster & Wegener's files; indeed, Peyton Place contends on appeal that it did not learn that the RTC had seized those files until after the district court entered its judgment.
See Montgomery,
. In rejecting the