Langley v. Prudential Mortg. Capital Co., LLCLangley v. Prudential Mortg. Capital Co., LLC
Lead Opinion
The court delivered a PER CURIAM opinion. MOORE, J.(pp. 369-71), delivered a separate concurring opinion. MERRITT, J. (pp. 371-73), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.
OPINION
I.
This case involves two sizeable real estate loans — one for $43 million, the other for $14 million — by Prudential, the lender, to Robert Langley, the borrower. The dispositive issue on appeal is whether two contracts, both of which included a forum selection clause choosing New York as the forum for litigation, should be enforced. The federal district court below determined that the contracts were invalid and thus declined to enforce the forum selection clauses. Because a valid and enforceable contract exists, we vacate and remand for the district court to entertain a motion to enforce the forum selection clause under
II.
This appeal stems from two loan agreements between Langley and Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC (“Prudential”). First, on June 6, 2007, Langlеy signed a loan for $43,300,000 to finance a commercial real estate project in Gulf Shores, Alabama, known as Craft Farms (the “Craft Farm loan”). And second, Langley signed a loan for $13,800,000 on June 25, 2007, to finance a commercial real estate project in Mississippi known as Colony Crossing (the “Colony Crossing loan”). The parties also agreed to “Rate Lock Agreements” for both loans, which were signed on the same days as the two loan agreements. The Rate Lock Agreemеnts, which are at the heart of this controversy, both included the following choice of law and forum selection clause:
Pursuant to Section 5-1401 of the General Obligations of the State of New York, this Agreement shall be governed by the substantive law of the State of New York (without regard to the principles of conflicts of laws). Pursuant to Section 5-1402 of the General Obligations Law of the State of New York, the parties hereto elect that any litigation arising out of this Agreement shall be brought only in a state or federal court sitting in New York County in the State of New York
(Emphasis added).
The Rate Lock Agreements resulted from negotiations to determine the exact
Beginning in the summer of 2007, the rate on the 10-Year Treasury Notes began to drop as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. Prudential characterized this event as a material adverse change and demanded that Langley increase the rate lock deposits in ordеr to maintain the terms of the Rate Lock Agreements. Meanwhile, a dispute had developed over the interpretation of the Rate Lock Agreements; specifically, the parties disagreed about whether they had agreed to fix the interest rates for the loans absolutely or whether the agreements simply fixed the interest rate spread (which was subject to change). Langley ultimately delivered two letters of credit — drawable on an account at National City Bank — to Prudential in response to Prudential’s demand that he increase the rate lock deposits: one on August 20, 2007, and the other on August 21, 2007.
The district court rejected the forum selection clauses and then issued the preliminary injunction on December 6, 2007. On the forum selection clause issue, the distriсt court’s decision is as follows:
As a preliminary matter, the Court must address Prudential’s assertion [that] pursuant to the Rate Lock Agreement, any disputes arising from the Rate Lock Agreements “shall be governed by the substantive law of the State of New York” and that any litigation arising out of the Rate Lock Agreements “shall be brought only in a state or federal court sitting in New York County in the State of New York.” Plaintiffs contend that as there was no meeting of the minds regarding the Rate Lock Agreements, the chоice of law and forum selection clauses ... do not control this litigation, a contention with which this Court agrees. Accordingly, this Court is a proper forum for this litigation, which shall be governed by the substantive law of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Langley v. Prudential Mortgage Capital Co., No. 07-CV-404-JMH,
III.
Prudential argues in this appeal that the district court committed revers
The district court focused on the parties’ disagreement about whether the agreements locked the interest rates absolutely or merely the spread in finding that there was no meeting of the minds. Langley argues that the agreements froze the interest rates at a fixed value for each loan, while Prudential contends that the parties only аgreed to fix the interest rate spread. According to Prudential, therefore, the occurrence of certain events—including the crisis in the lending markets—could trigger an increase in the rates paid by Langley. The district court treated the disagreement on this particular issue as fatal to the entire contract.
In reaching its determination that no contract existed, the district court applied Kentucky law (the law of the forum) as opposed to New York law (the law chosen by the litigants). Importantly, “if no contract exists, the language of the forum-selection clause cannot logically deprive [the plaintiff] of its significant right of access to the courts of the United States.” Evolution Online Sys., Inc. v. Koninklijke PTT Nederland N.V.,
Under Kentucky law, “not every agreement ... rises to the level of a legally enforceable contract.” Kovacs v. Freeman,
Prudential is correct that contracts between the parties were formed. The contracts were fully executed by the parties who then proceeded to act in reliance on them. There is simply a difference of opinion as to the meaning of the contracts. Both parties assumed obligations so as to ensure the financing for the real estate prоjects. The parties chose specific dates for performance, outlined the events necessary for performance, and indicated a desire to be bound by the contract. Moreover, Langley does not argue that the contracts were the product of fraud. Rather, the disagreement centers on the meaning of particular terms in otherwise enforceable agreements. Because the record indicates that this disagreement is the rеsult of a good faith dispute and that both interpretations are supported by the evi
IY.
Because the district court’s conclusion regarding the validity of the contracts was incorrect, we now turn to the issue of whether thе forum selection clauses contained therein should be enforced. While we would find the forum selection clause enforceable, Defendant has not yet moved for enforcement of the clause through either a motion to transfer venue under
Because the district court has not had the opportunity to consider either a motion to dismiss or a motion to transfer, we VACATE the injunction and REMAND so that the court may rule, consistently with this opinion, on a properly brought motion based on the forum selection clause.
Notes
. This opinion is joined by Judges Moore аnd Rogers. The opinion is styled per curiam because it was not prepared solely by one member of the panel.
. Langley contends that he only posted the additional letters because he feared that, otherwise, Prudential would simply declare an unwind event and keep the original rate lock deposits. Langley also believed that posting additional collateral would help to facilitate negotiations regarding the disagreement about the interest rates.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
I concur with the per curiam opinion but write separately to set forth my view of the Supreme Court and Sixth Circuit precedent concerning the two procedural mechanisms that may be used to enforce a valid forum-selection clause: (1) a motion to dismiss under
In Ricoh, the Supreme Court held that a federal court should apply
Section 1404(a) directs a district court to take account of factors other than those that bear solely on the parties’ private ordering of thеir affairs. The district court also must weigh in the balance the convenience of the witnesses and those public-interest factors of systemic integrity and fairness that, in addition to private concerns, come under the heading of “the interest of justice.”
Id. at 30. The Court also noted that the district court should consider the “convenience of a [proposed transferee] forum given the parties’ expressed preference for that venue, and the fairness of transfer in light оf the forum-selection clause and the parties’ relative bargaining power.” Id. at 29,
In Kerobo, we applied Ricoh to a case “that in all material respects” was “indistinguishable from Ricoh.”
We first held that
Ricoh and Kerdbo thus indicate that, when a party seeks to enfоrce a forum-selection clause by moving to transfer venue,
On the other hand, when a party seeks to enforce a forum-selection clause via a properly brought motion to dismiss, the distinct court may enforcе the forum-selection clause by dismissing the action. See Security Watch,
Accordingly, it is my view that the two lines of cases described above provide alternative procedural mechanisms for enforcing a valid forum-selection clause. Whether a district court should consider a forum-selection clause as one factor within
. The Court noted with apparent approval that ''[t]he parties do not dispute that the District Court properly denied the motion to dismiss the case for improper venue under
. Of сourse, if transfer is not possible because a valid forum-selection clause mandates venue in state court or a foreign jurisdiction,
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The forum shopping and procedural fencing litigation tactics of plaintiffs law
The federal judicial system has a strong interest in the correct resolution of these questions [regarding the enforcement of a forum sеlection clause], not only to spare litigants unnecessary costs but also to relieve courts of time consuming pretrial motions. Courts should announce and encourage rules that support private parties who negotiate such clauses. (Emphasis added.)
I would “support” the forum selection clause of the parties.
We have set aside the injunction issued by the District Court, an injunction which effectively decided the case for the local plaintiffs against the New York lenders, Prudential and National City Bank. The court below dispеnsed with the forum selection clause and voided the contract and then enjoined the defendants from “requesting payment” or attempting to enforce the contract by drawing “upon the following irrevocable, standby letters of credit guaranteed by plaintiffs.” The injunction attempted to end the controversy by stopping the lenders from bringing a contract action in New York, as provided in the contract between the parties. In light of the potential for delay and further error, we should decide the forum selection clause issue ourselves here and now.
The enforceability of a forum selection clause is a question of contract law that we review de novo. Security Watch, Inc. v. Sentinel Sys.,
Though forum selection clauses wеre once disfavored, the Supreme Court stated in 1972 that such clauses are “prima facie valid and should be enforced unless enforcement is shown by the resisting party to be ‘unreasonable’ under the circumstances.” The Bremen v. Zapata OffShore Co.,
First, nothing in the record suggests that the Rate Lock Agreements were the result of fraud, duress, or an abuse of economic power. Langley is a sophisticated investor with considerable experience making real estate develoрment projects on the scale of those involved in the instant litigation. Second, New York is an appropriate venue, one capable of handling the lawsuit effectively and fairly. Indeed, New York occupies an important position as a center of financial markets and institutions. See, e.g., Fieger v. Pitney Bowes Credit Corp.,
A remand for further motions and proceedings, including a potentially long, drawn-out proceeding under § 1404(a), could easily result in the case remaining in the District Court in Kentucky based on an interlocutory ruling that is not immediately appealable — after which there will presumably have to be a proceeding on the merits of the contract. Some years from now we would get the case back on appeal. In the meantime the lenders may decide to bring suit in New York, as provided in the forum selection clause, and the action may go forward there as well. Our Court’s ruling today is hardly consistent with the overriding policy “not only to spare litigants unnecessary costs but also to relieve courts of time-consuming pretrial motions.” The proper solution to this problem is to terminate this action brought in the wrong court so that the parties can either settle their dispute or litigate it in the proper forum.