Professor Andrej Thomas Starkis
Partnerships & Other Entities
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Partnerships & Other EntitiesTrans-America Construction Company v. Comerica Bank2003 WL 698416 (Mich.App.) UNPUBLISHED OPINION. CHECK COURT RULES BEFORE CITING. Court of Appeals of Michigan. TRANS-AMERICA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COMERICA BANK, Defendant-Appellee, and
Yvonne WALLER-JORDAN, d/b/a C.A. Waller & Associates, Lemuel A. Waller, d/b/a L.W. Services, Marcus R. Waller, Marcmond Builders, Deanna P. Waller, d/b/a Preferred Building Contractors, Defendants/Cross-Defendants, and
BANK ONE MICHIGAN, Defendant, and
SAMI, INC., Defendant/Cross-Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant, and
NATIONAL CITY BANK OF MICHIGAN/ILLINOIS, Defendant/Cross-Plaintiff. Feb. 28, 2003. Before: KELLY, P.J. and WHITE and HOEKSTRA, JJ. [UNPUBLISHED] PER CURIAM. Plaintiff appeals as of right the trial court's order granting defendant Comerica Bank's (hereinafter "defendant") motion for summary disposition. We affirm. This appeal is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E). I. Basic Facts and Procedural History Plaintiff, a licensed builder but not a licensed lender, had a longstanding business relationship with Lemuel A. Waller, d/b/a L.W. Services, a building contractor. Plaintiff frequently furnished working capital to Waller to allow Waller to complete insurance repair projects. In 1997, plaintiff provided monies to Waller to make insurance repairs to a home owned by Florence Bell and Earnest Bell. Plaintiff and Waller agreed that in addition to repaying the monies advanced, Waller would pay plaintiff fifty- percent of any profits on the project. If no profits materialized, plaintiff would receive only those funds it supplied to Waller. The parties did not execute a written agreement. Florence Bell executed a form letter requesting that the Bells' insurer, Michigan Basic Insurance Company, include Waller and plaintiff as payees on benefit checks. Plaintiff issued checks to Waller totaling $22,252. Plaintiff later learned that Michigan Basic had issued three checks totaling $83,433.06 in connection with the Bell project. A signature purporting to be that of Pjeter Stanaj, plaintiff's president, appeared on the checks. Waller had cashed the checks without plaintiff's knowledge. Plaintiff filed suit alleging that defendant converted its property by improperly negotiating two of the three checks issued by Michigan Basic for the reason that the signature of Pjeter Stanaj was fraudulent. [FN1] Defendant moved for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(10). Defendant argued that the undisputed evidence showed that plaintiff and Waller formed a partnership, and that because partners have the implied authority to endorse checks on behalf of the partnership, it could not be held liable for negotiating the checks. Defendant also argued that if plaintiff was merely a lender, its agreement with Waller was usurious, illegal, and unenforceable. In response, plaintiff argued that the evidence showed that it merely loaned funds to Waller, and that it was not Waller's partner. FN1. Plaintiff also named as defendants other financial institutions, a party store that cashed checks on which it was named as a payee, individual members of the Waller family, including Lemuel Waller, and their business entities. The claims against these defendants, as well as cross- claims filed by various parties, were dismissed or resolved by entry of judgment, and are not relevant to the issue on appeal. The trial court granted defendant's motion, finding that the undisputed evidence, and in particular the statements made by Stanaj, established that plaintiff and Waller were partners. The trial court did not address defendant's argument that plaintiff's agreement with Waller was usurious and unenforceable. II. Analysis Plaintiff argues that the trial court erred by granting defendant's motion for summary disposition. We disagree and affirm. We review a trial court's decision on a motion for summary disposition de novo. Auto Club Group Ins Co v. Burchell, 249 Mich.App 468, 479; 642 NW2d 406 (2001). A partnership is defined as "an association of 2 or more persons, which may consist of husband and wife, to carry on as co-owners a business for profit." MCL 449.6. If parties associate themselves in such a way as to carry on a business for profit they will be deemed to have formed a partnership, regardless of their subjective intentions. Byker v. Mannes, 465 Mich. 637, 645-646; 641 NW2d 210 (2002). The burden of proof is on the party seeking to establish the existence of a partnership, Brown v. Frankenmuth Mut Ins Co, 187 Mich.App 375, 381; 468 NW2d 243 (1991), and the existence of a partnership is a question of fact. LeZontier v. Shock, 78 Mich.App 324, 333; 260 NW2d 85 (1977). Here, the undisputed evidence showed that, as they had done in other cases, plaintiff and Waller agreed to share equally in profits from the Bell project. A party's receipt of profits from a business is prima facie evidence that the party is a partner in the business. MCL 449.7. However, an agreement to share losses is not listed as a factor that must be considered in determining whether a partnership exists. MCL 449.7. Furthermore, no evidence supported plaintiff's assertion that it merely acted as a lender. Plaintiff was not licensed as a lender as required by M.C.L. § 493.1. The parties did not sign a note or any document memorializing the transaction. Plaintiff did not charge Waller a fixed rate of interest. The amount of any profit to be gained by plaintiff depended solely on the success of the Bell project. Plaintiff did not obtain any collateral for the funds it advanced to Waller. The form letter signed by Florence Bell requesting that plaintiff and Waller be named payees on benefit checks issued by Michigan Basic did not constitute a security agreement between plaintiff and Waller. See M.C.L. § 440.9203. Stanaj testified that the funds advanced to Waller were treated as a business expense on plaintiff's tax return. Typically, a lender considers a loan to be a business asset. The trial court correctly found that the undisputed evidence showed that plaintiff and Waller formed a partnership. Byker, supra. Each partner in a partnership is an agent of the partnership. The act of every partner for carrying on the usual business of the partnership binds the partnership, unless the partner in fact has no authority to act in the particular matter and the person with whom the partner is dealing is aware that the partner lacks authority. MCL 449.9(1). A partner who signs an agreement in his name in the context of representing the partnership binds the partnership. Omnicom of Michigan v. Giannetti Investment Co, 221 Mich.App 341, 345-346; 561 NW2d 138 (1997). Given that plaintiff and Waller formed a partnership, Waller was entitled to sign Stanaj's name on the checks from Michigan Basic. Defendant could not be liable for conversion of the checks under the circumstances. See M.C.L. § 440.3420. The trial court did not err in granting summary disposition. [FN2] FN2. Defendant also argues that plaintiff's agreement with Waller was usurious, illegal, and unenforceable. The trial court did not address this issue, and did not rely on it as a basis for its decision. Therefore, we decline to address it. Candelaria v B C General Contractors, Inc, 236 Mich.App 67, 83; 600 NW2d 348 (1999). Affirmed. WHITE, J. (dissenting). I respectfully dissent. The circuit court erred in concluding that there were no genuine issues of material fact regarding whether a partnership existed between plaintiff and Waller with respect to the Bell project. Stanaj's affidavit was sufficient to create a genuine issue whether the relationship was a partnership or that of lender and borrower. Stanaj described the lender- borrower relationship and asserted that plaintiff had no involvement in the administration and control of the Bell job, and that the one-half share of the profit was to serve as interest on the loan. MCL 449.7 provides: *3 In determining whether a partnership exists, these rules shall apply: * * * (4) The receipt by a person of a share of the profits of a business is prima facie evidence that he is a partner in the business, but no such inference shall be drawn if such profits were received in payment: * * * (d) As interest on a loan, though the amount of payment vary with the profits of the business, * * * Where profits are paid as interest on a loan, the payment does not support the inference of a partnership relationship. Further, even where the inference is applicable, the receipt of profits is only prima facie evidence of a partnership, and is not conclusive. See Lobato v. Paulino, 304 Mich. 668, 675-676; 8 NW2d 873 (1943). The intent of the parties controls. Here, Stanaj's affidavit created a genuine issue whether the parties to the transaction intended the Bell project to be a joint enterprise or intended to assume a lender-borrower relationship. I would reverse and remand for further proceedings. Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2016 2016 -> 2017 afoCo Landmark Scholarship Program 2016 -> Instructions for the Preparation of Camera-Ready Contributions to the Conference Proceedings 2016 -> Step student Scholarships for Year 10-13 2016 -> The united church of canada 2016 -> Idan raichel biography – May 2016 Brief Producer, keyboardist, Lyricist, composer and Performer Idan Raichel 2016 -> An introduction to centre’s interventions expanding access to justice 2016 -> Sanchar Shakti 2016 -> Unit analysis should help here. We want number of bananas 2016 -> The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates 2016 -> The Great Heat and the Rhode Island Deep Water Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians) Fishery 1875-1905 Download 7.02 Mb. Share with your friends:
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