Court Grants Motion For Summary Judgment In Lieu Of Complaint As To Liability And Damages

On October 11, 2024, Justice Melissa A. Crane granted in part and denied plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint in Acore Capital Mortgage, LP v. Bridge Office Fund LP et al., Index No. 651484/2024. The Court concluded that plaintiff had established its prima facie case as to liability under various loan documents and associated guarantees. As to damages, the Court rejected defendants’ argument that the damages calculations were vague and unsupported. It denied plaintiff’s motion as to attorney’s fees. The Court explained:

Plaintiff adequately establishes the amounts owed under the principal and equity guaranties, as well as under the consent agreement. In her affirmation, May explains that defendants owe required equity in the amount of $3,908,111.63 (the total Required Equity amount [$7,699,000] minus the partial Required Equity payment [$3,790,888.37] made by borrowers. Plaintiff’s submissions also establish that defendants owe $14,537,633.05 for outstanding principal amounts. That amount is the maximum guaranteed amount [$15,719,000.00] less the unfunded loan amount [$1,035,371.95] and less 25% of the Loan principal payments total [$145,995.00]). Finally, plaintiff established that it is entitled to $830,580.98 for the Special Funding Advances. In addition, plaintiff is entitled to interest on the foregoing amounts at the default rates under the relevant guaranties and loan documents.

May’s affirmation is supported by the loan spreadsheet (Doc 20) and the special funding advance letters (Doc 21). Defendants speculate that the amounts of damages are overinflated but do not raise a triable issue of material fact in their submissions. Further, Kimberly May’s reply affirmation provides additional clarity with respect to the applicable benchmark rates for interest calculations. In June 2023, plaintiff declared a benchmark transition event whereby the SOFR index was selected to replace LIBOR (Docs 41-43; see also e.g. Doc 6 [the loan agreements anticipated and provided for benchmark transition events]). The notice informed borrower that “Administrative Agent [Plaintiff] has made an Early Opt-In Election under the Loan Agreement, and the Benchmark Replacement Date shall be June 9, 2023” (Doc 42 at 2).

The attorneys at Schlam Stone & Dolan frequently handle motions for summary judgment in lieu of complaint. Contact the Commercial Division Blog Committee at commercialdivisionblog@schlamstone.com if you or a client have questions concerning such motions.