BCJJ, LLC v. LeFevre et al

Filing 88

ORDER denying 51 Motion to discharge lis pendens; denying 84 supplemental Emergency Motion to discharge lis pendens. The Court defers ruling on the alternative Motion to Require Plaintiff to Post a Bond, which is referred to the assigned Magistrate Judge for an evidentiary hearing and a report and recommendation. Signed by Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich on 10/19/2009. (JM)

UNITED S T A T E S D I S T R I C T C O U R T
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION

BCJJ,

LLC,

etc.,

Plaintiff,
v.

CASE NO.

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

THOMAS LEFEVRE,

etc.,

et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER

This

cause

is

before

the

Court

on:

Dkt. Dkt. Dkt. Dkt.

51 73 84 86

M o t i o n to D i s c h a r g e L i s P e n d e n s Response Emergency Supplement to Motion Response

This c a s e is a m u l t i p l e claim, m u l t i p l e d e f e n d a n t c a s e w h i c h includes the f o l l o w i n g counts:

Count

I

-

Violation of

Interstate Land Sales

Full

D i s c l o s u r e Act,

15 U . S . C .

Sec.

1703(a)(2)

as t o T h o m a s J L e F e v r e ( " L e F e v r e " ) , T h o m a s J. L e F e v r e Living Trust ("LeFevre Trust"), Tom's Friends, LLC

("Tom's F r i e n d s " ) ,
LLC, LLC,

T o m ' s S Corp.,

Bayonne Investments,

Bayonne, LLC, Evan Berlin, Berland Investments, B e r l i n L a w F i r m , P.A. ( " B e r l i n L a w F i r m " )

C o u n t II - V i o l a t i o n o f S e c t i o n 1 0 ( b ) o f S e c u r i t i e s Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5
as to All Defendants

Case N o .

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

Count

III

-

Violation

of Florida

Securities

and

Investor P r o t e c t i o n Act,
All Defendants IV Fraudulent

Section 517.301,

Fla.

Stat.

Count

Inducement

as to LeFevre, LeFevre Trust, Tom's S Corp., Tom's Friends, Bayonne Investments, LLC ("BI")Bayonne, LLC ("Bayonne"), E v a n B e r l i n ("Berlin"), B e r l a n d Investments, LLC ("Berland"), and M&I Marshall & Illsley Bank ("M&I")

Count V - Negligent Misrepresentation
as to LeFevre, LeFevre Trust, F r i e n d s , BI, B a y o n n e , B e r l i n , Tom's S Corp., Tom's Berland, and M&I

C o u n t VI
Berlin Law

- Aiding and Abetting Fraud
Firm and M&I

Count VII LeFevre

-

Breach of Contract

and LeFevre Trust

Count VIII - Unjust Enrichment -

LeFevre, L e F e v r e Trust, T o m ' s Friends, T o m ' s S Corp.,
BI, Berland, and M&I

C o u n t IX - C i v i l T h e f t ,
as to LeFevre and

Sec.

772.11,

FS

LeFevre Trust

Count X - Legal Malpractice/Negligence
Berlin and Berlin Law Firm

Case

No.

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

C o u n t XI
Trade

- V i o l a t i o n s of F l o r i d a D e c e p t i v e a n d U n f a i r
Act

Practices

LeFevre, LeFevre Trust, Tom's Friends, Tom's S Corp., BI, B a y o n n e , B e r l i n , B e r l a n d , a n d B e r l i n L a w F i r m

Count XII - Equitable Lien

as to BI, TT,

LLC and Bayonne

I.
Post

M o t i o n to D i s c h a r g e L i s P e n d e n s or R e q u i r e P l a i n t i f f t o
a Bond

Defendant Bayonne,

L L C m o v e s for an o r d e r d i s c h a r g i n g

Plaintiff's Notice of Lis Pendens or requiring Plaintiff to post
a lis p e n d e n s bond. D e f e n d a n t Bayonne, LLC argues that

Plaintiff's c l a i m for an equitable lien on the real property
o w n e d by D e f e n d a n t Bayonne, LLC is not a c l a i m f o u n d e d upon a
d u l y r e c o r d e d i n s t r u m e n t on w h i c h P l a i n t i f f ' s a c t i o n is f o u n d e d ,

nor a claim of lien under Ch. 731, Fla. Stat.

Defendant Bayonne,

L L C f u r t h e r a r g u e s t h a t t h e r e is n o f a i r n e x u s b e t w e e n t h e c l a i m

in litigation and the property's title, as Defendant Bayonne, LLC
is not a p a r t y to a n y of the a g r e e m e n t s u n d e r w h i c h P l a i n t i f f is
proceeding, a n d t h e a g r e e m e n t s d o not e v i d e n c e t h e i n t e n t i o n to

c h a r g e B a y o n n e L L C ' s p r o p e r t y w i t h D e f e n d a n t L e F e v r e ' s debt.

Defendant further argues that the claim for i m p o s i t i o n of an
e q u i t a b l e l i e n f a i l s u n d e r Ch. 725.01, Fla, Stat. In the event

the Court does not discharge the lis pendens, Defendant requests
an e v i d e n t i a r y h e a r i n g .

II.

Plaintiff's Response

Plaintiff BCIJ, LLC responds that there is a p u b l i c l y
r e c o r d e d Joint D e v e l o p m e n t A g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n B a y o n n e Investments,

Case

No.

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

LLC and Bayonne, LLC;

t h e t w o e n t i t i e s s h a r e a n i n t e r e s t in t h e as w e l l as o w n e r s h i p a n d

development plan and property, management.

D e f e n d a n t T h o m a s L e F e v r e is a m a n a g i n g m e m b e r of P l a i n t i f f BCIJ, LLC alleges that Defendant Evan

both entities.

Berlin had a key r o l e in s o l i c i t i n g P l a i n t i f f BCIJ, LLC to invest
the $400,000. P l a i n t i f f BCIJ, LLC further argues that Defendant

E v a n B e r l i n h a s a n o w n e r s h i p i n t e r e s t in D e f e n d a n t B a y o n n e
Investments,
and Defendant

L L C a n d s e r v e d as c o u n s e l t o D e f e n d a n t B a y o n n e ,
Thomas LeFevre.

LLC

P l a i n t i f f BCIJ,

L L C a r g u e s t h a t t h e r e is a f a i r n e x u s

between the property and Plaintiff's claims against Defendant B a y o n n e LLC, a n d t h e r e f o r e t h e lis p e n d e n s s h o u l d n o t be

dissolved.
BCIJ,

P l a i n t i f f BCIJ, LLC f u r t h e r a r g u e s t h a t P l a i n t i f f

L L C s h o u l d n o t b e r e q u i r e d to p o s t a b o n d u n t i l D e f e n d a n t

Bayonne,

LLC p r o d u c e s e v i d e n c e that the lis p e n d e n s w i l l c a u s e
L L C to s u f f e r d a m a g e s .

Defendant Bayonne,

III.

Discussion

C o u n t XII of t h e A m e n d e d C o m p l a i n t is a c l a i m for e q u i t a b l e
l i e n a g a i n s t D e f e n d a n t s B a y o n n e I n v e s t m e n t s LLC,
Bayonne, LLC.

TT,

LLC and

An e q u i t a b l e l i e n is a remedial d e v i c e w h i c h m a y a r i s e under
a variety of circumstances:

" T h e e q u i t a b l e l i e n is a r e m e d i a l d e v i c e o f c o n s i d e r a b l e flexibility a d a p t a b l e to a w i d e variety o f c i r c u m s t a n c e s . " B o y e r and K a t u n , T h e E q u i t a b l e Lien in Florida, 20 U . M i a m i I..Rev. 731 ( 1 9 6 6 ) . " S u c h liens may arise from w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t s w h i c h s h o w an intention to c h a r g e s o m e p a r t i c u l a r p r o p e r t y

Case N o .

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

with a d e b t or obligation, or they may be declared by a court o f e q u i t y o u t o f g e n e r a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s o f r i g h t a n d j u s t i c e as applied to the relations o f the parties and the circumstances o f their dealings." FN1 Ross v. Gerung, 69 So.2d 650, 652 (Fla. 1954); see g e n e r a l l y Jones v. C a r p e n t e r , 90 F l a . 4 0 7 , 106 So. 127 ( 1 9 2 5 ) ; T u c k e r v. P r e v a t t B u i l d e r s , Inc., 116 S o . 2 d 437 (Fla. 1st D C A 1959). A circumstance j u s t i f y i n g the imposition o f an equitable lien exists "when the claimant has f u r n i s h e d funds for the i m p r o v e m e n t o f land w i t h the k n o w l e d g e a n d c o n s e n t o f the o w n e r . " W a g n e r v. R o b e r t s , 3 2 0 S o . 2 d 4 0 8 , 4 1 0 (F la. 2d D C A 1975), cert, d e n i e d , 3 3 0 S o . 2 d 20 (Fla. 1976); see also Union Trust Co. o f St. Petersburg v.
W i t t m a n n , 145 S o . 2 d 5 4 0 ( F l a . 2 d D C A 1 9 6 2 ) ; C a r t e r v. S u g g s , 190 S o . 2 d 7 8 4 (Fla. 1st D C A 1966).

FN1. The basis o f equitable liens may be estoppel or unjust enrichment. Blumin v. Ellis, 186 So.2d 286 (Fla. 2d D C A 1966). Flowever, in order to prevail on an estoppel theory, there m u s t be evidence o f fraud, misrepresentation, or other affirmative deception. Rinker Materials Corp. v. Palmer First
N a t i o n a l B a n k & T r u s t C o . o f S a r a s o t a , 361 S o . 2 d 156

(Fla. 1978); Diversified Commercial Developers, Inc. v. Formrite, Inc., 450 So.2d 533 (Fla. 4th D C A 1984).

Plotch v. Gregory. 463 So.2d 432, 436 (Fla. 4lh DCA 1985).

In d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r a f a i r n e x u s e x i s t s b e t w e e n

o w n e r s h i p of p r o p e r t y a n d t h e d i s p u t e e m b o d i e d in a l a w s u i t for p u r p o s e s o f m a i n t a i n i n g a lis p e n d e n s , the relevant

q u e s t i o n is w h e t h e r a l i e n a t i o n o f t h e p r o p e r t y o r t h e imposition of intervening liens conceivably could disserve
the purposes for which the lis pendens exists. a n s w e r is yes, a f a i r n e x u s m u s t be f o u n d . Where the

See Von Mitschke-

C o l l a n d e v. K r a m e r ,

8 6 9 S o . 2 d 1246,

1 2 5 0 (Fla.

3rd D C A 2004)

Case

No.

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

A proponent of a lis pendens does not have to show a
"substantial likelihood of success on the merits" or

"establish his claim by the greater weight of the evidence,"
in order to establish a fair nexus;...it is sufficient that

the proponent demonstrate that,

absent a lis pendens,

his

unrecorded claim against the property could be jeopardized.
Id, at 1250.

In t h i s case,

Defendant Bayonne,

L L C a r g u e s t h a t the

mortgage on the property has matured and seeks to dissolve the lis pendens in order to refinance. A refinance or sale

w o u l d j e o p a r d i z e P l a i n t i f f ' s e q u i t a b l e lien.
consideration,

After

the Court finds that a fair nexus between

Plaintiff's claim and the property exists.

The Court denies

t h e M o t i o n t o D i s c h a r g e L i s P e n d e n s a n d t h i s c a s e w i l l be

r e f e r r e d to the a s s i g n e d M a g i s t r a t e J u d g e to c o n d u c t an

evidentiary hearing on the bond issue.

Accordingly,

it is

O R D E R E D t h a t t h e M o t i o n to D i s c h a r g e L i s P e n d e n s is

denied,

a n d M o t i o n f o r B o n d is r e f e r r e d to t h e a s s i g n e d

M a g i s t r a t e J u d g e to c o n d u c t an e v i d e n t i a r y h e a r i n g and for a
report and recommendation.

Case

No.

8:09-CV-551-T-17EAJ

D O N E a n d O R D E R E D in C h a m b e r s ,

in T a m p a ,

Florida on this

/ J day of October, 2009.

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