WILLIAM H. STEELE, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on defendant's Renewed Motion to Dismiss (doc. 54). The Motion has been extensively briefed and is now ripe for disposition.
Plaintiff, Allstate Insurance Company, filed suit against defendant, Regions Bank, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on July 18, 2013. The Complaint purported to assert three state-law claims sounding in theories of fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and fraudulent concealment/suppression.
According to the well-pleaded factual allegations of the Complaint,
In addition to this Regions funding, MBI caused to be established the Belle Fontaine Improvement District, a quasi-public entity that issued tax-free bonds to finance Saltaire's infrastructure. (Id., ¶ 10-12.) In December 2007, plaintiff, Allstate Insurance Company, made arrangements to purchase $12.3 million in Saltaire infrastructure bonds. (Id., ¶ 13.) As part and parcel of that endeavor, Allstate entered into a so-called "Side Agreement" with the developer, pursuant to which Allstate imposed certain binding restrictions on the release of bond proceeds. (Id.) Specifically, the Side Agreement described Regions as controlling a $14.5 million line of credit in favor of Saltaire, and prohibited the release of more than $1 million of the $12.3 million in Allstate bond proceeds until such time as Regions reached a $16 million commitment to Saltaire. (Id., ¶ 14.) In accordance with those restrictions, the bond trustee released just $1 million in bond proceeds to Saltaire after the bond closing in December 2007. (Id., ¶ 15.)
Regions was not a party to the Side Agreement; however, as of January 2008, it was aware of the $16 million Regions funding threshold imposed by Allstate as a condition precedent to the release of the other $11.3 million in bond proceeds. (Id., ¶ 14.) Also, even though Regions had never in fact funded a $14.5 million line of credit in Saltaire's favor, "Regions knew that Allstate mistakenly believed that it had." (Id., ¶ 14 n.1.) For its part, Regions was unwilling to "fully commit to the project until there had been a release of all the bond proceeds." (Id., ¶ 17.) There was thus a funding stalemate between Regions and Allstate, with neither willing to commit more funds until the other one did so. Adding an element of urgency to the situation, Regions knew that the Saltaire project was in financial peril, with contractors threatening to walk off the job because they had not been paid. (Id.) To keep the project afloat without committing more funds itself, Regions sought to cause the release of all of Allstate's bond proceeds. To that end, the Complaint alleges, Regions hatched a fraudulent scheme pursuant to which "Regions issued a bogus $2 million commitment letter in favor of MBI on January 30, 3008, the sole purpose of which was to convince Allstate and the Bond Trustee that Regions had now reached a $16 million commitment to Saltaire." (Id., ¶ 19.) That commitment letter was ultimately presented to the Bond Trustee and Allstate, prompting Allstate to authorize release of the remaining $11.3 million in bond proceeds. (Id., ¶¶ 19-20.) In keeping with its deceptive intention from the outset, the Complaint alleges, Regions never funded the $2 million commitment specified in the letter. (Id., ¶ 20.) Allstate alleges that if it had "known that the $2 million commitment was a sham and that Regions was not even close to satisfying the $16 million commitment, Allstate would have collapsed the bond issue [and] directed the Bond Trustee to return the $11.3 million." (Id.) Instead, Regions tricked Allstate into releasing the bond proceeds, then walked away from the project, leaving Allstate holding the bag. "Saltaire failed and Allstate has lost millions of dollars." (Id., ¶ 21.)
On the strength of these well-pleaded factual allegations (which are accepted as true for purposes of Rule 12(b)(6) review), Allstate brings three fraud-related claims against Regions. Count One sounds in a theory of fraudulent representation, alleging that Regions falsely represented in the January 2008 letter that it was obligated to lend an additional $2 million to MBI, that Regions made this misrepresentation "with the intention of inducing Allstate to authorize the release of $11.3 million in bond proceeds," and that Allstate relied to its detriment on the false representation by authorizing the Bond Trustee to release the bond proceeds. (Id., ¶¶ 23-27.) Count Two alleges negligent misrepresentation, based on precisely the same facts and circumstances as Count One, with the only difference being an allegation that Regions was careless or negligent in making the false representation, rather than doing so with knowledge of its falsity. Finally, Count Three is a claim of fraudulent concealment/suppression. That cause of action alleges that "Regions concealed from Allstate that it had not funded a $14.5 million acquisition and development loan or line of credit to Saltaire in December of 2007," even though Regions knew that Allstate believed it had funded such a loan or line of credit. (Id., ¶¶ 35-36.) The Complaint alleges that "Allstate could not have discovered the truth through reasonable inquiry or inspection" (id., ¶ 40), and that the concealed information was such that Allstate would have acted differently had it known the truth.
As noted supra, Allstate initially filed the Complaint in the Northern District of Illinois. On February 14, 2014, the Illinois Court entered an Opinion and Order (doc. 40) transferring the case to this District Court. In so doing, the Illinois Court rejected Regions' request for transfer for improper venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406.
To withstand Rule 12(b)(6) scrutiny and satisfy Rule 8(a), a plaintiff must plead "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face," so as to "nudge[] [its] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citation omitted). "This necessarily requires that a plaintiff include factual allegations for each essential element of his or her claim." GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. v. Georgia, 687 F.3d 1244, 1254 (11
With respect to Counts One (fraudulent misrepresentation) and Two (negligent representation), Regions maintains that Allstate's Complaint flunks basic pleading requirements because it "complete[ly] fail[s] to allege that Regions made a false statement." (Doc. 54, at 2.) This argument overlooks clear allegations of the Complaint, to-wit: "Regions falsely represented, through its January 30, 2008 commitment letter, that it was obligated to lend an additional $2 million to MBI ...." (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 23, 29.)
In a footnote in its reply brief, Regions directly addresses the false representation allegations of the Complaint, as opposed to other claims not advanced in Counts One and Two. Regions insists that its "obligations under the commitment letter ... were not false." (Doc. 63, at 11-12 n.9.) That, however, is a question of fact ill-suited for resolution at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage. The well-pleaded allegations of the Complaint are that the January 30, 2008 commitment letter was "bogus" and a "sham," that its "sole purpose ... was to convince Allstate and the Bond Trustee that Regions had now reached a $16 million commitment to Saltaire," and that Regions "had no intention of funding the $2 million commitment letter" at any time. (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 19, 20, 38.) As pleaded on the face of the Complaint, the January 30 commitment letter was a false representation designed not for any legitimate funding purpose, but to trick Allstate, which it did. Regions may vigorously dispute those factual allegations. It will have a full opportunity to do so later in this litigation, but not now. For 12(b)(6) purposes, those allegations are accepted as true and, viewed through that procedural prism, are adequate to state claims of fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation against Regions.
As noted, Count Three of the Complaint is a state-law cause of action for fraudulent concealment/suppression, rooted in the allegation that "Regions concealed from Allstate that it had not funded a $14.5 million acquisition and development loan or line of credit to Saltaire in December of 2007." (Doc. 1, ¶ 35.) According to the Complaint, Regions did so as a means of deceiving Allstate into thinking that the January 30, 2008 commitment letter raised Regions' total commitment to Saltaire to an amount exceeding $16 million. (Id., ¶ 38.) The Complaint further alleges, without elaboration, that "Regions had a duty to speak the truth about the scope of its lending relationship with Saltaire." (Id., ¶ 39.)
That last allegation lies at the heart of Regions' Rule 12(b)(6) Motion as it relates to Count Three. In particular, Regions argues that Allstate's fraudulent concealment claim does not satisfy minimum pleading standards "because Allstate does not allege facts that could demonstrate that Regions owed Allstate a duty of disclosure." (Doc. 55, at 9.) Under both Alabama and Illinois law, a fraudulent concealment claim is not actionable absent a duty to disclose. See, e.g., Freightliner, L.L.C. v. Whatley Contract Carriers, L.L.C., 932 So.2d 883, 891 (Ala. 2005) ("It is evident from a reading of the statute and the caselaw that, without a duty to disclose, there can be no recovery for suppression."); Crichton v. Golden Rule Ins. Co., 576 F.3d 392, 397 (7
The weakness in Regions' argument is that it assumes a rigidity to the "duty to disclose" element that is not borne out by the case law. To be sure, Regions is correct that Allstate has not pleaded (and, indeed, appears to have disclaimed) the existence of a confidential or fiduciary relationship between the parties. Regions also accurately characterizes the law by maintaining that a party's silence alone does not give rise to a duty to disclose, and that no duty to disclose lies if the defendant provides documents to the plaintiff placing the latter on notice of the purportedly suppressed facts. But Alabama law requires a flexible totality-of-the-circumstances analysis to assess whether a duty to disclose exists.
More fundamentally, Regions' argument fails because it appears to be engaging in a summary-judgment type analysis at the motion-to-dismiss stage. Movants' briefs are rife with allegations such as the following: (i) "Allstate knew ... that Regions had not extended a $15 million (or $14.5 million) `line of credit' to the Developer" (doc. 55, at 3); (ii) "the recorded mortgages alone were sufficient to provide Allstate with notice" (id. at 12); (iii) "the Subordination Agreements would have erased any doubt that Allstate might have had" (id.); (iv) "neither Allstate nor its counsel bothered to confirm publicly-available information" (doc. 55, at 13); (v) "Allstate could have simply requested documentation showing Regions' outstanding commitments to SaltAire from any of the numerous parties that Allstate was dealing with" (doc. 63, at 6); and (vi) "Allstate failed to take even the most basic steps to discover whether its `mistaken belief' about Regions' financing was true" (id.). All of these purported "facts" lie outside the pleadings and therefore cannot be credited in support of defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) Motion.
Regions' alternative ground for seeking dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is that Allstate's claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Regions identifies both Alabama's two-year limitations period for fraud, Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l), and Illinois's corresponding five-year statute of limitations, 735 ILCS 5/13-205, but omits any meaningful analysis or argument as to which limitations period governs. Instead, Regions asserts that "Allstate's claims are facially barred by both the Alabama and Illinois statutes." (Doc. 55, at 4.) As stated supra, Regions having chosen to posture its Rule 12(b)(6) Motion in this manner, the Court will not explore choice-of-law issues that movant did not.
Initially, it bears emphasis that a limitations defense, such as that interposed by Regions, is generally poorly suited for resolution via Rule 12(b)(6) Motion. After all, the law is clear that "[a] statute of limitations bar is an affirmative defense, and plaintiffs are not required to negate an affirmative defense in their complaint." La Grasta v. First Union Securities, Inc., 358 F.3d 840, 845 (11
That said, "dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) on the basis of a limitations defense may be appropriate when the plaintiff effectively pleads herself out of court by alleging facts that are sufficient to establish the defense." Hollander, 457 F.3d at 691 n.1; see also Ausikaitis on behalf of Masimo Corporation v. Kiani, 962 F.Supp.2d 661, 673 (D. Del. 2013) ("the limitations defense may be raised on a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), but only if the time alleged in the statement of a claim shows that the cause of action has not been brought within the statute of limitations") (citation omitted); Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Doral Financial Corp., 841 F. Suppp.2d 593, 600 (D.P.R. 2012) ("even though a complaint need not plead facts to avoid potential affirmative defenses, plaintiffs could plead themselves out of court by alleging facts that are sufficient to establish the defense") (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). In other words, "[d]ismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on statute of limitations grounds is appropriate only if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that the claim is time-barred." Tello v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 410 F.3d 1275, 1288 (11
Regions invokes this basis for dismissal, insisting that "[t]he face of Allstate's complaint shows that its claims are untimely." (Doc. 55, at 14.) Such a contention has superficial allure. After all, Counts One and Two reference false representations in a commitment letter dated January 30, 2008, more than five years before Allstate filed its Complaint in July 2013. Similarly, Count Three relies on Regions' alleged concealment of its failure to fund a $14.5 million line of credit to Saltaire in December 2007. Looking backwards from the filing of the Complaint, those events certainly occurred outside a 2-year or 5-year window. But both Alabama and Illinois have enacted discovery rules that govern accrual of claims in the fraud context.
Because the face of the Complaint alleges that Regions concealed the alleged fraud and that Allstate did not discover it until much later, it cannot fairly be said that Allstate has effectively pleaded itself out of court with regard to the limitations defense. Whatever the merits of Regions' affirmative defense of the statute of limitations bar may be, dismissal on that basis is inappropriate under Rule 12(b)(6) because it is not apparent from the face of the Complaint that the discovery rule is inapplicable. See, e.g., Travis v. Ziter, 681 So.2d 1348, 1351 (Ala. 1996) ("A dismissal based on the statute of limitations is proper only if, from the face of the complaint, it is apparent that the tolling provisions do not apply."); Ogle v. Hotto, 652 N.E.2d 815, 821 (Ill. App. 5 Dist. 1995) (explaining that under Illinois law, to satisfy the discovery rule, the "pleading requirement is not burdensome, and great detail need not be alleged. What is required is for the pleader to allege what fact or facts support the late discovery of the injury.").
In the alternative, Regions argues that even if Allstate has pleaded "that it did not discover the alleged fraud until some later date, Allstate's claims would be untimely because Allstate is charged with notice of the allegedly concealed or misrepresented facts more than five years before Allstate filed its lawsuit." (Doc. 55, at 15.) On that point, defendant posits that Allstate was on inquiry notice of the alleged fraud because (i) "Allstate had record notice that Regions had loaned only $6.5 million to MBI because Regions had recorded its mortgages securing MBI's debt in the Mobile County Probate Court" and (ii) "Allstate had notice that the Commitment Letter expired on February 29, 2008." (Id. at 16.)
The problem with Regions' alternative argument at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage is that it is fundamentally and inescapably fact-bound. The probate records of which Regions asks this Court to take judicial notice certainly reflect that Regions had loaned $6.5 million to MBI. (Doc. 54, Exh. 4.) As Allstate correctly points out, however, that fact, without more, does not necessarily prove that Regions had loaned
Much the same can be said for Regions' contention that the expiration of the $2 million commitment letter in February 2008 put Allstate on notice of the alleged fraud. Recall that plaintiff's theory espoused in the Complaint is that Regions issued that commitment letter with the fraudulent intent of deceiving Allstate to authorize release of the remaining $11.3 million in bond proceeds. Regions reasons that the commitment letter expired by its terms on February 29, 2008, so Allstate must have been on notice for limitations purposes by no later than that date that Regions was not going to fund that $2 million commitment. This answers the wrong question. The question for the accrual of Allstate's fraud causes of action was when it was on notice of the fraudulently concealed claims (i.e., the wrongful nature of Region's act), not when it was on notice of the act itself. See, e.g., Weaver v. Firestone, ____ So.3d ____, 2013 WL 6516389, *4 (Ala. Dec. 13, 2013) ("The language of § 6-2-3 provides that it is the discovery of the fraudulently concealed cause of action that triggers the accrual of that cause ...."); Horbach v. Kaczmarek, 934 F.Supp. 981, 985 (N.D. Ill. 1996) (applying Illinois law, "[u]nder the discovery rule, a plaintiff has five years to file suit from the point that he knows or reasonably should know that he has been injured and that his injury was wrongfully caused") (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). That Allstate was on notice as of February 29, 2008 that Regions had not funded the $2 million commitment letter does not necessarily imply that Allstate was on notice at that time of Regions' alleged fraudulent intent in issuing the commitment letter in the first place. On its face, the commitment letter included multiple pages of contingencies, conditions precedent and circumstances under which Regions' commitment was voidable or could be otherwise excused. (Doc. 54, Exh. 2.) Regions is asking this Court to hold that Allstate should have assumed in February 2008 that none of these legitimate contractual bases for Regions to pull out of the $2 million commitment were in effect and that its underlying motivation was fraudulent. Without some record basis to support the reasonableness of any such assumption, the Court will not hold that the mere failure of Regions to fund the $2 million commitment letter, without more, placed Allstate on inquiry notice of the alleged fraudulent scheme to deceive it into releasing bond proceeds.
Accordingly, the Court finds that this is not one of the extraordinary cases in which resolution of a defendant's affirmative defense of a limitations bar is appropriate at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage. Allstate has not pleaded itself out of court. Movant has not made any showing as to which state's law applies. And the circumstances that Regions insists should have placed Allstate on notice of the alleged fraud outside the applicable limitations period are too fact-intensive to be amenable to resolution at the pleadings stage.
For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that Regions' Renewed Motion to Dismiss (doc. 54) is due to be, and the same hereby is,