MARION F. EDWARDS, Chief Judge.
This appeal involves a dispute over contested provisions in a lease agreement regarding the right of first refusal to purchase immovable property in Jefferson Parish, and is a companion case to one decided earlier by this Court.
The matter before the Court in this appeal began as a petition for breach of contract and specific performance filed by plaintiff, Winning Legends, Inc., against several defendants alleging the property leased by Legends was sold to a third party in violation of a right of first refusal clause in the contract. Legends was subsequently removed as party plaintiff and replaced by its sole shareholder, Fabien Mang. The judgments on appeal are the grant of an exception of no right of action of Mang to maintain the lawsuit, and summary judgment in favor of defendants. For reasons that follow, we affirm both judgments.
Brothers, Frank P. Dimitri and Joseph Dimitri, owned property on North Hullen Street in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. On February 25, 1985, they leased the property to Andrew Jaeger. On November 4, 1991, Winning Legends, Inc. ("Legends"), assumed the lease. Fabien Mang is the sole shareholder of Legends. The lease provided for successive options to renew the lease, and Legends renewed and recorded each option up through February 28, 2007.
Frank Dimitri died in 1993, and his wife, Josephine DeSalvo Dimitri,
On May 30, 2000, Josephine DeSalvo Dimitri filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In that proceeding, all of Mrs. Dimitri's property, including her undivided one-half interest in the North Hullen Street property, was passed to the Bankruptcy Trustee. The Bankruptcy Trustee recognized William C. Garrett as a creditor when it was shown that he held a first mortgage on several of the properties, including the North Hullen Street property at issue herein.
On June 19, 2003, Joseph Dimitri died. On December 11, 2003, Joseph's succession sold some of his property, including his undivided one-half interest in the North Hullen Street property to Mrs. Josephine DeSalvo Dimitri. She subsequently sold this property and other parcels to Heisler Properties, L.L.C. ("Heisler").
On August 26, 2005, Legends filed this suit for breach of contract and specific performance seeking to enforce the right of first refusal clause in the lease on the North Hullen Street property. Legends named Heisler, the individual Garrett heirs, as well as Josephine DeSalvo Dimitri, the executrix and heirs of Frank Dimitri's succession, Josephine Virga Dimitri, and the executrix and heirs of Joseph Dimitri's succession. The action sounds in contract and alleges breach of the right of first refusal clause. Legends asserts it had the right of first refusal to purchase the property that was improperly sold at the Marshall's sale in violation of that clause. All defendants answered the lawsuit raising various defenses.
The Garrett Succession and Heisler filed an exception of no right of action alleging that Fabien Mang and Legends assigned the lease to Townsend Legends, Inc. on December 10, 2005. In response, Legends and Mang filed a motion to substitute proper party-plaintiff asserting that Mang, as sole shareholder of Legends, sold his interest in the company Winning Legends, Inc. to Raymond Townsend on November 7, 2005. However, Mang maintained that he retained all rights of first refusal and options to purchase the real property and improvements thereon in the sale of the business. That motion was granted by the trial court on March 28, 2006, and Fabien Mang was substituted as plaintiff for Legends.
Townsend Legends, Inc. ("Townsend") filed a petition of intervention asserting that, as the current lease holder on the property, it has a vested interest in the original matter before the court. A motion for summary judgment on the issue of the validity of the lease was filed by Townsend and granted by the trial court.
The executrix of Frank Dimitri's succession filed an exception of no cause of action based on a clause contained in the lease that excluded a transfer or sale of property to heirs from the right of first refusal clause. That exception was granted by the trial court. Fabien Mang filed a motion for new trial on that judgment.
The exceptions of no right of action filed by the Garrett Succession and Heisler were also granted, and Mang filed a motion for new trial on those judgments. While that motion was pending, on December 28, 2010, this Court handed down an opinion in a companion case,
After a hearing on the matter, the trial court granted the Garrett Succession's motion for summary judgment, dismissing the claims against them. In that same judgment, the trial court denied Fabien Mang's motion for new trial.
Fabien Mang has filed an appeal of that judgment.
On appeal, Mang presents five assignment of error for our review. He asserts the trial court erred in:
The issue in assignments one and three for our consideration is the decision of the trial court to grant the exception of no right of action filed by the Garrett Succession and Heisler. The objection of no right of action tests whether the plaintiff has a "real and actual interest" in the suit.
The determination of whether a plaintiff has a right of action is a question of law.
It is undisputed that Fabien Mang was the sole shareholder in Winning Legends, Inc. d/b/a Legends Bar & Grill and that Legends had a valid lease on the property in question. It is also undisputed that Legends sold the business to Raymond C. Townsend. This matter is confused by the admission of two sales agreements and one addendum to the
At the hearing, the trial court considered the documents and argument of counsel and decided that the sale on November 7, 2005 to Legends, who owned the lease and the right of first refusal, divested itself of these rights to Townsend. The attachment, which reserves the right of first refusal to Fabien Mang as an individual, does not have Legends' approval and, therefore, is not valid. We find this reasoning persuasive. It is clear from the evidence that Legends was the lessee with the right of first refusal. When it sold the business and transferred the lease to Townsend on November 7, 2005, that right passed to Townsend. Fabien Mang, as an individual, could not reserve the right of first refusal. Further, he substituted himself for Legends as party-plaintiff in this action. Thus, the lessee with the right of first refusal is no longer a party to this action and, further, has sold its interest in the lease.
Mang's opposition to the ruling on the no right of action exception seems to challenge the standing of Heisler and the Garrett Succession to question the sales agreements, and the arguments in support revolve around the parole evidence rule of La. C.C. art. 1848. As we understand Mang's argument, he maintains that the goal of contract law is to discern a compatible meaning to all provisions of the agreement. While we do not disagree with Mang's statement of law, it is not controlling in this instance. The trial judge was ruling on a no right of action exception, and the transcript of the hearing on the motion clearly shows that the trial court considered the documents and found that they are clear and require no further interpretation. We agree. Accordingly, Fabien Mang has no right of action for specific performance regarding the right of first refusal clause in the lease.
In support of the second assignment of error,
The Royal court found that, under the lease terms, the involuntary Marshall's sale in the bankruptcy proceeding did not trigger the right of first refusal clause in the lease.
In the matter before this Court, Mang argues the terms of the two leases are different, and the reasoning in the Royal opinion is not applicable in this matter.
In Royal, the right of first refusal clause read as follows:
The Royal Court found that, in the involuntary bankruptcy transfer, the seller did not have a bona fide offer in writing or a desire to sell all or part of the leased property. Thus, the right of first refusal clause in the lease was not triggered.
In the matter before us, the clause in the lease reads as follows:
Mang argues that, since the requirement of a bona fide written offer and a desire to sell are not part of the right of first refusal clause in the lease on the Legends' property, Royal does not apply. We disagree.
In our de novo review of this matter, we find there are no material facts undecided, and summary judgment was warranted as a matter of law.
Because of our findings as set forth above, we pretermit any discussion of the issue of required notice to Mang raised by assignment of error number four and the application of the right of first refusal clause to further transactions. Because we find the trial court's judgment was correct, we affirm the judgment.