ABCD Holdings, LLC v. Hannon, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-035-17)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT SUCV2016-1840-BLS2 ABCD HOLDINGS, LLC, Plaintiff vs. PATRICK HANNON and SOFIA GAGUA Defendants And J.DERENZO CO., SOFIA GAGUA, SIMILAR SOILS, INC., IMMANUEL CORP., AGRITECH INC., and L-5 INC., Reach and Apply Defendants MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR A REAL ESTATE ATTACHMENT This is an action seeking to collect on a personal guaranty and to recover for other allegedly wrongful conduct following the execution of that document. The guaranty was executed by defendant Patrick Hannon who, pursuant to the terms of the guaranty, was required to pay $ 109,879 plus attorney’s fees and collection costs in the event the borrower defaulted. The borrower did indeed default and plaintiff, the assignee of the original lender’s rights under the guaranty, now seeks to collect on the guaranty and asserts other claims, including a claim under Chapter 93A. This Court (Salinger, J.) has already determined that there is a reasonable likelihood that plaintiff will recover against Hannon on the guaranty. There is also ample 2 evidence that plaintiff will recover an additional $ 45,000 that Hannon had paid on another loan but that had to be disgorged to Hannon’s bankruptcy trustee as a preference. 1 The case is now before the Court on plaintiff’s Motion to Attach property located at 34 Highview Drive in Uxbridge, Massachusetts (the Uxbridge House). Hannon lives there with his girlfriend, Sofia Gagua, named in this case both as a defendant and a reach and apply defendant. Title to the property is in Gagua’s name. According to the Amended Verified Complaint, the Uxbridge House was purchased with funds from Hannon, giving rise to a claim against Gagua under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, G.L.c.109A §2. After careful review of the documentation and affidavits submitted by the parties — both in connection with this motion and earlier in this litigation — this Court concludes that plaintiff is entitled to an attachment in the amount of $ 258,226.22.2 The Motion is therefore ALLOWED. This is the third time that plaintiff has requested such an attachment. The first time was shortly after this lawsuit began. This Court (Salinger, J.) denied the request because the allegations that Gagua had used funds fraudulently conveyed to her by Hannon were all made on information and belief. See Memorandum of Decision dated June 24, 2016. The second time was in a related lawsuit, King Root Capital, LLC v. Hannon et al., Civ. No. 2017-02307-BLS 2, which is a suit on a judgment against Hannon.3 This Court denied plaintiff’s request in that case, 1 Hannon and his wife Elizabeth Hannon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012, after the loans that are the subject of the instant […]
ABCD Holdings, LLC v. Hannon, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-068-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT. 1684CV01840-BLS2 ____________________ ABCD HOLDINGS, LLC v. PATRICK J. HANNON, SOFIA GAGUA, and PATRICK J. (“P.J.”) HANNON and Others1 ________________________________________ PATRICK J. HANNON v. ABCD HOLDINGS, LLC; ABC&D RECYCLING, INC.; WARE REAL ESTATE, LLC; TRI COUNTY RECYCLING, INC.; and GEORGE McLAUGHLIN, III ____________________ MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS COUNTERCLAIMS AND THIRD-PARTY CLAIMS Plaintiff ABCD Holdings, LLC, (“Holdings”) has sued Patrick J. Hannon in part to enforce Hannon’s personal guaranty of one-half of the amount that Holdings loaned to Ware Real Estate, LLC (“Ware”) and ABC&D Recycling, Inc (“Recycling”). Holdings claims that Hannon is liable under his limited guaranty to repay $ 109,879.50 (half the original loan amount) plus reasonable collection costs. In response, Hannon has asserted various counterclaims and third-party claims alleging, in essence, that George McLaughlin deliberately prevented Ware and Recycling from repaying what they owed under their note by using Holdings to take control of Ware and Recycling and then transferring their assets and business operatings to a new entity called Tri County Recycling, Inc. (“Tri County”). The parties sued by Hannon—i.e., McLaughlin, Holdings, Ware, Recycling, and Tri County—have moved to dismiss Hannon’s claims. They claim that Hannon’s claims are all barred by a release executed by the Chapter 7 trustee of Hannon’s bankruptcy estate. In addition, Tri County asserts that the allegations against it do not state viable claims even if the claims were not barred by the release. The Court concludes that these arguments are without merit. It will therefore DENY the motion to dismiss Hannon’s counterclaims and third-party claims. 1 Reach and Apply Defendants J. Derenzo Co.; J. Derenzo Construction Company, Inc.; Sofia Gagua; RHR, LLC; Patrick J. (“P.J.”) Hannon; Similar Soils, Inc.; Immanuel Corp.; Agritech, Inc.; and L-5, Inc. – 2 – 1. Settlement Agreement and Release. Hannon filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on May 3, 2012. That bankruptcy case was converted to a Chapter 7 or liquidation proceeding on January 2, 2013. The bankruptcy trustee sued Bright Horizon, LLC (“Bright Horizon”) and The McLaughlin Brothers, P.C. (“McLaughlin Bros.”) to recover various payments Hannon had made to them. In May 2015 the bankruptcy trustee entered into a settlement agreement in which George McLaughlin, Bright Horizon, and McLaughlin Bros. agreed to pay the bankruptcy estate $ 45,000. In exchange, the trustee released all claims “whether known or unknown” that the estate or Hannon may have against George McLaughlin, Bright Horizon, McLaughlin Bros., or “any entity owned by any of” them. The settlement agreement states that it is releasing such claims “to the Trustee’s full authority to waive such claims.” McLaughlin asserts that he owns Holdings, Recycling, Ware, and Tri County, […]
ABCD Holdings, LLC v. Hannon, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-172-16)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT SUCV2015-1367-BLS2 ABCD HOLDINGS, LLC, Plaintiff vs. PATRICK HANNON, SOFIA GAGUA, PATRICK (“P.J.”) HANNON, RHR, LLC, SIMILAR SOILS, INC. and AGRITECH, INC., Defendants And J.DERENZO CO., SOFIA GAGUA, RHR, LLC, PATRICK (“P.J.”) HANNON, SIMILAR SOILS, INC., IMMANUEL CORP., AGRITECH INC., and L-5 INC., Reach and Apply Defendants MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS This is an action seeking to collect on a personal guaranty and to recover for other allegedly wrongful conduct following the execution of that document. The guaranty was executed by defendant Patrick Hannon on a loan for $ 219,759. The lender, Bright Horizons Finance, LLC, subsequently assigned its rights under the promissory note and under the guaranty to the plaintiff ABCD Holdings, Inc. Plaintiff has sued not only Hannon but various other individuals and entities on a variety of legal theories. Now before the Court are motions to dismiss by: 1) Hannon, as to some (but not all) counts against him; 2) defendants P.J. Hannon and RHR, LLC; and 3) defendant Agritech, Inc. This Court concludes that Hannon’s Motion must be Denied but that the other two Motions must be Allowed. 2 BACKGROUND This action was instituted on June 6, 2016. Plaintiff tried and failed to obtain a preliminary injunction against Hannon. See Memorandum of Decision dated June 24, 1016 (Salinger, J.) The case was once again before the Court in connection with various motions to dismiss, which were allowed in part and as to other counts reserved, since plaintiff’s counsel indicated that he would amend the complaint. The Amended Complaint was filed on October 7, 2016. The allegations as set forth in the Amended Complaint, together with attachments thereto, are as follows. The loan which is at the heart of this case was made on July 21, 2011. It was made by Bright Horizons, an entity owned by Boston attorney George McLaughlin. The loan was made to two companies, Ware Real Estate (Ware) and ABC&D Recycling (Recycling). Ware owns real property in Ware, Massachusetts improved with a waste transfer station; at the time, it was wholly owned by defendant Hannon. Recycling was in the business of recycling debris from construction sites and operated the waste transfer station in Ware. Hannon was its president and sole officer. Hannon was also a long time client of McLaughlin. The loan to Ware and Recycling was payable in full on demand, pursuant to terms set forth in a promissory note (the “W&R Note”) with payments of interest to be made on a monthly basis. The W&R Note is attached to the Amended Complaint as Exhibit A. In addition to requiring payment on demand, the W&R Note gave Bright Horizon the […]
ABCD Holdings, LLC v. Hannon, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-172-16)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT SUCV2015-1367-BLS2 ABCD HOLDINGS, LLC, Plaintiff vs. PATRICK HANNON, SOFIA GAGUA, PATRICK (“P.J.”) HANNON, RHR, LLC, SIMILAR SOILS, INC. and AGRITECH, INC., Defendants And J.DERENZO CO., SOFIA GAGUA, RHR, LLC, PATRICK (“P.J.”) HANNON, SIMILAR SOILS, INC., IMMANUEL CORP., AGRITECH INC., and L-5 INC., Reach and Apply Defendants MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS This is an action seeking to collect on a personal guaranty and to recover for other allegedly wrongful conduct following the execution of that document. The guaranty was executed by defendant Patrick Hannon on a loan for $ 219,759. The lender, Bright Horizons Finance, LLC, subsequently assigned its rights under the promissory note and under the guaranty to the plaintiff ABCD Holdings, Inc. Plaintiff has sued not only Hannon but various other individuals and entities on a variety of legal theories. Now before the Court are motions to dismiss by: 1) Hannon, as to some (but not all) counts against him; 2) defendants P.J. Hannon and RHR, LLC; and 3) defendant Agritech, Inc. This Court concludes that Hannon’s Motion must be Denied but that the other two Motions must be Allowed. 2 BACKGROUND This action was instituted on June 6, 2016. Plaintiff tried and failed to obtain a preliminary injunction against Hannon. See Memorandum of Decision dated June 24, 1016 (Salinger, J.) The case was once again before the Court in connection with various motions to dismiss, which were allowed in part and as to other counts reserved, since plaintiff’s counsel indicated that he would amend the complaint. The Amended Complaint was filed on October 7, 2016. The allegations as set forth in the Amended Complaint, together with attachments thereto, are as follows. The loan which is at the heart of this case was made on July 21, 2011. It was made by Bright Horizons, an entity owned by Boston attorney George McLaughlin. The loan was made to two companies, Ware Real Estate (Ware) and ABC&D Recycling (Recycling). Ware owns real property in Ware, Massachusetts improved with a waste transfer station; at the time, it was wholly owned by defendant Hannon. Recycling was in the business of recycling debris from construction sites and operated the waste transfer station in Ware. Hannon was its president and sole officer. Hannon was also a long time client of McLaughlin. The loan to Ware and Recycling was payable in full on demand, pursuant to terms set forth in a promissory note (the “W&R Note”) with payments of interest to be made on a monthly basis. The W&R Note is attached to the Amended Complaint as Exhibit A. In addition to requiring payment on demand, the W&R Note gave Bright Horizon the […]