NATIONAL FINANCING CORPORATION, A CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
CHARLES W. WEICHE, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1979-06-06
No. 77-2521
BERANEK, J., and PACK, WALLACE R., Associate Judge, concur.
371 So. 2d 707 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1979) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

National Financing Corporation appealed the dismissal of its complaint against Charles Weiche for recovery on a personal guarantee agreement related to an aircraft loan. The court reversed the dismissal, finding the complaint adequately stated a cause of action for recovery on the guarantee.


Holding

The court held that the second amended complaint sufficiently alleged all essential elements of an action on a personal guarantee and reversed the dismissal, finding the complaint adequately stated a cause of action that should proceed to trial.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must accept all well-pleaded facts and reasonable inferences therefrom as true when ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action.

[2] A complaint sufficiently alleges the essential elements of an action on a personal guarantee when it pleads that a loan was made in reliance upon the guarantor's agreemen…

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Key Quotes

“In ruling on a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a cause of action the trial court must accept as true all well pleaded facts as well as all reasonable inferences arising therefrom.”

Establishes the standard for reviewing dismissal motions that the lower court should have applied.

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Facts & Procedural History

Weiche executed a personal guarantee agreement guaranteeing payment of aircraft loans between J&R Aircraft Sales, Inc. and National Financing Corporat…

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Opinion of the Court
MOORE, Judge.

MOORE, Judge.

Appellant appeals from an order granting appellee’s motion to dismiss its second amended complaint with prejudice. We reverse.

Appellee executed a personal guarantee agreement the pertinent portion of which stated “. . for and in connection with various aircraft loans that from time to time may be made between J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. and National Financing Corporation, guarantee the prompt and full payment, to any holder hereof, of any amounts from time to time owing under various chattel mortgages or conditional sales contracts . . .” Appellant was the assignee and holder of a conditional sales contract pursuant to which J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. owed it the sum of $17,060.40. J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. defaulted on the payments required under the contract and appellant brought this suit to recover a deficiency after repossession and sale of the collateral specified in the contract.

The issue before us is whether the complaint stated a cause of action. In ruling on a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a cause of action the trial court must accept as true all well pleaded facts as well as all. reasonable inferences arising therefrom. Orlando Sports Stadium, Inc. v. State ex rel. Powell, 262 So. 2d 881 (Fla.1972).

The pleadings in the second amended complaint below allege that appellant made a loan to J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. and that appellee agreed to guarantee that loan. Attached to the second amended complaint is the conditional sale contract evidencing the obligation of J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. to repay the loan to appellant. The conditional sale contract was security for the obligee’s debt to appellant for the purchase of a used aircraft. Although the contract indicates the president of J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. as the seller, who thereafter assigned the contract to appellant, it was further alleged that the president was merely a conduit in a simultaneous transaction whereby the loan was made to J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. in reliance upon the appellee’s guarantee. The second amended complaint also alleges default in payment, repossession and public sale, and a deficiency for which appellee is obligated.

In our opinion, appellant’s second amended complaint sufficiently alleges all of the essential elements of an action on a personal guarantee. Holding that the guarantor is entitled to a strict construction in working out the intent of the parties to the agreement the trial court found that the guarantee established the intent of the appellee to guarantee only those loans between J & R Aircraft Sales, Inc. and National Financing Corporation. That is pre- eisely what is alleged in the second amended complaint.

The trial court’s reliance on Peoples Savings Bank and Trust Co. v. Landstreet, 80 Fla. 853, 87 So. 227 (1920) is misplaced. There the court held that in determining the intent of the parties to a guarantee agreement a liberal construction should be applied, and once that intent is determined, a strict construction should be employed in applying it to the facts as proved. Whether the provable facts will support the allegations is a burden of the appellant and should be submitted to the ultimate trier of fact. Appellant should, at least, have an opportunity to carry its burden.

Finding that the second amended complaint states a cause of action the trial court’s order dismissing it with prejudice is hereby reversed and this cause remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

BERANEK, J., and PACK, WALLACE R., Associate Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Sovran Bank, N.A. v. Parsons, 547 So. 2d 1044 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)
    …ited to the four corners of the complaint and that all well pleaded allegations therein are taken as true, City of Hallandale v. Gulfstream Park Racing Association, Inc., 440 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); National Financing Corporation v. Weiche, 371 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Wenner v. Foster, 336 So. 2d 1248 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976), we are of the opinion that this complaint sufficiently stated a cause of action, and as such, should have survived the motion to dismiss proceedings. In re Forfeiture of Fol…
  • Paul v. Facchina, Jr., 735 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
    …al Palm Beach Colony, Inc. v. Greenway Village South Ass’ns No. 1, 2, 3, and I, Inc., 443 So. 2d 1034 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); City of Hallandale v. Gulfstream Park Racing Ass’n Inc., 440 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Nat’l Financing Corp. v. Weiche, 371 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); and Wenner v. Foster, 336 So. 2d 1248 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). Consequently, the following statement of factual background is taken solely from plaintiffs complaint as amended. We have no way of knowing at this stage whether plainti…
  • City OF Hallandale v. Gulfstream Park Racing Ass'n, Inc., 440 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)
    …ejudice. No reasons were stated in the order of dismissal as to why amendments would be disallowed. We reverse. In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the trial court must accept as true all facts well pleaded. National Financing Corporation v. Weiche, 371 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). In seeking a declaratory decree, the City was entitled to contest the interpretation and application of the statute. The defendant’s motion to dismiss dealt primarily with the constitutionality of the statute, and it appears tha…

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