Ingram Yuzek Scores Victory for Bank of East Asia USA
NEW YORK, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ingram Yuzek obtained a major victory for The Bank of East Asia (U.S.A.) N.A. [now known as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (U.S.A.) N.A.], when the Brooklyn Supreme Court dismissed a $5 million claim against the Bank following a three-week trial.
The complaint—a contractual bad faith claim—was brought by Judah Septimus, Aaron Gertz and their company, 55 Eckford Realty LLC. The claim asserted that the Bank had breached a $9.9 million construction loan commitment by requiring the plaintiff-developers to provide architectural drawings for a three-story daycare center, which was planned for their proposed 16-story condominium apartment building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The plaintiff did not provide the daycare plans, the commitment's expiration date came and went, and the Bank advised the developers of the expiration. The plaintiffs argued that the plans were an invalid excuse not to perform, since the appraiser had claimed the appraisal could be performed without them.
Rejecting this claim, the court called the Bank's conduct, "a rational and proper business judgment" saying, "The totality of the evidence establishes that the request for plans was not an arbitrary or contrived demand intended to subvert plaintiffs' contractual rights, but is supported by the professional standards for a competent appraisal."
Trial counsel for the Bank were Ronald H. Alenstein and Mioko C. Tajika of Ingram. "We are gratified that the court recognized that the Bank followed reasonable banking principles," said Alenstein. "Development in Brooklyn was unstable for a number of years after the financial crisis of 2008 and the Bank adhered to best practices which protected all parties involved."
About Ingram Yuzek
Based in New York City, Ingram Yuzek provides a broad range of transactional and dispute resolution services to sophisticated clients across the globe. For more information, visit www.ingramllp.com.
MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Nancy Rowe
Martini Consulting
(410) 608-0080
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SOURCE Ingram Yuzek
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