Napoleon v. Shows, Cali & Walsh, LLP
| Decision Date | 30 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 20-1775 |
| Citation | 573 F.Supp.3d 1063 |
| Parties | Charles NAPOLEON v. SHOWS, CALI & WALSH, LLP, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
Keren E. Gesund, Gesund & Pailet, LLC, Metairie, LA, Owen Randolph Bragg, Pro Hac Vice, Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Charles Napoleon.
David Scranton Daly, Elliot Mitchell Lonker, Frilot L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Shows, Cali & Walsh, LLP, Mary Catherine Cali, John C. Walsh.
ORDER AND REASONS
IT IS ORDERED that defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction is DENIED and defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART .
This suit arises from a dispute over funds provided to Charles Napoleon following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi on August 29, 2005, and was quickly followed by Hurricane Rita on September 24, 2005. Rec. Doc. 25 at 7. The resulting devastation was unprecedented, leading Congress to appropriate "disaster recovery funds to the State of Louisiana, through HUD's Community Development Block Grant ("CDBG") Program." Id. at 7-8. HUD directed Louisiana to submit an Action Plan for Disaster Recovery, and through this Action Plan the State "created the Road Home Program to compensate affected Louisiana homeowners for their losses." Id. at 8-9. CDBG grants funded the Road Home Program and the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) operated it. Id. at 9, 9 n.10. The LRA is a "state agency created [by Executive order] to administer funds for recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including CDBG Disaster Recovery Grant Funds." Id.
HUD maintained that they would "monitor the State's use of funds and its actions for consistency with the Action Plan." Rec. Doc. 31 at 4 (emphasis in original). Also, HUD would "instate risk analysis and on-site monitoring of grantee management of the grants and of the specific use of funds." Id. HUD's responsibility extended to "ensuring Louisiana's interpretation of the statutory and regulatory requirements were ‘not plainly inconsistent with the [Housing and Community Development Act of 1974].’ " Rec. Doc. 25 at 10 (alteration added) (quoting 24 C.F.R. § 570.480(c) ). HUD's other responsibilities included: providing technical assistance, "advice, training, or program models to ensure the State of Louisiana complied with CDBG program requirements ...." Id. The State of Louisiana remained responsible for "the implementation, design, and administration of the Road Home Program in conformance with the applicable CDBG Program requirements set by HUD." Id. at 11 (internal quotations omitted) (quoting Rec. Doc. 25-2 at 69).
Whereas the Road Home Program disbursed four types of grants, only two are involved in this matter: the compensation grant and the elevation grant. See Rec. Doc. 31 at 5. The compensation grant was given to homeowners to repair property damage on their homes. Id. Napoleon executed the compensation grant agreement on April 24, 2007, and received a check for $48,496.70 but "returned the check to the title company," thinking it was to purchase his house. Id. at 7.
The elevation grant was "given to eligible homeowners who agreed to elevate their homes within three years." Id. at 5. The elevation grant totaled $30,000.00 and to receive the grant, the homeowner had to execute the Road Home Program Elevation Incentive Agreement For Use With Prior Road Home Grant. See id. ; Rec. Doc. 25 at 11-12. Napoleon entered into the agreement on July 23, 2008. Rec. Doc. 25-2 at 51. The agreement provided:
Within three years of the date of this Elevation Incentive Agreement, the elevation (height) of the home on the above Property will be at or above the Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE's) published by FEMA ... I understand that to comply with this paragraph I must elevate my home to be at or above the elevation required by this Agreement even if the authority having jurisdiction of building code enforcement is not requiring elevation of the home ... If the home on the property does not meet or exceed the applicable ABFE's or BFE's by three years from the date of the Elevation Incentive Agreement, the entire amount of my Elevation Incentive must be repaid to the State of Louisiana ... This Agreement shall be enforceable, at law or in equity, by the State of Louisiana or the United States of America. I agree that [the Office of Community Development ("OCD")] shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees and other costs, in the event OCD institutes legal action against me for enforcement of this Agreement.
Id. at 50. "When Mr. Napoleon received the elevation grant, he used that money to repair his home." Rec. Doc. 31 at 7-8. Napoleon obtained a Certificate of Occupancy and Completion on October 12, 2011, which stated that he made repairs and renovated his home after the storms. Id. at 8. Napoleon did not keep copies of the original receipts or proof of repair. Id.
On July 26, 2013, HUD approved Action Plan Amendment No. 60 which stated:
The cost to elevate homes has increased substantially since the Road Home program began disbursing Elevation Incentive (RHEI) awards to homeowners. In addition, many homeowners did not have adequate funds to complete the basic repairs needed to re-inhabit their homes at the pre-existing elevation. As a result, applicants receiving RHEI funds may have found it necessary to use those funds to complete their repair/reconstruction at the existing elevation. Since the primary goal of the Road Home Program is to enable applicants to return and reoccupy their homes, this Action Plan Amendment (APA 60) identifies how the use of RHEI funds will be considered in cases where applicants have used some or all of those funds to repair and re-occupy their homes. The purpose of APA 60 is to enable RHEI award amounts that have been used for home repair and reconstruction to be more accurately re-classified as part of the applicant's compensation award.
Rec. Doc. 31-12 at 2. This re-classification applied to "[o]nly Road Home applicants that have received an RHEI award and have not yet met the compliance terms associated with the award agreement ...." Id. The Amendment further stated that:
If an eligible applicant ... has used a portion or all of his or her RHEI funds for valid home repairs, then the respective amount used for home repairs will be added to the applicant's compensation award. Their RHEI award amount will be reduced accordingly. Homeowners must provide documentation that can demonstrate the use of the RHEI funds on valid home repairs.
Id. Two years later on December 28, 2015, the OCD sent Napoleon a letter stating that he could keep the elevation grant funds "[i]f you used your elevation incentive funds to finish the repairs to your home." Rec. Doc. 31 at 9, 51 (alteration in original) (internal quotations omitted).
On January 5, 2018, Mary Catherine Cali and John C. Walsh of Shows, Cali & Walsh, LLP mailed Napoleon a letter which stated that Napoleon "failed to establish compliance with [his] RHEI obligations." Rec. Doc. 25-2 at 53. The letter requested documents establishing that (1) the home was elevated; (2) the funds were used to elevate the home but elevation was never completed; or (3) the funds were used to finish repairs to the home. See id. The letter also stated that:
You have 30 days after your receipt of this letter to notify our office that you dispute the validity of this [RHEI], or any portion thereof. Failure to timely do so will result in an assumption by our office that the full amount of the RHEI repayment claim is valid.
Id. at 54. The letter further included that "if you do not take any of the actions outlined above, within ninety days after your receipt of this letter, Road Home may proceed with further action against you, including legal action, in connection with the amount of RHEI funds owed as outlined above." Id. At this point, Napoleon did not submit any additional documentation. Rec. Doc. 31 at 9. On February 12, 2012, defendants received a call on behalf of Napoleon1 that they previously submitted documentation on how the money was used, but defendants could find no such documentation in their records. Rec. Doc. 31-13 at 2. Then between June and July of 2019, Napoleon submitted additional photographs to show that he, as the applicant, shored his home. Defendants, however, could not observe an increase in elevation. See id. at 1.
On July 1, 2019, Shows, Cali & Walsh, LLP filed suit in the Orleans Civil District Court on behalf of the State of Louisiana, Division of Administration, Office of Community Development — Disaster Recovery Unit, naming Charles and Mary Ann Napoleon as defendants. Rec. Doc. 31 at 10; see State of La., Div. of Admin., Off. of Cmty. Dev. — Disaster Recovery Unit v. Napoleon , 2019-6927 (Orleans Parish Civ. Dist. Ct. 2019). In that suit, the State alleged Napoleon must return his $30,000.00 elevation grant. Rec. Doc. 31 at 10; see Rec. Doc. 31-4. On September 3, 2019, Napoleon answered, making no affirmative defenses. Rec. Doc. 25 at 13; Rec. Doc. 31 at 10. The State then moved for summary judgment, but on January 23, 2020, before the motion could be heard, Napoleon filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Case No. 20-10175). Rec. Doc. 31 at 10-11. On the A/B schedule Napoleon answered "No" to question 33 for "Claims against third parties, whether or not you have filed a lawsuit or made a demand for payment[;]" however, Napoleon answered "Yes" to question 34 for "Other contingent and unliquidated claims of every nature,...
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