Poseidon Development, Inc. v. Woodland Lane Estates, LLC

Plaintiff, Poseidon Development, Inc. (Poseidon), brought this action against defendant, Woodland Lane Estates, LLC (Woodland), for breach of a promissory note following Woodland’s late tender of a final balloon payment on the note. Poseidon seeks to recover a late charge of 10 percent of the final payment and expenses associated with initiating nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings. The trial court sustained Woodland’s demurrers to the complaint without leave to amend, concluding Poseidon is not entitled to either form of relief, and entered judgment of dismissal. Poseidon appeals.

Following entry of judgment, the trial court granted Woodland’s motion for costs and attorney fees. Poseidon appeals from that order as well.

On stipulation of the parties, we consolidated these appeals for all purposes.

We conclude the trial court correctly determined Poseidon is not entitled to the relief sought in the complaint. However, we further conclude the court erred in sustaining demurrers to the complaint without leave to amend, inasmuch as Poseidon is entitled to recover actual damages suffered by reason of the late payment. We therefore reverse the judgment of dismissal. We also…