Richards Industrial Park, LP v. Federal Deposit Insurance

MEMORANDUM

Richards Industrial Park, LP, and its general partner, Mark Barmazel (collectively “Richards”), appeal the dismissal with prejudice of their complaint against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and reverse.

I. Factual Background

Richards entered into a transaction with ALB Properties and La Jolla Bank involving property on Roxbury Terrace in Ran-cho Santa Fe, California (the “Roxbury Property”). Before the deal could be completed, La Jolla Bank was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC was appointed receiver. Richards filed a claim with the FDIC asserting that La Jolla Bank and its officers had committed fraud in connection with the failed transaction. In negotiations with the FDIC, Richards sought a ten percent reduction of the principal amounts of the loans on the Roxbury Property and on an unrelated parcel (the “Loma Vista Property”) in exchange for renunciation of the fraud claims.

After the FDIC formally denied Richards’ claim, Martin O’Riordan, an “SEG Contractor for FDIC as Receiver for La Jolla Bank,” sent an email (the…