Cal. Bank & Trust v. Del Ponti

I.

BACKGROUND

In 2006, Andrew Wood and his brother David Wood formed a single purpose

partnership with Stratus Residential Properties (Stratus), a real estate development

company, which, in partnership with Phoenix Realty Group (PRG), and Genesis

Workforce Housing Fund (Genesis), a real estate fund, was called Five Corners. Five

Prior to trial, a default judgment was entered against Five Corners.

3 Corners was created to develop and construct the Project in Rialto, California. Five

Corners was owned by Stratus, which acted as the managing member, and Genesis,

which was the equity investor member. Thomas DelPonti and David Wood were the

owners and managing members of Stratus. Phoenix Housing Partners, part of PRG was

the manager of Genesis. Stratus acquired the property and acted as the managing partner

and developer.

On February 6, 2006, Five Corners signed a construction loan agreement with

Vineyard Bank, to borrow $22.5 million for the Project. The loan agreement included an

assignment of the construction contract. The assignment of the construction contract

gave the Bank the authority to step into the shoes of the contractor in order to complete a

project…