Tribeca Companies, LLC v. First American Title Insurance

Plaintiff Tribeca Companies, LLC (Tribeca), appeals from the judgment of the trial court in favor of defendant First American Title Insurance Company (First American). Tribeca initiated this lawsuit after First American refunded a $1 million deposit to a real estate investor out of an escrow account that Tribeca had opened. Tribeca claimed it was entitled to the deposit and asserted claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and negligence. After a bench trial, the court found in favor of First American. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

I. Background

Tribeca is a California limited liability company formed in October 2005 by William Faidi, its sole shareholder. It is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm that makes investments in “distressed” real estate by purchasing and foreclosing on defaulted mortgage loans. Sky Pacific Holdings I, LLC (Sky Pacific), is another California limited liability company also formed by Faidi, who is its sole member.

Tribeca and Sky Pacific are separate and distinct legal entities, created at different times for different purposes. Sky Pacific is a single-purpose entity, originally…