Huntington National Bank v. Green Sheet Marketing, LLC
- Wilhelmina Wright
- 0:21-cv-02000
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 15
Huntington National Bank v. Green Sheet Marketing, LLC: Judge Wright granted default judgment in part, denied it in part, and dismissed Counts III–VI without prejudice.
Huntington National Bank received a joint-and-several default judgment against Green Sheet Marketing, LLC and Marlon Smith for $434,306.23 in damages, $24,478.25 in attorneys’ fees, $1,477 in costs, and post-judgment interest. Counts III–VI were dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
In Huntington National Bank v. Green Sheet Marketing, LLC, Huntington sought payment under an installment agreement with Green Sheet Marketing, LLC and a guaranty signed by Marlon Smith. Green Sheet failed to make its first payment, and neither defendant responded to the lawsuit.
The court granted Huntington’s motion for default judgment on Counts I and II, which alleged breach of contract, and awarded $434,306.23 in damages, $24,478.25 in attorneys’ fees, and $1,477 in costs. The award was joint and several against Green Sheet and Smith, with post-judgment interest on the $461,738.48 total. The court also granted Huntington’s request to dismiss Counts III–VI without prejudice and denied the default-judgment motion as moot for those counts.
Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright issued the November 22, 2022 order. The court rejected $210 in claimed fees and denied additional late fees related to those charges, while awarding the other amounts described above.
The detailed version
- Huntington National Bank v. Green Sheet Marketing, LLC · No. 0:21-cv-02000
- Wilhelmina Wright
- Nov. 22, 2022
Background
Huntington National Bank alleged that it entered into a June 29, 2021 installment payment agreement with Green Sheet Marketing, LLC for a financed amount of $388,727.85. The agreement required Green Sheet to make 60 monthly payments of $7,633.13. Marlon Smith, identified as Green Sheet’s sole member and secretary, signed a continuing guaranty requiring him to guarantee Green Sheet’s obligations and related enforcement costs.
Green Sheet did not make its first payment, due July 30, 2021. A payment made the next day was returned for insufficient funds. Huntington notified Green Sheet and Smith of the default on August 11, 2021, then filed this lawsuit. Huntington served Smith on September 16, 2021, and Green Sheet on January 10, 2022. Neither defendant appeared or responded. The Clerk of Court entered default against Smith and Green Sheet.
Default Judgment and Liability
A default judgment is a judgment entered when a defendant fails to respond. The court explained that default generally treats the complaint’s factual allegations as admitted, except allegations about damages, but the court must still determine whether those facts establish a valid legal claim.
For Count I, Huntington alleged that Green Sheet breached the installment agreement by failing to make the required payment. The court concluded that these allegations sufficiently established a breach-of-contract claim under Minnesota law. For Count II, Huntington alleged that Smith breached the guaranty by failing to pay Green Sheet’s obligations after Green Sheet defaulted. The court likewise concluded that the allegations sufficiently established a breach-of-contract claim against Smith.
Dismissal of Remaining Counts
Huntington moved to voluntarily dismiss Counts III–VI without prejudice rather than seek default judgment on them. The court granted that motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2). Because those counts were dismissed, the court denied Huntington’s motion for default judgment as moot as to Counts III–VI.
Damages
The court awarded $434,306.23 in actual damages. That amount included:
- $76,331.30 for 10 past-due monthly payments; - $333,658.85 for the present value of the remaining 50 installments; - $16,682.95 as a contractual penalty fee; and - $7,633.13 in late fees.
The court rejected Huntington’s additional $210 request for fees related to two returned payments and a documentation fee because Huntington did not document those charges. The court also denied additional late fees based on those miscellaneous charges.
Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Interest
The court awarded Huntington $24,478.25 in attorneys’ fees and $1,477 in costs. It found the claimed hourly rates and the 85.7 hours of work reasonable, noting that the attorneys’ billing records and the 10 percent courtesy discount supported the request. The documented costs included court and process-server fees.
The court also awarded post-judgment interest on the total money judgment of $461,738.48 at the rate established by 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a). The judgment was ordered to be joint and several against Green Sheet and Smith, meaning Huntington could seek the total award from either defendant, subject to the usual limitation against recovering the same amount twice.
Read the full 15-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.