UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

BARRIE M. PETERSON,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

No. 97-1680

ATLANTIC FUNDING CORPORATION;

SUPERIOR FINANCIAL SERVICES,

INCORPORATED,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria.

Claude M. Hilton, Chief District Judge.

(CA-96-1476-A)

Argued: May 5, 1998

Decided: June 29, 1998

Before NIEMEYER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and

HOWARD, United States District Judge for the

Eastern District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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COUNSEL

ARGUED: James Thomas Bacon, ALLRED, BACON, HALFHILL,

LANDAU & YOUNG, P.C., Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellant. James

Robert Schroll, BEAN, KINNEY & KORMAN, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Appellee Atlantic Funding; Janis Orfe, THE LAW
OFFICES OF JANIS ORFE, P.C., Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee

Superior Financial. ON BRIEF: C. Erik Gustafson, BEAN, KINNEY

& KORMAN, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Appellee Atlantic Funding.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

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OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellant, Barrie M. Peterson, individually, and Barrie M. Peterson, as Trustee [hereinafter collectively referred to as "Peterson"],

appeal the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of

appellees. The district court found, as a matter of law, that no enforceable settlement agreement existed between Peterson, Atlantic Funding

Corp. ("Atlantic") and Superior Financial Services, Inc. ("Superior").

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo.

See Higgins v. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 863 F.2d 1162, 1167 (4th

Cir. 1988). Summary judgment is appropriate when there exists no

genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty

Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247 (1986). The district court must evaluate the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant and

draw all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. See United States

v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655 (1962). Finding no error, we

affirm the district court's entry of summary judgment.

On November 7, 1996, Peterson and Dominion Federal Savings

and Loan Association executed a promissory note (the"note") in the

principal amount of $1 million. The loan was secured by a second

deed of trust on a certain parcel of real property, which consisted predominately of a twenty-two unit office complex known as the Dominion Professional Center ("DPC"). Signet Bank was the first lienholder

on the DPC.

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Dominion was subsequently taken over by the Resolution Trust

Corporation ("RTC"). On August 8, 1991, RTC initiated an action

against Peterson based upon non-payment of the note. On November

15, 1991, Peterson signed a consent to judgment in the sum of

$1,217,201.96, which was reduced to a judgment by the district court.

Shortly thereafter, Signet Bank foreclosed on its first deed of trust

secured by the DPC. Signet Bank's foreclosure extinguished RTC's

second deed of trust on the building.

In order to protect its interest in the loan, RTC, acting through its

agent, Gemini Asset Managers, Inc. ("Gemini"), purportedly entered

into an agreement with Peterson whereby Peterson agreed to purchase

all of RTC's rights, title and interest in the loan documents and judgment for $250,000, of which $50,000 would be paid down and the

remaining balance paid in ten monthly installments of $20,000. The

parties' discussions were subsequently memorialized in a written settlement agreement (the "agreement"), which indicated the agreement

was binding on the parties and their successors. This agreement was

signed by Peterson and forwarded to Gemini. Importantly, however,

the agreement was never signed by RTC or an authorized agent.

Eighteen months later, RTC sold its rights under the loan to Superior, who subsequently assigned its rights to Atlantic. Atlantic

attempted to collect on the $1.2 million judgment, and Peterson instituted this suit. Peterson contends he entered into a binding settlement

agreement with RTC and that appellees, as successors-in-interest to

RTC, are bound by the agreement's provisions. In granting summary

judgment to appellees, the district court found that because the agreement was never signed nor adopted by RTC, no contractual obligation

arose from the agreement. Therefore, appellees were not bound by its

terms.

Although the parties raise numerous arguments in support of their

respective positions, the determinative issue before the court is

whether a binding contract ever existed between RTC, its successors,

and Peterson. The record demonstrates that numerous conversations

and drafts of proposed agreements passed between Peterson and RTC

in 1992 and 1993, through RTC's agent, Gemini. However, a final,

binding contract between Peterson and RTC or its assigns never

resulted from those discussions and correspondence. Because RTC

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never signed the complicated settlement agreement, neither RTC nor

its assigns may be held accountable to its terms.

When parties to a contract contemplate that their agreement will be

reduced to a writing, the courts refuse to enforce the contract in the

absence of a writing signed by the party to be charged. Most recently,

this court reaffirmed that principle in a case, ironically, involving

Peterson. In Peterson v. Cooley, No. 97-1764, 1998 WL 185281 (4th

Cir. Apr. 21, 1998), the court affirmed the district court's determination that no contractual relationship existed between Peterson and

Central Fidelity, a Virginia bank. Peterson argued that Central Fidelity made an oral offer to him to purchase certain notes from the bank

for a $4.2 million payment plus a $200,000 deficiency note. Peterson

contended a contractual relationship was created when he accepted

the offer in a signed letter.

This court disagreed with Peterson's contention that the letter constituted an acceptance absent an agreement signed by all parties. The

court noted that a "transaction of this size and complexity is normally

embodied in a written contract." Id. at *5. Central Fidelity mailed

Peterson a twenty-nine page settlement agreement, but Peterson never

signed the agreement. Moreover, this court found that in failing to

sign the document, "the Petersons themselves chose not to create a

binding contractual relationship." Id.

This case presents a similarly deficient attempt by Peterson to

create a contractual relationship where none exists. The putative settlement agreement consisted of eight single-spaced typed pages and

involved a $1.2 million judgment. Both Peterson and RTC were represented by counsel who had to review the agreement prior to its execution. The agreement had been returned to Peterson to make certain

revisions with a proviso that once the revisions were made, the agreement would be forwarded to RTC "for execution." J.A. p. 139. However, the record is bereft of evidence that RTC received the revised

agreement signed by Peterson or ever executed the agreement.

It is apparent to the court that in an agreement of this size and complexity, the parties clearly contemplated that their agreement would

be reduced to a final writing. All of the written correspondence

between the parties looked to a final, signed agreement. By letter

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dated May 12, 1992, Gemini, through counsel, indicated that RTC

was "prepared to enter into an agreement" regarding its judgment

against Peterson. J.A. p. 104. By letter dated June 10, 1993, Peterson's attorney recognized that the agreement was to be forwarded to

RTC "for execution" and that when the executed originals were

returned to Gemini, Peterson would deliver the initial payment of

$50,000. J.A. p. 66. This correspondence evidences an intent that neither party would be bound, and no obligations triggered, until both

Peterson and RTC signed the written settlement agreement. Peterson

now argues that a binding settlement agreement was created when he

mailed his signed copy of the revised settlement agreement to RTC.

However, had Peterson genuinely believed at that time that such a

deal was solidified, he would have mailed RTC his first payment as

required in the agreement.

Peterson bears the burden of proving that an enforceable contract

existed with RTC. However, Peterson's argument consists of little

more than an impermissible attempt to shift the burden to the appellees to prove a negative, i.e., the non-existence of the agreement.

Because Peterson has not demonstrated that a contractual relationship

ever arose between himself and RTC, the district court correctly concluded that appellees were entitled to summary judgment. The court

has considered Peterson's remaining claims for relief and finds them

to be without merit.

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district

court.

AFFIRMED

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