Opinion ID: 2669470
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Terms of the January 19, 2005, Guaranty

Text: The guaranty executed by Gainey in his personal capacity on January 19, 2005, reads as follows: To induce you [General Electric Capital Corporation] to enter into, purchase or otherwise acquire, now or at any time hereafter, any promissory notes, security agreements, chattel mortgages, pledge agreements, collateral, sale contracts, lease agreements, and/or any other documents evidencing, or relating to any lease, loan, extension of credit or other financial accommodation . . . to Super Service, Inc. . . ., but without in any way binding you to do so, the undersigned, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, does herby guarantee to you, your successors and assigns, the due regular and punctual payment of any sum or sums of money which the Customer [Super Service] may owe to you now or at any time hereafter, whether evidenced by an Account Document, an open account or otherwise, and whether it represents principal, interest, rent, late charges, indemnities, an original balance, an -3- Case No. 12-2671 Gen. Elec. Cap. Corp. v. Gainey accelerated balance, liquidated damages, a balance reduced by partial payment, a deficiency after the date or other disposition of any leased equipment, collateral or security, or any other type of sum of any kind whatsoever that the Customer may owe to you now or in the future, and does hereby further guarantee to you, your successors and assigns, the due, regular and punctual performance of any other duty or obligation of any kind or character whatsoever that the Customer may owe to you now or at any time hereafter . . . . Plaintiff’s Ex. 2 (emphasis added). The guaranty was executed as part of a January 19, 2005, transaction to renew the 2000 Equipment Lease Agreement and to buy additional new tractors. Gainey contends that the January 19, 2005, guaranty applied solely to the January 19, 2005, transaction to purchase new tractors and was not intended to cover any other transactions between his companies and General Electric Capital. “Contracts of guaranty are to be construed like other contracts, and the intent of the parties, as collected from the whole instrument and the subject-matter to which it applies, is to govern.” Comerica Bank v. Cohen, 805 N.W.2d 544, 548 (Mich. Ct. App. 2010) (quoting First Nat’l Bank v. Redford Chevrolet Co., 258 N.W. 221, 223 (Mich. 1935) (quotation marks and citation omitted)). Therefore, a guaranty must be enforced as written if unambiguous and construction of the contract is a question of law for the courts. The district court, in its oral ruling, found the “breadth of the guarantee is unambiguous . . . . [T]he language of the guarantee is very broad indeed, using language like ‘any obligation,’ ‘at any time,’ ‘any leased equipment,’ ‘any other type or sum of any kind,’ ‘owed to you now or hereafter.’” Gen. Elec. Cap. Corp. v. Gainey, Opinion and Judgment at 5-6, No. 1:09-CV-47 (W.D. Mich. Mar. 27, 2012). Accordingly, the district court found as a matter of law that “[t]his is a very broad guarantee” and it “is not just limited to the lease that was executed that day [January 19, 2005], but also includes the obligations of Super Service pursuant to the lease that was entered on August 1, 2000.” Id. -4- Case No. 12-2671 Gen. Elec. Cap. Corp. v. Gainey at 6. We agree with the district court that the language is very broad and its meaning unambiguous. The district court went on to hold that the extrinsic evidence that Gainey seeks to rely on, including oral conversations with General Electric Capital representatives, are merged into the contract and cannot be relied upon to defeat the plain language of the contract. We agree with the district court on this point as well. Therefore, because we hold that the unambiguous language of the guaranty covers any and all outstanding debt between Super Service and Lester Coggins Trucking and General Electric Capital incurred at any time, we do not need to consider the parol evidence presented by Gainey. We note, however, that even were we to consider evidence outside of the plain language of the contract, we would reach the same conclusion. For example, Gainey testified at trial that he had personal conversations with representatives of General Electric Capital where he was assured that the 2005 personal guaranty covered only the 2005 lease agreement for the new tractors and not earlier lease obligations. He provided no corroborating documentation such as phone records or emails memorializing the alleged conversations. When a contract is reduced to writing, any previous parol agreements relating to the subject matter are merged into the written contract. Brachman v. Wheelock, Inc., 72 N.W.2d 246, 249 (Mich. 1955). Gainey also relies on a document summarizing the 2005 agreement. The “Transaction Summary,” prepared internally by General Electric Capital for employees of the company who are required to sign off on such transactions, is a sort of executive summary. That document contains equally broad language: “The [January 19, 2005] transaction will be cross-collateralized and cross-defaulted to all existing GE outstandings and will be further supported by the personal guarantee of Harvey Gainey.” Plaintiff’s Ex. 22. -5- Case No. 12-2671 Gen. Elec. Cap. Corp. v. Gainey Gainey also argues that the guaranty was only meant to cover payments relating to the lease agreement signed contemporaneously with the January 19, 2005, guaranty. This argument is unavailing in countering the broad language of the 2005 personal guaranty. The plain language of the 2005 guaranty covers “any and all” amounts due by Super Service to General Electric Capital “at any time hereafter.” The payments at issue became due and owing in 2008, even though the agreement under which they became due was executed in 2000. The terms of the guaranty covered not only the new trucks financed by the January 19, 2005, lease, but unambiguously covered any amounts due by Super Service to General Electric Capital, including amounts due on trailers financed under the 2000 Equipment Lease.