Opinion ID: 184923
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Requested Sanctions

Text: 9 The district court's order of February 28, 1996, concluded with the statement that [f]inal judgment having now been entered by separate order as to [all counts of both the original and amended complaints], ... this case shall be terminated on the dockets of this court. The Benders responded with a motion for expedited clarification in which they reminded the court that, because it had failed to resolve a cross-claim against them, its judgment was not yet final. In an order issued on April 17, 1996, the court acknowledged its error and amended its February 28 order to reflect the fact that the case is not terminated in light of the outstanding cross-claim.... 10 The FDIC, however, had already begun its efforts to enforce the earlier order. It served post-judgment interrogatories and document requests on appellants and issued subpoenas to their accounting firms. It also filed the February 28, 1996, order in the land records of the District of Columbia, thereby imposing a lien against all real property owned by appellants in the District of Columbia. The FDIC later refused to remove the lien despite the fact that, by then, according to Mr. Bender, the principal and interest due on all the notes had been fully paid and he had posted a supersede as bond of $987,125 to cover in full all other claims remaining in dispute. The FDIC also applied a portion of the $1,896,987 payment made by the Benders in March 1995 against its claim for late charges on various notes despite the Benders' explicit instruction that the payment was to be applied to satisfy in full the principal and interest due on the specified notes and guaranties. 11 The Benders filed a motion requesting the imposition of sanctions against the FDIC on the grounds that, by prematurely pursuing its post-judgment remedies and ignoring the instructions accompanying the March 1995 payment, the agency had exhibited bad faith and unnecessarily increased the cost of the litigation. The court denied the motion without explanation on August 27, 1998, the same day that it approved the award of $112,307 in attorneys' fees. 12 Appellants appeal the award of attorneys' fees, and the Benders also appeal the denial of their motion for sanctions.