Opinion ID: 672864
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trade Libel/Slander of Credit/Slander of Title

Text: 89 With regard to the Bathgate defendants' claims that the default letters, legal complaints and alleged statements to the media issued by the Bank constitute trade libel, slander of credit, and slander of title, the district court reached the following conclusions: (1) the default letters did not contain false statements since the closing date in the February letter had passed and thus Bathgate was actually in default; (2) the Bank's legal complaints were privileged from slander and defamation actions; and (3) the Bathgate defendants failed to designate specific facts that raise a material issue for trial regarding ... [the Bank's] alleged republishing of the default letters and complaints to the press. FDIC v. Bathgate et al., Civ. No. 91-2779 (consolidated), Memorandum and Order at 16, 1993 WL 661958 (D.N.J. Mar. 18, 1993) (see Bathgate defendants' App. I at 33). Based on these findings, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the FDIC on the Bathgate defendants' claims of libel and slander. 12 90 The torts of trade libel, slander of credit, and slander of title require the publication, or communication to a third person, of false statements concerning the plaintiff, his property, or his business. Henry V. Vaccaro Const. Co. v. A.J. DePace, Inc., 137 N.J.Super. 512, 349 A.2d 570, 572 (Law Div.1975); see also Wendy's of South Jersey, Inc. v. Blanchard Management Corp., 170 N.J.Super. 491, 406 A.2d 1337, 1338 (Ch.Div.1979). The Bathgate defendants maintain that they sufficiently have stated claims for trade libel, slander of credit, and slander of title to withstand summary judgment because the Bank and Bank officers published and communicated to third parties that Bathgate was in default. See Bathgate defendants' Br. at 31-33. According to the Bathgate defendants, the district court's conclusion that the Bathgate defendants were in default as of April 1, 1991, required it to engage in improper weighing of the evidence presented by the FDIC and the Bathgate defendants on this issue. Id. at 32. We disagree. 91 As the Bathgate defendants' defenses based on the February letter are barred, we must regard the Bathgate defendants as having been in default as of April 1, 1991. In any event, even if the defenses were not barred, the statement that the Bathgate defendants were in default was accurate with respect to the preexisting notes, for the existence of defenses to an action predicated on defaults merely excuses a defendant's failure to make a payment, but the defenses do not constitute payment. Thus, there is no genuine issue of material fact regarding the veracity of statements by the Bank and its loan officers asserting that Bathgate was in default. 92 Moreover, as the district court held, allegations made in pleadings filed in an action are privileged as long as they have some relation to the action. Wendy's of South Jersey, Inc. v. Blanchard Management Corp., 406 A.2d at 1338-39. There is no doubt that statements that Bathgate was in default on certain notes were related to the action to collect on those notes. Thus, we will affirm the district court's order for summary judgment in favor of the FDIC on the Bathgate defendants' counterclaims for libel, slander of credit, and slander of title. 93