Opinion ID: 2826695
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pretrial Motions and Events

Text: In July 2011, as the case was approaching trial, Minnick contacted U.S. Bank to request a subordination of the mortgage to the easement. The bank conducted an appraisal of the property, which showed that, as a result of “market conditions,” the value of the property as a whole had declined 41 percent since the last time the loan had been renewed. The appraiser also found that the conservation easements “would not impact a buyer’s perception” of the land. Accordingly, after further negotiation, Taxpayers and U.S. Bank entered into a subordination agreement as well as a “Waiver, Release, and Indemnification agreement” in September 2011. MINNICK V. CIR 5 Also in September 2011, the Commissioner filed a pretrial memorandum with the Tax Court. That memorandum argued, inter alia, that Taxpayers were not entitled to deduct the conservation as a gift because “the mortgagee did not subordinate its rights in the property to the rights of the qualified organization to enforce the conservation purposes of the gift in perpetuity.”