Opinion ID: 2516819
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: clancy's negligence counterclaim against the bank

Text: ¶ 16 In her answer, Clancy asserted a counterclaim against the Bank for its alleged negligence in impairing the value of Honey Creek's assets. At trial, the Bank argued Clancy did not have standing to assert such a counterclaim. Clancy assured the trial court that her counterclaim did not seek damages for any injury to Honey Creek. [4] She argued, instead, that she could assert the counterclaim in her capacity as a guarantor because the loss in value of Honey Creek's assets injured her in her capacity as a guarantor. Although the trial court had previously directed a verdict against Clancy on her defense that her guaranty liability stood exonerated by the Bank's impairment of collateral, [5] it nevertheless allowed Clancy, as a guarantor, to maintain a claim for negligence against the Bank. ¶ 17 In any action based on negligence, the first prerequisite must be to establish the existence of a legally cognizable duty. Wofford v. Eastern State Hosp., 1990 OK 77, 795 P.2d 516, 518. Duty is a question of law for the court in a negligence action although the existence of a duty often depends on the relationship of the parties. Delbrel v. Doenges Bros. Ford, Inc., 1996 OK 36, 913 P.2d 1318, 1320. ¶ 18 In the instant case, Clancy failed to establish the existence of a legally cognizable duty owed to her by the Bank to preserve the value of Honey Creek's assets. Clancy claims that Armitage, one of the coowners and president of Honey Creek, damaged Honey Creek's assets by mismanaging the Park and by selling the Park's animals and equipment without applying the proceeds to the debt. Clancy blames the Bank for failing to prevent Armitage from damaging Honey Creek's assets. ¶ 19 Clancy failed to establish, however, that the Bank owed her a duty to prevent a diminution in value of Honey Creek. The evidence at trial established that the relationship of the Bank and Clancy was a debtor-creditor relationship, not a fiduciary relationship. Beshara v. Southern Nat. Bank, 1996 OK 90, 928 P.2d 280, 288 (a bank's relationship to its customer is that of debtor-creditor). Similarly, Clancy failed to identify any written agreement that imposed upon the Bank a duty to monitor the loan collateral for the benefit of Honey Creek, Clancy or Acme. In the instant case it was the duty of Honey Creek's officers and directors, including Clancy, to manage Honey Creek's assets  not the duty of the Bank. ¶ 20 Because Clancy did not establish that the Bank owed her a duty to preserve the value of Honey Creek's assets, Clancy's negligence counterclaim against the Bank failed as a matter of law under the evidence presented. The trial court erred in not granting the Bank's motion for JNOV on Clancy's negligence counterclaim against the Bank. We reverse the trial court's judgment to the extent that it awarded money damages to Clancy on her counterclaim.