Opinion ID: 522905
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Texarkana Loan Sales

Text: 30 TNB contests the amount owed to it under the TexArk loan participation agreement it purchased from GBSB around October 22, 1981. On or about March 1, 1983, the TexArk loan was in default and the FDIC Corporate, as successor-in-interest to GBSB, caused the property described in the deed of trust to be sold. The FDIC Corporate was also the purchaser at the sale. 31 By the terms of the TexArk loan participation agreement, GBSB and the FDIC Corporate agreed, in pertinent part, to the following: 32 [O]ur sole responsibility to you being ... to account to you for your pro rata share of the net amount of all payments actually received by us with respect to the said note. (emphasis added). 33 The FDIC purchased the TexArk property at the substitute trustee sale for $75,000, the amount outstanding on the loan. TNB claims that it is entitled to its pro rata share of this amount. TNB argues that when the FDIC purchased the property, proceeds were available for distribution, extinguishing the debt without deficiency. The district court agreed with TNB, finding the FDIC liable for $20,000, its pro rata share of the $75,000 figure. We must find to the contrary, looking to the substance of these transactions. 9 34 The FDIC properly undertook to calculate the amount owed to TNB under the loan participation agreement using the figure of $70,000, the subsequent sale price to a third party of the property. The purchase by the FDIC at the trustee's sale was nothing other than a paper transaction. The evidence is undisputed that no money actually changed hands. Rather, the purchase represented a bookkeeping entry, cancelling the outstanding portion of the debt. Thus, no payment was actually received as required by the contract language until the third party sale. The district court was incorrect as a matter of law in its finding that the price at the trustee's sale was the correct figure to calculate the amount owed to TNB. See Jefferson Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Lifetime Sav. & Loan Ass., 396 F.2d 21, 22 (9th Cir.1968). The correct amount appears to be $18,669, 26.67% of the $70,000 received without deduction for sale expenses. The district court refused to deduct expenses in the trustee's sale from the amount owed to TNB, finding that the FDIC failed to prove the issue. This finding is not clearly erroneous in light of the vagueness and uncertainty of the evidence at trial. Moreover, the FDIC only raised the expense issue during oral argument. Arguments raised on appeal must be included in the appellate brief or they may be considered waived. Franceski v. Plaquemines Parish School Board, 772 F.2d 197, 199 n. 1 (5th Cir.1985).