Opinion ID: 427080
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Compensatory Purpose.

Text: 39 To the extent the fine was intended to be compensatory, the fine must be based on Heritage's actual losses sustained as a result of the contumacy. Id.; Perfect Fit Industries, Inc., v. Acme Quilting Co., 646 F.2d 800, 810 (2d Cir.1981); Allied Materials Corp. v. Superior Products, Co., 620 F.2d 224, 227 (10th Cir.1980). 40 Here, Heritage points to no evidence in the record demonstrating any actual losses caused by the Shufflers' improper behavior. We cannot uphold the $500 per day fine as lost profits on the $190,000 due under the judgment that Heritage would have earned had the Shufflers not obstructed foreclosure, for the record is barren of any evidence to indicate that Heritage actually incurred a loss in profits in excess of the post judgment interest payable pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961 (1976). Nor is there any evidence in the record to support a finding that Heritage incurred actual damages in the amount of $500 per day in attorney's fees and costs as a result of the Shufflers' contumacy. Absent findings regarding Heritage's actual losses, the fine cannot be sustained as a compensatory remedy. 41 Moreover, even if the fine were imposed to compensate Heritage for actual losses, the fine should not have run until sale of the properties or actual payment occurred. As we have explained, because the Shufflers were in contempt of the court's February judgment only from February 16, 1983, through April 28, 1983, the fine could properly have been imposed only for Heritage's actual losses resulting from the period of actual contempt. Losses Heritage incurred after that period were not the proper subject of a compensatory contempt sanction, for they were the result not of the Shufflers' failure to obey the February judgment, but Heritage's own decision not to foreclose immediately on the properties once they had been released from the Coastal bankruptcy. IV