Lawrence P. Hanson
Curricula Vitae
Lawrence P. Hanson’s office is in
Fremont, Michigan where he was raised. Prior to moving back to his hometown,
his office was located in Indian River, Michigan where he had resided since
1987. He has maintained a general civil
law practice there since 2000, focusing on real estate transactions and
litigation. He is a licensed Real
Estate Broker.
He was formerly a partner in Bodman, Longley &
Dahling’s Cheboygan Office. Prior to
joining that firm in 1984, he was engaged in a general practice in Petoskey,
Michigan. He started practicing with
Legal Services of Northern Michigan, in its Alpena office, from 1979 to 1982,
with a practice emphasis in consumer and bankruptcy law in an eight county area. He attended
Mr. Hanson has been a board member of the Tip of the
Mitt Watershed Council, President of the Board of the Mullet Lake Area
Preservation Society, board member of the Indian River Golf Course, board
member of the State Health Coordinating Council and Northern Michigan Health
Council. He is currently a board member
of Northern Michigan Legal Services, Inc.
Mr. Hanson’s practice has focused on
creditor’s rights, commercial law litigation and real estate. Represented commercial clients include North
Bank, Monroe Bank & Trust, The CIT Group/ Equipment Financing, Inc.,
Grayling State Bank, First National Bank of Gaylord, Citizens National Bank of
Cheboygan, Capac State Bank, Houghton National Bank, Straits Area Federal
Credit Union, Onaway Community Federal Credit Union, FMB-Northwestern Bank,
Northwest Federal Savings Bank of Spencer, Iowa and Ford Consumer Finance
Company, Inc. He has represented these
clients in complex commercial loan litigation, bankruptcy proceedings, loan
workouts, collections and lender liability litigation in state and federal
courts throughout Michigan. He has
drafted and revised standard and special loan documents for financial
institutions, including comprehensive inventory finance agreements, mortgages,
commercial land contracts and mortgages and commercial loan guarantees, has
presented sessions for lenders, and represents clients in the sale of their
business and residential property.
Cases
in which Mr. Hanson has been primary counsel, which resulted in published
opinions includes:
Mr. Hanson represented Independent Bank in pursuing a claim for
insurance coverage under an umbrella liability policy. The claim was removed to the federal
district court, which agreed with the insurer’s defense and dismissed the
action. The policy included language
suggesting that it covered losses arising from discrimination loss in one
section and excepted such claims from coverage in another. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed,
holding that the policy required the insurer to pay the costs of defending an
employment discrimination lawsuit brought against the Bank by a terminated
senior officer. 125 F .3d 983 (1997).
NBD/Ladd v Ford Consumer Finance
Company, et al., 550 NW2d 826 (Mich App 1996)
In a Genessee County action, both Ford and NBD claimed a first priority
security interest in mobile homes, which were sold out of trust by an insolvent
dealer. Ford claimed priority because
no certificates of title were issued or transferred as part of the purported
sales of the mobile homes as is required by the title provisions of the Mobile
Home Commission Act, MCLA 125.2330; MSA 19.855(130). Because such a “sale” is by statute ineffective, the mobile home
remained the property of the dealer subject to Ford’s perfected inventory
security interest. NBD financed the
retail purchases from the dealer.
Although it had not perfected its lien, by title notation, it claimed
priority through the purchaser’s bona fide purchaser status, relying on UCC
sections 2.403 and 9.307. Summary
disposition was initially granted in favor of Ford, then on reconsideration, in
favor of NBD and Ladd. Ford’s appeal
resulted in reversal in the Court of Appeals.
NBD sought leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, which reversed
the Court of Appeals without addressing the issues considered by the lower
courts.
Frick v North Bank, 542 NW2d 331 (Mich App
1995)
In this case, a property owner brought an action in Iosco County against
North Bank, alleging that it failed to act in accordance with industry
practices relating to the construction financing of a condominium project. The Bank had lent $600,000 to build the
first of two six-unit condominium buildings on property deeded by the Fricks to
a developer. The developer gave the
Fricks a mortgage for the sale price of $170,000, which was subordinated to the
Bank’s construction mortgage in an agreement signed by the Fricks. The condominium units did not sell as
predicted and the Bank foreclosed its mortgage after the developer stopped
making payments on the construction mortgage.
The Fricks could not recover their purchase price from the property or
the developer. Mr. Hanson prevailed on
a summary judgment motion in the trial court and the Fricks appealed. Mr. Hanson again was successful on behalf of
North Bank in the Court of Appeals.
Eriksen v Fisher, 421 NW2d 193 (Mich App 1988)
This action arose out
of a Cheboygan County land contract foreclosure. The land contract specified a 12% post-default interest rate,
which the mortgagors claimed was usurious.
In a claim filed to block foreclosure, the vendees asserted that all
interest payments collected should be applied to reduce the principal on the
note. At both the trial court level and
the appellate level, Mr. Hanson successfully argued that the post-default rate
was not usurious. Costs were awarded
against the opposing counsel. Leave to
appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court was denied.
Marina
Bay Condominiums, Inc v Schlegel, 423 NW2d 284 (Mich App 1988)
The plaintiffs were owners of a condominium project, and brought this
action against a potential purchaser who had paid $2,600 into escrow as a
deposit on one of the units. In
addition to successfully arguing at both the trial court and appellate levels
that its client was entitled to retain the deposit, Mr. Hanson also obtained an
award of interest on the amount of the deposit from the date the complaint was
filed.
In
re Northern Acres, Inc., 53 B.R. 641 (WD Mich 1985)
Mr. Hanson represented Hillman State Bank in bankruptcy proceedings and
a state court action in Montmorency County in which the central issue was a
priority dispute with respect to the land contract vendor’s interest in dozens
of land contracts. The vendor bought
large undeveloped parcels of land, subdivided them and sold them on land
contracts. These land contracts were
assigned to the bank to secure purchase money financing and were later also
“sold” to “investors”. Judgment was
entered in favor of the bank in both bankruptcy and state court. The state court judgment was affirmed on
appeal.
Mr. Hanson represented
a group of subdivision residents against an individual violating a subdivision
restriction involving the placement of a modular home in their
subdivision. The subdivision residents
prevailed at trial in this matter in the Cheboygan Circuit Court; which was
summarily affirmed in the Court of Appeals.
In 1994, Mr. Hanson successfully defended a Bank against
claims by a commercial builder, who contested the actions of the Bank in
connection with the sale of certain collateral in an Iosco County action. The Bank had acted in accordance with the
terms of a workout agreement. Another
creditor had obtained a judgment against the builder, and a sheriff’s levy
against the builder’s property. Since
the Bank had a lien against the builder’s equipment under the workout
agreement, the judgment creditor negotiated with the Bank for a release of the
lien in exchange for a portion of the sale proceeds. The builder contested this arrangement, claiming that the Bank
should have acted to stop the sheriff’s sale, and further claiming that all
of the proceeds of the sale should have been applied against the debt to the
Bank. Mr. Hanson was successful at
trial in having all of the builder’s claims dismissed, and obtained a verdict
in favor of the bank for principal, interest, and attorney fees.
In 1990, after Mr. Hanson started a collection and
foreclosure action on behalf of a bank in Lapeer County against a large carrot
farm, the defendants brought a multi-theory lender liability action against the
bank. The complaint sought $2,500,000
in damages, allegedly arising from the Bank’s setoff of approximately $180,000
from the defendants’ accounts. Mr.
Hanson obtained a summary judgment for the Bank.
In a 1990 Iosco County case, a dairy farmer, noteworthy for his jury
trial and Appellate Court success in a suit against State Bank of Standish,
filed suit against a client bank claiming damages arising from the bank’s
decision not to advance further funds to his business. Mr. Hanson not only obtained a dismissal of
the claim, but also an award of the bank’s attorney fees and costs against the
plaintiff. Mr. Hanson was also successful
in obtaining dismissal of plaintiff’s appeal.
In a collection action
brought on behalf of a client bank, in Crawford County, the defendant raised a
defense and counterclaim based on a lender liability theory. The defendant, a business owner, claimed
that the President of the Bank had advised him to sell his business, thus
causing his default on the loan. Mr.
Hanson first successfully argued that the business owner’s claims were not
defenses to the collection action and then were successful in having the
counterclaim dismissed.
In 1994, a client-bank
was sued by the conservator of the guarantor whose son had allegedly
systematically transferred or encumbered the bulk of his father’s estate for
his own benefit pursuant to a guarantee and a 1988 Durable Power of
Attorney. The Conservator filed a
complaint in a cause of action against the Bank in order to enjoin any
foreclosure of the encumbered property and to seek a declaration of the Bank’s
respective rights and obligations. A
temporary restraining order was granted enjoining the Bank from proceeding with
foreclosure. In support of the motion
the Bank obtained an expert determination supporting the authenticity of
guarantor’s signature on the guarantee and its Motion for Summary Disposition
was granted in its entirety.
In another Monroe
County case, Mr. Hanson represented the Bank in the liquidation of an auto
dealership and action to collect on the loan guaranty. The guarantor defended on the basis that the
Bank had failed to detect out of trust sales and had allowed the loan to exceed
the amount stated in the guaranty. This
case was settled after mediation on favorable terms to the Bank.
Mr. Hanson was lead counsel for a Bank in a
Cheboygan County Circuit Court case tried in 1998. He successfully defended the bank from the purchaser’s claims of
misrepresentation in the sale of a campground, sold by the bank after
foreclosure. The plaintiff’s million
dollar plus claims were rejected by the jury after 14 days of trial. A substantial award of attorneys’ fees for
successfully defending the claims was recovered by the bank from the
purchasers.
Miscellaneous:
Mr. Hanson has also represented
banks in connection with: