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Bumila v. Keiser Homes
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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT					Reporter of Decisions
Decision:	1997 ME 139
Docket:	Oxf-96-725
Argued:	May 6, 1997
Decided:	June 25, 1997

Panel:WATHEN, C.J., and ROBERTS, GLASSMAN, CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, and
LIPEZ, JJ.  

GEORGE BUMILA et al.

v.

KEISER HOMES OF MAINE, INC. et al.

GLASSMAN, J.
  
	[¶1] George Bumila, individually, and George Bumila and Frances
Bumila, as trustees of the Pine Hill Estates Pension Plan and Trust
(collectively referred to as the Bumilas), appeal from the judgment entered
in the Superior Court (Oxford County, Brodrick, A.R.J.) in favor of Robert
Huotari,{1} Edward Luck, Dorothy Luck, Robert Cross, L. Samuel Deegan and
Hanya Kandlis (the defendants) following a nonjury trial on the Bumilas'
complaint seeking, inter alia, a recovery against the defendants on their
respective guarantees for the obligation of Keiser Homes of Maine, Inc.
(Keiser Homes).  Because we agree with the Bumilas that the guarantees
executed by the defendants guaranteed the $300,000 obligation of Keiser
Homes and not the repayment of a specific promissory note, we vacate the
judgment as to Counts II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII of the complaint{2} and affirm
the judgment as to the remaining counts.  
	[¶2] Keiser Homes, a Maine corporation, is presently insolvent and
inactive.  The company constructed and sold modular and mobile homes.  At
the times relevant to this action the defendants, as well as George Bumila
and Edward Keiser, Jr., were the shareholders and directors of Keiser
Homes.  Keiser also served as the president of the corporation.  
	[¶3] At a meeting in October 1988, the Keiser Homes board of
directors considered expanding the company's manufacturing facility by
constructing a warehouse and frame shop and discussed its options for
financing the expansion.  All of the directors were present at that meeting
except Kandlis, who did not participate in any of the relevant meetings of
the directors.  After the board concluded that a financing offer from a local
bank was unreasonable, Bumila stated that he would loan $300,000 to the
corporation to fund the expansion.  Although Bumila contemplated that the
$300,000 loan would be made from the assets of the Pine Hill Estates
Pension Plan and Trust, a pension trust for which he and his wife, Frances
Bumila, acted as trustees,{3} he did not inform the other board members of
the source of the loan.  The board accepted Bumila's loan proposal, which
included a requirement that each of the defendants execute a personal
guaranty.  
	[¶4] The corporation retained an attorney to draft the necessary
documentation for the loan transaction.  A closing was held on November
23, 1988.  Present at the meeting were the corporation's attorney, Keiser
and Bumila.  Each defendant had signed a consent, which provided:
 
	The undersigned, being a shareholder of the corporation,
hereby consents to the following action: 

RESOLVED:To authorize the corporation to borrow the
sum of $300,000 from George Bumila of
Raynham, Massachusetts secured by a
mortgage on the company's premises in
Oxford, Maine and to authorize Edward K.
Keiser, President of the corporation to execute
the note and mortgage and to take such other
acts as are necessary to accomplish the loan.  

Each defendant had also signed a "LIMITED GUARANTY OF ALL LIABILITY,"
which was delivered to Bumila.  The guarantees provide as follows: 
	For valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby
acknowledged, the undersigned guarantees fulfillment to George
Bumila of Raynham, Massachusetts (herein called "Bumila") of all
obligations of Keiser Homes of Maine, Inc., created by a
$300,000 promissory note given by Keiser Homes of Maine, Inc.
to Bumila dated November 23, 1988.  Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the liability of the Guarantor herein shall be limited to
87% of the amount from time to time due on said note.{4} 

	Guarantor waives presentment, protest, notice of
acceptance of this guaranty, notice of any loans made, extensions
granted, or other action taken in reliance hereon and all
demands and notices of every kind in connection with this
guaranty or the obligations hereby guaranteed; assents to any
renewal, extension or postponement of the time of payment or
any other indulgence, and agrees to the provisions of the notes
and/or other papers evidencing the obligations hereby
guaranteed.  

	The Guarantor understands and agrees that the obligation
or obligations being guaranteed may be evidenced by a demand
note and that the interest rate on such a demand note may be
variable.  No change in the interest rate on any such note will in
any way alter, discharge, or affect the liability of the Guarantor
hereunder, and the Guarantor expressly waives any notice of any
such change in interest rates.  

	This Guaranty shall inure to the benefit of Bumila, his heirs
and assigns and shall be binding upon Guarantor and the
executor(s), administrator(s) and/or other legal
representative(s) of Guarantor.  If this guaranty is signed by more
than one person, whether or not they are a member of a
partnership, it shall be the joint and several obligation of said
persons.  

	The undersigned executes this guaranty in consideration
of similar guarantys executed by each of the other stockholders
of Keiser Homes of Maine, Inc. except George Bumila, and
further in consideration of the right of each guarantor to seek
contribution from the other guarantors, in the event of call on
any one or more of the guarantys.  

	This instrument is intended to take effect as a sealed
instrument.  

	[¶5] Following its execution by Keiser, a promissory note (the Bumila
note), evidencing Bumila as the payee, was delivered to Bumila.  In
exchange, Bumila gave Keiser two checks, a $50,000 bank check and a
$250,000 check from the pension trust.  None of the parties at the closing
noted the discrepancy between the source of the funds and the designation
of Bumila individually as the creditor on the loan documentation.
	[¶6] The first payment on the note was by a check naming Bumila
individually as payee.  Immediately after its receipt, Bumila contacted Keiser
and requested that subsequent checks be made out to the pension trust and
that Keiser contact the corporation's attorney concerning rewriting the
promissory note to reflect the pension trust as the creditor.  He also
returned the check and asked for a replacement with the trust designated
as payee.  
	[¶7] In late December 1988 or in January 1989, after Bumila had
spoken with the corporation's attorney, it was agreed that the pension trust
should be substituted for Bumila on the note.{5}  Accordingly, the attorney
prepared a new note (the pension trust note) reflecting Pine Hill Estates
Pension Plan and Trust as the payee.  No new consents or guarantees were
executed.  
	[¶8] A meeting of the board was held on April 21, 1989.  There was no
discussion of the planned modifications to the Bumila note.  At the
conclusion of the meeting, Keiser, Bumila, Deegan and the corporation's
attorney stepped into Keiser's office where Keiser executed the pension
trust note.  The note was dated "as of" November 23, 1988.  No new
consideration was exchanged.  Subsequently, Bumila wrote "void and
satisfied" on the Bumila note, signed it, and returned it to the corporation. 
The pension trust note was then forwarded to Bumila.  Keiser paid
approximately $145,000.00 on the note but failed to make further payments
after October 23, 1990.  
	[¶9] Following the filing of answers by the individual defendants to the
Bumilas' multi-count complaint,{6} they joined in a motion seeking a summary
judgment in their favor on those claims based on their individual guarantees
and the claims of their individual unjust enrichment.  After a hearing, the
court (Marsano, J.), granted their motion for a summary judgment on the
claims of unjust enrichment.  
	[¶10] Following a three-day trial in October 1996, the court (Brodrick,
A.R.J.) issued its decision in favor of the defendants on each of the
remaining counts in the Bumilas' complaint.  The court found that the
language of the Limited Guarantees was unambiguous and guaranteed only
the payment of that specific note naming George Bumila as payee.  The court
refused to grant relief to the Bumilas on their allegations seeking
reformation of the Bumila note or ratification of the pension trust note. 
From the judgment entered accordingly, the Bumilas appeal.  
	[¶11] The Bumilas' principal contention is that the court erred by
concluding that the guarantees were limited to the repayment of the Bumila
note.  They argue that the plain language of the documents relevant to this
transaction demonstrates that the guarantees were not restricted to the
Bumila note, but were guarantees for the unpaid balance of the $300,000
lent to Keiser Homes.  We agree.{7}  
	[¶12] "Since a guarantee is a type of contract . . . guaranties are
governed by the same rules of construction as other contracts." Rosenthal v.
Means, 388 A.2d 113, 114 (Me. 1978) (citation omitted).  "It is a well
established principle that a contract is to be interpreted to give effect to the
intention of the parties as reflected in the written instrument, construed in
respect to the subject matter, motive and purpose of making the agreement,
and the object to be accomplished." Foster v. Foster, 609 A.2d 1171, 1172
(Me. 1992).  "The general rule is that in the absence of anything to indicate
a contrary intention, instruments executed at the same time, by the same
contracting parties, for the same purpose, and in the course of the same
transaction will be considered and construed together, since they are, in the
eyes of the law, one contract or instrument." Kandlis v. Houtari, 678 A.2d
41, 43 (Me. 1996) (quoting 17A am. jur. 2d Contracts § 388 (1991)). 
Whether a contract is ambiguous is a question of law that we review de novo. 
Id.  
	[¶13] The guarantees obligate the defendants "to the provisions of the
notes and/or other papers evidencing the obligations hereby guaranteed."
Plainly, the pension trust note is a "paper evidencing" the guaranteed
$300,000 obligation.  The guarantees also provide that the guarantors "waive
. . . notice of any loans made, extensions granted, or other action taken in
reliance hereon" and assent to "renewal, extension or postponement of the
time for payment or any other indulgence . . . ."  The shareholders' consents
authorize the corporation to borrow the $300,000 from Bumila and to "take
such other acts as are necessary to accomplish the loan."  The defendants
thus granted the principals to the underlying transaction great latitude to
facilitate the capitalization of their closely held corporation.  Accordingly, we
conclude that the court's narrow interpretation of the scope of the
guarantees does not comport with the intention of the parties as reflected in
the relevant documents construed as they must be with respect to the
subject matter, motive and purpose of this transaction which all the parties
agree was to finance the expansion of Keiser Homes.  We conclude that the
guarantees extend to the pension trust note.  
	[¶14] We find no merit in the defendants' contention that they should
not be obligated on the pension trust note because it effectuated a material
alteration of the underlying obligation.  Generally, a material alteration in the
principal contract, when that alteration is made after the execution of the
guaranty contract and without the consent of the guarantor, discharges the
guarantor if the material alteration injures the interest of the guarantor. 
See, e.g., In re Spackler, 17 F.3d 1089, 1091-92 (8th Cir. 1994) (applying
Missouri law).  However, where, as here, the guaranty contract contemplates
the alteration that the guarantor complains of, there is no discharge.  38 Am.
Jur. 2d Guaranty § 83 (1968).  
	[¶15] Moreover, we are unpersuaded that the substitution of the trust
in place of Bumila constituted a material change or injured the interests of
the defendants.  There was no restriction on the assignment of the Bumila
note.  To hold the guarantees unenforceable because Bumila chose to
discharge the Bumila note and accept the pension trust note instead of
assigning the note to the trust would elevate form over substance.  See Essex
International Inc. v. Clamage, 440 F.2d 547, 550 (7th Cir. 1971) (change in
the name of the creditor corporation does not materially alter the obligation
of the guarantor).  
	The entry is:
Judgment vacated as to Counts II, III, IV, V, VI and
VII of the complaint.  Remanded with instructions to
enter judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on these
Counts.  Judgment affirmed as to the remaining
Counts of the complaint. 

Attorneys for plainitffs:

Thomas A. Dyhrberg, Esq. (orally)
P O Box 2401
South Portland, ME 04416-2401

S. James Levis, Esq.
409 Alfred Street
Biddeford, ME 04005

Attorneys for defendants:

Martin I. Eisenstein, Esq. (orally)
Roy T. Pierce, Esq.
Brann & Isaacson
P O Box 3070
Lewiston, ME 04243-3070

David M. Hirshorn, Esq.
Marshall J. Tinkle, Esq.
Thompkins Clough Hirshon & Langer, P.A.
P O Box 15060
Portland, ME 04101

Thomas M. Closson, Esq.
Daniel P. Schwarz, Esq.
Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green
P O Box 3701
Manchester, NH 03105-3701