Texas Court Rejects Claim by Unpaid Creditor That Two LLC Organizers Were Liable as General Partners
LLC organizers sometimes refer to themselves loosely as “partners” during the preliminary stages of a development project, before they get around to forming their limited liability company, but those words can come back to haunt them. Say, for example, that during the pre-formation phase, one of the organizers signs a contract in his own name, intending that the LLC carry out the contract. The LLC is formed, but then the project doesn’t go forward, the parties fall out, and the organizer that signed the contract can’t pay. In that case the creditor on the contract may seek payment from both the contract signer and the other organizer, on the theory that the organizers were partners and therefore were both liable.
The Lawsuit. That scenario played out in Lentz Engineering, L.C. v. Brown, No. 14-10-00610-CV, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 7723 (Tex. App. Sept. 27, 2011). William Wilkins and Alden Brown were planning to purchase and develop a real estate project. Wilkins entered into a contract to purchase the property, and Brown and Wilkins met with an attorney in February 2005 and agreed to form a Texas LLC to carry out the development. In March Brown gave Wilkins $400,000 to purchase the property, and Wilkins acquired the real estate in April. One day later, the attorney filed articles of organization for the LLC, which identified Brown and Wilkins as the LLC’s managers.
During the summer Brown became suspicious of Wilkin’s conduct and attempted to recover his money and obtain title to the property. Meanwhile, Wilkins entered into a contract in his own name with Lentz Engineering for engineering services. Lentz performed its work under the contract but was not paid.
Lentz then sued both Wilkins and Brown for breach of contract. Lentz’s theory was that Wilkins was directly liable on the contract, and that Brown was liable because he was partners with Wilkins and was therefore fully liable for the debts of the partnership. Wilkins defaulted on the lawsuit but Brown defended on the ground that he and Wilkins were not partners.
Judicial Admission. Brown’s first difficulty was self-inflicted. Lentz contended that Brown had judicially admitted in a motion for summary judgment that a partnership existed between Brown and Wilkins. For example, Brown’s motion stated: “Although Wilkins and Brown entered into a partnership to acquire the Manvel property, that partnership was not formed until March 2005.” Brown also made other, similar statements in his motion. Id. at *4-5.
The court dismissed the “judicial admission” contention, because Brown had taken a contrary position in other pleadings and even in the same summary judgment motion. To be considered a judicial admission, a party’s statement must be clear, deliberate, and unequivocal, and Brown’s contradictory statements didn’t satisfy that standard.
Partnership Formation. The court then considered the main argument, i.e., whether Brown and Wilkins had formed a partnership. The Texas statute’s definition of a general partnership is similar to that of most states: an association of two or more persons to carry on a business for profit as owners, regardless of whether the persons intend to create a partnership or whether the association is actually called a “partnership.” Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code Ann. § 152.051(b).
Facts and Circumstances. Whether a partnership exists depends on all the facts and circumstances. Lentz Eng’g, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 7723, at *9. The factors considered in determining if a partnership has been created include:
(a) sharing of profits of the business;
(b) sharing of losses or liability for claims;
(c) contributing or agreeing to contribute money or property to the business;
(d) participating in control of the business; and
(e) expressing an intent to be partners in the business.
Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code Ann. § 152.052. Note that the first three factors – sharing profits, losses, and contributions – are present in almost every LLC. The fourth factor, participating in control, is present in all member-managed LLCs and in some manager-managed LLCs. Only the last factor, expressing an intent to be partners, is not present in an LLC.
The court found uncontroverted evidence of only two of the factors, splitting profits and participating in control of the business. There was contradictory evidence about expressions of intent to be partners. Lentz Eng’g, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 7723, at *12-14.
Going the other way, both Wilkins and Brown expressed their intent to form an LLC, they opened a bank account in the name of the LLC, and the Certificate of Organization for the LLC was filed before the date on which Wilkins signed the contract with Lentz Engineering. Id.
The relative timing of filing the Certificate of Organization and signing the contract seems to have carried extra weight with the court:
Although courts have held promoters of a company may be liable on contracts made by other promoters prior to formation of the company as if the promoters were partners, Lentz has not cited any authority to suggest that liability should be imposed on one promoter because of another promoter's conduct after the formation of the company.
Id. at *15. The court concluded that the evidence did not conclusively establish the existence of a partnership and that the trial court’s finding of no partnership was not against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. The trial court’s ruling in favor of Brown was affirmed.
Lessons Learned. The substantial overlap between an LLC and the five factors listed in the Texas statute is a little scary. New business organizers who refer to each other as partners, before the LLC is created, may rue the day they used that terminology. They may have already discussed and agreed on the first four factors, and if they introduce each other as partners, the stage is set. If one partner signs a contract before the LLC is formed, and then things fall apart and the LLC is not formed, the organizers may find that as partners they are all jointly and severally liable on the contract.
How to avoid this outcome? Expunge the word “partners” from any description of the organizers. One of the great benefits of LLCs is their limited liability; don’t open the door to personal liability by calling yourselves partners.
Organizers should strive to form the LLC early. Any contracts should not be signed until after the LLC is formed, and then they should be signed in the name of the LLC.
Texas Joins the Series LLC Crowd
Texas has joined the seven other states that have authorized series LLCs. The Texas bill authorizing series LLCs was signed by Governor Perry in May and will become effective on September 1, 2009. S.B. 1442. The states that currently authorize series LLCs are Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.
Most state LLC acts allow an LLC to provide for classes of members with different member rights per class. But a series LLC can go further by establishing multiple series of assets, members and managers. The debts and obligations of a series will be enforceable only against the series’ assets, and will not be enforceable against the other series in the LLC or against the LLC generally, and vice versa. The members associated with a series can be given separate rights and duties with regard to the assets of the series.
The separation of assets and partitioning of liabilities between series, all within one LLC, can avoid many of the inefficiencies and costs associated with multiple related entities. For example, a series LLC could be used to hold multiple parcels of real estate, each in a separate series and all within the one LLC. Or, separate divisions of a business could be held by one LLC, but with each division in a separate series.
The Texas statute is similar in many respects to the Delaware act. Both authorize an LLC’s operating agreement to establish one or more designated series. Both acts provide that the liabilities of a series are enforceable only against the assets of the series and not against the LLC generally (and vice versa), if
(a) the records of the series account for its assets separately from the assets of any other series or the LLC generally,
(b) the operating agreement states the liability limitations, and
(c) the certificate of formation gives notice of the limitations on liability.
Each series may in its own name sue and be sued, contract, and hold title to its assets, including real estate and personal property.
Series LLCs can be useful, but there are legal uncertainties involved in their use. Series LLCs are relatively new – Delaware was the first state to authorize series LLCs, in 1996, and there is almost no case law on them. Major areas of uncertainty involve taxation, bankruptcy, and doing business in multiple states.
There are many open tax questions with regard to series LLCs. Although the Internal Revenue Service issued a Private Letter Ruling in 2008 and clarified that each series’ federal tax characterization is determined independently, other state and federal tax questions remain.
It is unclear whether an LLC series will be treated as a debtor in federal bankruptcy court, or whether the bankruptcy court will ignore the series and only consider the entire LLC. The result may depend on whether the relevant state law will treat the series as a separate entity with its own liability shield.
Including Texas there are now eight states whose LLC acts authorize series LLC, but that leaves 42 other states with no series provisions in their acts. It is not at all clear what the courts of a non-series state would do when faced with a claim by a local creditor against an out-of-state series LLC formed under the laws of, say, Delaware. Will the non-series state honor the series structure and respect the internal liability shield? Would a non-series state even allow a series of an LLC formed under the laws of another state to register to transact business in the non-series state?.jpg)
The law of series LLCs is an infant, still a little unsteady on its feet. But at one time LLCs were new and LLC law was the infant. There were many articles back then pointing out the uncertainties and risks of using LLCs when they were first adopted by Wyoming in 1977 and later by other states. Many conservative lawyers recommended against using LLCs in the early years of their authorization by the various states, but eventually all the states authorized LLCs. Today LLC law is more mature and LLCs are the most popular entity form for new businesses. History predicts that the question for series LLCs is not whether they will become routinely used, but when.
