Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries, Inc. v. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

In action seeking declaration that plaintiff did not owe prepayment charge pursuant to terms of loan agreement with defendant, Dist. Ct. did not err in finding that plaintiff owed prepayment fee where agreement called for said payment where, as here, plaintiff notified defendant of desire to prepay loan at time where terms of loan called for payment of interest at fixed rate. Ct. rejected plaintiff’s claim that no prepayment fee was required where loan agreement called for one-time adjustment of interest rate ten years into 20-year loan period, since: (1) contrary to plaintiff’s claim, one time adjustment of rate did not transform instant agreement into variable rate agreement that would preclude prepayment fee; and (2) plaintiff’s interpretation would render meaningless clause in agreement detailing circumstances for payment of said prepayment fee.