Hotel 71 Mezz Lender LLC v. The Nat’l Retirement Fund

Dist. Ct. erred in granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in action seeking declaration that plaintiff-lender who acquired debtor/hotel in foreclosure action on defaulted loan, was not responsible for hotel’s multiemployer pension fund withdrawal liability pursuant to section 4201 of MPPAA, where hotel underwent Chapter 11 reorganization plan initiated by plaintiff. While Dist. Ct. properly found that defendant’s summary judgment motion could not be granted where defendant failed to present any evidence to establish that plaintiff was trade or business for purposes of imposing liability under MPPAA, Dist. Ct. erred in further finding that plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment on trade or business status issue without giving defendant notice that it was considering entry of judgment in plaintiff’s favor on said issue. On remand, if Dist. Ct. finds that plaintiff is trade or business, it must further resolve whether certain provisions of hotel’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan barred defendant from pursuing any withdrawal liability claim against plaintiff.