Justice David Schmidt
Love alleged that defendants damaged his house during construction of a three-family house on adjoining property. Defendants are real estate developers who, through various companies that they own in common, buy properties and resell after building houses or apartments thereon. In this case, through a company they owned known as Rebecca Inc., defendants bought the premises at issue, then a vacant lot. Defendants later moved to dismiss the complaint against them, contending that Love had failed to allege a cause of action for piercing the corporate veil as they observed corporate formalities and did not otherwise misuse the corporate form. The court agreed with defendants and dismissed the piercing the corporate veil claims against them, holding that they did not abuse the corporate form to commit a fraud or wrong against Love. The court noted the fact that they created the entities at issue for the legitimate business purpose of purchasing and developing the properties. The court also noted that defendants transferred the property from Rebecca Inc. to another entity which they had formed more than 10 years ago because a bank required the transfer as part of a loan refinancing relating to several properties.
