Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
A New Jersey bank has filed a lawsuit against the Lebanon Township First Aid Squad in New Jersey Superior Court asking for $57,055 in principal, interest and legal fees related to a 2009 loan made to the squad. The squad is a private volunteer organization.
The Peapack-Gladstone Bank had asked Lebanon Township to pay off the balance owed by the squad, but Township attorney Philip George told the bank “The Township of Lebanon will not ‘make good’ on any debt of the squad to your bank. The Township of Lebanon did not render the squad unable to pay its debts.”
However, last spring the township stopped the rescue squad from operating, leading to a separate lawsuit between the squad and the township. The township transferred the squad’s responsibilities to the Lebanon Township Volunteer Fire Department and the township took possession of the squad’s ambulances.
George accused the bank of not doing its “due diligence” in investigating the financial status of the squad, and the emphasized the fact that there was no relationship between the squad and the township. However, you cannot help but see a contradiction in the township’s position. Essentially the township is saying – we are not liable for the squad’s bills because they are a separate entity that we do not control…. yet it was the township who stopped the squad from operating, reassigned its responsibilities to the fire department, and took possession of their ambulances.
In the suit between the squad and the township, a judge in June, 2010 ordered the ambulances returned to the squad. The township is again pressing for the return of the vehicles. Attorney for the squad, Ron Peles, said "The actions of the Lebanon Township Committee have made it impossible for the squad to repay the debt”.
Should be an interesting hearing when the matter finally gets to trial: “So Mr. Township Committee Member, let me get this straight, it is your testimony that the township does not control the squad, yet the township helped fund the squad until recently, and last spring you stopped funding the squad and prevented it from operating. You then took possession of the squad's vehicles, and you assigned their duties to the fire department. And you are currently involved in litigation to take legal control of their vehicles. Do I have that correctly?”.
