Joseph J. Harding, Jr. v. Pan American Life Insurance Company, a Louisiana Corporation

DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge:

This is a contest over a deposit of $22,000 made by the plaintiff, a real estate developer, with the defendant insurance company incident to a loan commitment of $1,100,000, by way of permanent financing for a proposed shopping center to be built by the plaintiff. Federal jurisdiction rested on diversity. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The basic issue is whether the deposit is to be treated as a standby deposit, as a penalty, or as a deposit to be reimbursed the plaintiff. The plaintiff asserts that the deposit is to be treated as a penalty, or, failing that, as a fund to…