Armstrong v. Ketterling (In Re Anchorage Marina, Inc.)

93 B.R. 686, 20 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1091, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2060, 1988 WL 130533
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. North Dakota
DecidedJuly 20, 1988
Docket19-30076
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 93 B.R. 686 (Armstrong v. Ketterling (In Re Anchorage Marina, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. North Dakota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armstrong v. Ketterling (In Re Anchorage Marina, Inc.), 93 B.R. 686, 20 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1091, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2060, 1988 WL 130533 (N.D. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WILLIAM A. HILL, Bankruptcy Judge.

The matter before the court is an adversary proceeding by which the trustee seeks to recover payments made by the Debtor, Anchorage Marina, Inc. (Anchorage), to the defendants. The trustee asserts that the payments constituted fraudulent and preferential transfers. Defendants Robert B. Hart and Arnold Ketterling were Anchorage shareholders and directors. Defendant Hart Agency, Inc. was Hart’s employer at the time of the transfers. The trustee also seeks turnover of Anchorage accounts receivable and books and records from the defendants. Trial was held on the matter on June 16, 1988. From the testimony and exhibits introduced at the hearing, and the deposition transcript of Jerry Spaedy, the court finds the relevant facts to be as follows:

Findings of Fact

In late 1985, real estate agent Kit Hene-gar listed for sale a marina located on North Dakota state park land on Lake Sa-kakawea. The marina rented and sold boats and had facilities for launching, repairing, and refueling boats. In addition to the boat operation, the marina sold groceries and concessions. After the marina owners had rejected two offers of $800,-000.00 and $900,000.00, Henegar himself made an offer of $1,037,000.00 for the marina. Henegar made the offer without having an appraisal done. The purchase price consisted of $923,000.00 for the marina’s tangible assets and $114,000.00 for a covenant not to compete by the former owners. The $114,000.00 payment was termed a “blue sky” payment by the parties. Hene-gar’s purchase offer was contingent upon obtaining financing for the purchase.

Ultimately, Garrison State Bank (Bank) agreed, subject to conditions, to loan Hene-gar approximately $923,000.00 to purchase *688 the marina. The financing consisted of four promissory notes. The first note, in the amount of $332,574.00, was secured with the inventory of new boats and motors. This “floor plan” financing was assumed from the prior owners of the marina. The floor plan was a revolving arrangement in which the debt was paid down when the marina sold the boat from its inventory and then increased again when a new boat was purchased. The second note, in the approximate amount of $176,000.00, was used to purchase the marina’s rental boat line. The third note, in the amount of $377,827.00, was used to purchase the balance of the non-boat marina assets. The fourth note was an operating loan in the amount of $60,000.00, however, only $36,000.00 was initially advanced. In addition to the financing from the Bank, the former owners agreed to finance the $114,000.00 “blue sky” payment. Thus, the marina purchase was exclusively financed with debt.

As a condition of the Bank’s financing, Henegar needed someone to guarantee ten percent (10%) of the amount of the loan. Henegar contacted Hart who agreed to make the guarantee in exchange for a ten percent ownership interest in the marina. Hart also insisted that Ketterling, a Bismarck financial consultant, be brought into the marina project to provide financial expertise. In exchange for his input Ketter-ling was also to receive a ten percent ownership interest in the marina.

Henegar, Hart, and Ketterling incorporated the marina operation into Anchorage Marina, Inc. Henegar owned eighty percent (80%) of the stock with Hart and Ket-terling each owning ten percent. Rather than organizing the corporation so that the shareholders voted in proportion to their ownership interest, however, Anchorage was structured so that each shareholder had one vote. All three shareholders became directors of the corporation.

In addition to being a director, Henegar was also the president of Anchorage and the general manager of the marina. In exchange for his services as manager, the Anchorage board of directors (Board) agreed to pay him $24,000.00 per year. Hart was made the secretary/treasurer of the corporation and Ketterling became the vice-president and chief financial counsel. The Board did not make any provisions to compensate Hart or Ketterling for their services as directors or in any other capacities.

As marina manager Henegar was to develop the operation’s basic financial information at the marina. This information would include sales tickets, justified checking accounts statements, cash register tapes, and the basic documents produced by a boat sale. He was then to send the basic data to Ketterling in Bismarck, who would send out billings and produce financial statements.

On April 26, 1986, Anchorage purchased and began operating the marina. Shortly after taking possession of the marina facility the Board made several inventories and discovered that the value of the marina’s assets was not equal to its purchase price. A closer inspection revealed that much of the parts inventory was missing. Purchase invoices indicated that this inventory should have been included in the niarina purchase. A closer inspection also revealed that some boats were missing and many of the tools from the shop were gone. The Board had to spend $15,000.00 to make the repair shop serviceable. Also virtually every new boat in the floor plan inventory had been cannibalized for parts in some way. Almost immediately after Anchorage began operating it became apparent that Henegar was not capable of managing the marina’s finances. From its inception Anchorage’s creditors were not being paid and it was plagued with checking account overdrafts. Henegar was unable to correctly generate basic financial information and get it to Ketterling. Ketterling and Anchorage’s accountant, Jerry Spaedy, did not receive sufficient information to produce the company’s first financial statements until the end of August. Henegar did not forward the information necessary for Ket-terling to send out billings. Consequently, in some cases customers who had purchased boats in June were not billed for them until August. At a July meeting the *689 Board decided that running the marina was too complex for Henegar and that he should be replaced with another more experienced manager and moved into a public relations position. This decision was not implemented at that time.

In addition to the management problems Anchorage also developed difficulties with its financing from the Bank. Ketterling met with a bank officer on June 3, 1986. At the meeting the bank officer informed Ketterling that Anchorage would not be allowed to draw any of the $24,000.00 remaining on its operating loan. Ketterling responded that Anchorage was already, in his opinion, insolvent. He further stated that without the balance of the operating loan Anchorage would be forced into bankruptcy. The Bank, however, did not relent on its decision regarding the operating loan. Moreover, it indicated that it was going to discontinue the floor plan financing. Following this meeting Anchorage began selling its floor plan boats at cost or less in an attempt to have its floor plan inventory liquidated by September 1, 1986.

On August 1, 1986, while Henegar was away on his honeymoon, Hart and Ketter-ling went to the marina office and took all of the books and records from Henegar’s desk. From this point onward Henegar was effectively ousted from his position as manager and Ketterling took over the marina operation. Before this point Ketter-ling had not invested a substantial amount of time into Anchorage’s operation.

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Bluebook (online)
93 B.R. 686, 20 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1091, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2060, 1988 WL 130533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armstrong-v-ketterling-in-re-anchorage-marina-inc-ndb-1988.