Belfance v. Bushey (In Re Bushey)

210 B.R. 95, 38 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 761, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 1079
CourtBankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 21, 1997
DocketBAP 97-8015
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 210 B.R. 95 (Belfance v. Bushey (In Re Bushey)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Belfance v. Bushey (In Re Bushey), 210 B.R. 95, 38 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 761, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 1079 (bap6 1997).

Opinion

*98 OPINION

On the ground that the Chapter 7 trustee lacked standing under 11 U.S.C. § 544(b) and Ohio fraudulent conveyance law, the bankruptcy court granted summary judgment to the defendants in this action to avoid the transfer of a residence by the debtor to her daughter. Because the bankruptcy court applied the wrong legal standard to determine standing to avoid a fraudulent conveyance under 11 U.S.C. § 544(b) and Ohio law, we reverse the grant of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.

I. ISSUES ON APPEAL

There are four issues: (1) Whether the standing of a trustee to avoid a fraudulent conveyance under 11 U.S.C. § 544(b) is limited by the condition that the claim used by the trustee as the predicate for the avoidance action must be identical to a claim in the bankruptcy case; (2) whether a creditor with a continuously open credit card account is an “existing” creditor under Ohio Rev.Code Ann. §§ 1336.04, 1336.06, and 1336.07 (Anderson 1979 & Supp.1986) (repealed), 1 notwithstanding that the account balance passed through zero between the challenged transfer and the bankruptcy filing; (3) whether a creditor with a continuously open credit card account is a “future” creditor under Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 1336.06 and § 1336.07 notwithstanding that the account balance passed through zero between the challenged transfer and the bankruptcy filing; and (4) whether a constructive or resulting trust is an available remedy under Ohio law in this litigation.

II. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio authorized appeals to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit and transferred this appeal to the BAP with the consent of all parties. The BAP has jurisdiction to hear the appeal of a final order of the bankruptcy court. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a).

A final order “ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment.” Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States, 489 U.S. 794, 798, 109 S.Ct. 1494, 1497, 103 L.Ed.2d 879 (1989) (citations and internal quotations omitted). The grant of summary judgment to the defendants in this adversary proceeding was a final, appealable order. 2

The grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Monette v. Electronic Data Sys. Corp., 90 F.3d 1173, 1176 (6th Cir.1996); Investors Credit Corp. v. Batie (In re Batie), 995 F.2d 85, 88-9 (6th Cir.1993). Summary judgment is appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). “In determining whether the non-moving party has raised a genuine issue of material fact, ‘[t]he evidence of [appellant] is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in [its] favor.’ ” PSI Repair Servs., Inc. v. Honeywell, Inc., 104 F.3d 811, 814 (6th Cir.1997) (quoting Eastman Kodak Co. *99 v. Image Technical Servs., Inc., 504 U.S. 451, 456, 112 S.Ct. 2072, 2076, 119 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992)). See also Brooks v. American Broadcasting Cos., 932 F.2d 495, 500 (6th Cir.1991). “When a court reviews an issue under a de novo standard of review, the court is determining questions of fact and law as though the reviewing court was the original trial court.” Razavi v. Commissioner, 74 F.3d 125, 127 (6th Cir.1996).

III. STATEMENT OF FACTS

Wilma L. Bushey filed a Chapter 7 petition on September 23, 1994. The statements and schedules revealed her residence as 888 Blanding Avenue, Akron, Ohio, but no interest in real property was listed as an asset. The trustee inquired about the Blanding Avenue property at the meeting of creditors. Debtor explained that she lived at the property since its transfer to her daughter, Sharon M. Nolan, on April 8, 1986. Further investigation established that debtor’s interest in the property had been transferred to her daughter for $1.00, at the insistence of debtor’s husband. 3 Debtor professes not to know why her husband insisted on the transfer to their daughter. Debtor pays Nolan no rent. Nolan does not reside at the property, although as an adult she lived there briefly during a divorce.

At the 1986 transfer to Nolan, the property was mortgaged with less than two years of payments remaining. After the conveyance, debtor and her husband continued to pay the mortgage, insurance and taxes. After the final mortgage payment, Nolan began to pay the property taxes. There is conflicting evidence regarding who now pays for insurance.

On March 28, 1988, debtor’s husband passed away. Debtor used life insurance proceeds to pay off debt. Among the creditors paid in full in 1988 were Citibank Visa and Citibank MasterCard. Each was owed a debt on a revolving charge or open account.

In 1986, at the time the debtor transferred the property to her daughter, the Citibank MasterCard account existed and had a balance due. 4 Citibank MasterCard is a creditor in this Chapter 7 case, based on its continuous credit relationship with the debt- or.

The Citibank Visa account traces back at least to its payment in full in 1988. Citibank Visa is a creditor in this bankruptcy case. The Visa account number changed sometime during 1992, but there is no evidence of any break in the credit relationship between Visa and the debtor.

The trustee brought this action under 11 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
210 B.R. 95, 38 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 761, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 1079, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/belfance-v-bushey-in-re-bushey-bap6-1997.