Bohm v. Dolata (In Re Dolata)

306 B.R. 97, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 211, 2004 WL 383251
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 27, 2004
Docket19-70011
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 306 B.R. 97 (Bohm v. Dolata (In Re Dolata)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bohm v. Dolata (In Re Dolata), 306 B.R. 97, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 211, 2004 WL 383251 (Pa. 2004).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

M. BRUCE MCCULLOUGH, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the Court is the four-count adversary action brought by Carlota Bohm, the instant Chapter 7 Trustee (hereafter “the Trustee”), wherein the Trustee (a) pursues fraudulent conveyance avoidance causes of action pursuant to both 11 U.S.C. § 548 (Count 1) and Pennsylvania fraudulent transfer law (Count 2), (b) requests injunctive relief (Count 3), and (c) objects to the above-captioned debtors’ Chapter 7 discharge pursuant to several paragraphs of 11 U.S.C. § 727(a) (Count 4). The Trustee names as defendants in the instant adversary action not only the instant debtors, Joseph Dolata, Jr. and Marie Dolata (hereafter “the Debtors” or “Mr. and/or Mrs. Dolata”), but also the Debtors’ son and daughter-in-law, Joseph Dolata, III and Lori Dolata (hereafter “the Nondebtor Defendants” or “the Son” and/or “the Daughter-in-law”), the latter of whom are so named because they are the transferees of much of the property which the Debtors disposed of and which is the subject of the Trustee’s fraudulent conveyance causes of action. A trial was held on the matter on August 25, 2003. For the reasons set forth below, the Court (a) avoids as fraudulent conveyances several of the property transfers by the Debtors to the Nondebtor Defendants, which property transfers in particular are spelled out in greater detail below, and correspondingly directs the recovery of such property interests or their value from the Nondebtor Defendants, and (b) denies the Chapter 7 discharges of both of the Debtors.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

I. Facts primarily relevant to alleged fraudulent conveyances to the Non-debtor Defendants.

Set forth below, with relevant detail, related facts, and pertinent allegations by the parties, are those transfers of property from the Debtors to the Nondebtor Defendants that the Trustee attacks on the basis that the same constitute fraudulent conveyances.

A. 25 Acres of Land

The Debtors conveyed away approximately twenty-five (25) acres of land by deed dated and executed on July 17, 1998 (hereafter “the 25 Acres”). The deed for such parcel of property (hereafter “the 25 Acres Deed”), a certified copy of which was introduced at trial as Plaintiffs Exhibit 15, indicates that (a) “erected thereon [is] a dwelling known as 1037 Waterman Road,” and (b) the consideration given by *108 the Nondebtor Defendants for such parcel was “Natural Love and Affection.”

The Debtors, each of whom was listed as a grantor in the 25 Acres Deed, obtained title to the 25 Acres by way of deeds dated August 8, 1978, and January 17, 1972, which latter deeds listed each of the Debtors as grantees. See Son’s Ex. D-2 and F-2. The Debtors testified that they intended to, and did, gift the 25 Acres to the Son and the Daughter-in-law by virtue of the 25 Acres Deed. The Son testified that he obtained the 25 Acres by way of a gift from the Debtors. The Debtors and the Son testified that the Son and the Daughter-in-law did not provide any consideration of value in return for the conveyance of the 25 Acres. The Daughter-in-law testified that she thought the Son and herself purchased the 25 Acres for $120,000, which $120,000 they obtained from the Debtors in return for a note and a mortgage; the latter instruments are described below.

B. Satisfaction of Mortgage

The Debtors satisfied a mortgage, which mortgage (a) is dated and was executed on July 17, 1998, and (b) both of the Nondebt- or Defendants granted as mortgagors to both of the Debtors as mortgagees (hereafter “the Mortgage”). The Mortgage, a certified copy of which was introduced at trial as Plaintiffs Exhibit 17, indicates that (a) it secures the repayment of a debt of $120,000 owed by the Nondebtor Defendants to the Debtors (hereafter “the $120,000 Debt”), along “with interest,” (b) the $120,000 Debt is evidenced by a note dated July 17, 1998, from the Nondebtor Defendants (hereafter “the Note”), which note, according to the Mortgage, provides, inter alia, “for monthly payments, with the full debt, if not paid earlier, due and payable on May 1, 2009,” (c) the property which is thereby mortgaged is comprised of both the 25 Acres and the Nondebtor Defendants’ personal residence otherwise known as 1035 Waterman Road, and (d) it was recorded on July 29, 1998, with the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds.

The satisfaction piece which effected the satisfaction of the Mortgage, a certified copy of which was introduced at trial as Plaintiffs Exhibit 18 (hereafter “the Satisfaction Piece”), indicates that (a) it is dated and was executed on October 31, 2000, (b) it was recorded on November 20, 2000, with the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds, and (c) the $120,000 Debt had, by the date of the Satisfaction Piece, “been fully paid or otherwise discharged.”

Mr. Dolata and the Son both testified that the Mortgage was fake — i.e., a sham — from the moment that it was executed. Mr. Dolata and the Son also testified that the $120,000 Debt never really existed. Mr. Dolata and the Son also appear to contend, if they did not precisely testify, that the Note does not now exist and has never existed. Mrs. Dolata testified that (a) she was unaware of the Mortgage’s existence through the date upon which it was satisfied, the presence of her signature on the Satisfaction Piece notwithstanding, and (b) Mr. Dolata affixed her signature to the Satisfaction Piece without her authority, an attached acknowledgment by a notary to the effect that Mrs. Dolata appeared before such notary when the same was executed notwithstanding. The Daughter-in-law testified that she believed the Mortgage and the $120,000 Debt were real, and that the $120,000 Debt was incurred for the Non-debtor Defendants’ purchase of the 25 Acres.

Mr. Dolata testified that he intended to and did take back the Mortgage as part of the transaction whereby the 25 Acres was conveyed to the Son and the Daughter-in-law. Mr. Dolata also testified, and the Son acknowledged by way of his testimony, *109 that the purpose of the Mortgage was to provide protection for the Son in the event that he divorced from the Daughter-in-law and, in particular, protection against the loss to the Daughter-in-law of the two parcels of property that constituted collateral by virtue of the Mortgage. Mrs. Do-lata testified that, although she was unaware that Mr. Dolata chose to take back the Mortgage as part of the transaction whereby the 25 Acres was conveyed to the Son and the Daughter-in-law, she nevertheless also wished — indeed conveyed to Mr. Dolata her wish — that, as part of such conveyance, a device be put in place to provide the Son with protection regarding the parcels of property that are the subject of the Mortgage in the event that he divorced from the Daughter-in-law. In fact, certain of Mrs. Dolata’s testimony indicates that she wished for such device to provide the Son with protection as well against creditors of the Son’s business in the event that such business failed. See Aug. 25, 2003 Trial Tr., at p. 78, li.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
306 B.R. 97, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 211, 2004 WL 383251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bohm-v-dolata-in-re-dolata-pawb-2004.