Bullock v. Telluride Income Growth LP (In Re Telluride Income Growth LP)

364 B.R. 407, 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 672, 2007 WL 738411
CourtBankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMarch 12, 2007
DocketBAP No. CO-05-090, Bankruptcy No. 03-31600-ABC
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 364 B.R. 407 (Bullock v. Telluride Income Growth LP (In Re Telluride Income Growth LP)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bullock v. Telluride Income Growth LP (In Re Telluride Income Growth LP), 364 B.R. 407, 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 672, 2007 WL 738411 (bap10 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

McFEELEY, Chief Judge.

This appeal is from the bankruptcy court’s denial of the Appellants’ motion, pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9023,2 to alter or amend the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law entered when sustaining the Chapter 7 Trustee’s motion to sell certain assets of the Debtor pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 363.3

I. JURISDICTION AND SCOPE OF REVIEW

This Court has jurisdiction to decide “timely filed appeals from ‘final judgments, order, and decrees’ of bankruptcy courts within the Tenth Circuit, unless one of the parties elects to have the district court hear the appeal.”4 Rule 8002(a) requires that a notice of appeal shall be filed within ten days of the entry of judgment, or within 10 days of the entry of an order resolving a post trial motion under Rules 7052, 9023, or 9024. Appellants timely filed the notice of appeal from the September 7, 2005 judgment denying the motion to alter or amend on September 16, 2005. Although the notice of appeal would be timely for an appeal from the order sustaining the 363 sale,5 Appellants consistently state to the Court that they appeal only from the denial of the Rule 9023 motion and not from the order approving the 363 sale. The Court therefore regards this as an appeal from the denial of the Rule 9023 motion only. In this case all parties have consented to review by this Court, since no party has elected to have the appeal heard by the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

A final decision is one which “ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judg[410]*410ment.”6 An order denying a post trial motion is a final order.7 When there is no appeal from the underlying judgment, unless the trial court was powerless to render the judgment in the first instance, the denial raises for review only the order itself and not the underlying judgment.8

The scope of review of denial of a motion to alter or amend is narrow. The lower court’s rulings on a motion under Federal Rule 59(e) is reviewed for abuse of discretion.9

II. BACKGROUND

The facts necessary to resolve this appeal are not controverted. Although the appeal focuses on a very limited aspect of the transactions, knowledge of background facts is necessary to understand the issue on appeal.

The Debtor is Telluride Income Growth LP (“TIGLP”), an Arizona limited partnership formed in 1991 to acquire, develop, and sell real property in the town of Telluride, Colorado, known as the Ballard House. Several dozen limited partners invested approximately $1.6 million in the project. In 1994, the original general partners were replaced. William Baird was a member of the Board of Directors of the new general partner, Peak Returns, LLC, and was also in control the development’s manager. One of the project’s two buildings (the South Building) was completed in 1998, and the other property (the North Building) remains in the preliminary stages of construction. The Debtor ran out of money in the course of developing the North Building, and in October 1999 when faced with foreclosure, agreed to transfer several remaining unsold units in the South Building and the entirety of the uncompleted North Building to Western Slope, LLC, a Baird entity.

The agreement pursuant to which the sale occurred was called “Contract For Sale and Equity Participation Agreement” (“EPA”). Under the EPA, Western Slope agreed to pay TIGLP’s existing debts on the property (at the time, over $6.4 million) and to finance and complete construction of the North Building. The EPA provided that, if build-out and sale of the Ballard House occurred, Debtor would be entitled to 80% of the net profits, and Western Slope to 20%. Net profits are defined in Schedule C as total project revenues less: (1) repayment of all project expenses and existing and future debt related to the obligations under the agreement; and (2) repayment of the amount of the Debtor’s investors’ outstanding original investment in an amount not to exceed $1.6 million, plus interest from the date of investment forward at the rate of 8%. A subordinated Purchase Money Deed of Trust (“PMDOT”) was given to the Debtor to secure performance of Western Slope’s obligations under the EPA. The EPA requires that the PMDOT include specific language limiting the remedies available in the event of breach of the EPA to recourse against the real property subject to the deed of trust, i.e., the Ballard House. Debtor and Western Slope are the only [411]*411named parties to both the EPA and the PMDOT.

Western Slope made no significant progress with the construction of the North Building, and by early 2002, the primary lender, Pueblo Bank, commenced foreclosure against Western Slope. On February 15, 2002, E-Global Development Limited (“E-Global”), an entity owned/controlled by the Arthur and Robert Levine families (hereafter the “Levines”), who had previously made a significant investment in the Ballard House through Bauhinia, Ltd.(“Bauhinia”),10 bought the Pueblo loan for the full amount owed. Western Slope then gave E-Global a deed in lieu of foreclosure. E-Global then quitclaimed its interest to Telluride Global Development, LLC (“Telluride Global”), also a Levine company. The transfer was subject to the EPA.

On October 11, 2002, twenty-five of Debtor’s limited partners (“Limited Partners”), representing contributors of approximately one half of the original $1.6 million invested in the Debtor by limited partners, commenced litigation in San Miguel County, Colorado state court, styled Dennis Bullock, et al. v. Telluride Income/Growth Limited Partnership, Ltd., et al., case number 02-CV78 (the “State Court Litigation”). There were twenty-seven defendants, including E-Global, Ba-uhinia, Telluride Global, Debtor, Western Slope, the Debtor’s general partners, the Debtor’s management and related entities, various lenders, and third-party purchasers of completed Ballard House condominium units in the South Building. The complaint alleged six causes of action: (1) breach of fiduciary duty and mismanagement of partnership assets; (2) accounting by, and dissolution of, the Debtor; (3) damages for breach of the partnership agreement; (4) misappropriation and fraudulent conveyance of partnership assets; (5) self-dealing; and (6) foreclosure of an equitable lien against the undeveloped North Building and unsold units in the South Building. The Limited Partners’ allegations included the contention that the transfer of the Ballard House to Western Slope pursuant to the EPA was fraudulent and improper. Although not filed as a derivative action, the complaint asserted causes of action that were in fact Debtor’s claims. Amended complaints adding parties and amending paragraphs in the original complaint were filed.

Defendants Bauhinia, E-Global, and Telluride Global sought dismissal of the foreclosure claim for failure to state a claim.

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Bluebook (online)
364 B.R. 407, 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 672, 2007 WL 738411, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bullock-v-telluride-income-growth-lp-in-re-telluride-income-growth-lp-bap10-2007.