Coleman v. Ellenberg (In re Cohen)

6 B.R. 708, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 4207
CourtDistrict Court, D. Georgia
DecidedOctober 29, 1980
DocketBankruptcy No. 79-03518A; Adv. No. 80-0327A
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 6 B.R. 708 (Coleman v. Ellenberg (In re Cohen)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. Ellenberg (In re Cohen), 6 B.R. 708, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 4207 (gad 1980).

Opinion

ORDER

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

W. H. DRAKE, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.

On February 16, 1977, W. Gary Coleman (sometimes “Coleman”), the plaintiff herein, brought suit in Superior Court of Fulton County in aid of his execution and levy upon certain property pursuant to a default judgment previously entered against Melvin Harris Cohen (sometimes “Cohen”), the defendant herein. Coleman had directed the Sheriff of Fulton County to seize certificates representing 450 shares in a Georgia corporation known as Atlanta Hospital for Women, Inc. and 450 shares of stock in a Georgia corporation known as Northside Family Planning Services, Inc. in an attempt to satisfy the aforementioned default judgment.

Cohen filed an affidavit of illegality in the Superior Court of Fulton County from which the levy issued, and the matter was removed to this Court by notice of the trustee after Cohen filed his voluntary petition in bankruptcy in December of 1979. Cohen contends that Northside Family Planning Services, Inc. stock is not his and that the stock certificates are not subject to levy by Coleman because of a settlement agreement entered into between Cohen and Coleman dated April 19, 1978 whereby the judgment was made the subject of an accord and satisfaction. Cohen further contends that the purported tender by Coleman, made in an attempt to unilaterally rescind the settlement agreement, was defective in that it was an offer to tender and not an actual tender. Coleman acknowledges the existence of the settlement agreement, but contends that he had unilaterally rescinded the agreement because Cohen fraudulently induced him to enter into it by virtue of his failure to reveal assets in a post-judgment deposition taken in July of 1977. Coleman contends that his rescission of the agreement and offer to tender the money paid by Cohen under the settlement agreement permitted him to reactivate the judgment and direct the Sheriff to attempt to enforce the judgment fi. fa. by levying on the stock certificates.

The record is undisputed that Cohen was not in default under the payout arrangement set forth in the settlement agreement of April 19,1978, and that Cohen had made the monthly payments called for thereunder until the last payment was returned by Coleman’s counsel by letter dated May 16, 1979. The issues were tried to the Court on July 29, 1980 and the matter taken under advisement.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1.

Defendant Northside Family Planning Services, Inc. (hereinafter “NFPS, Inc.”) [710]*710was formed by Melvin H. Cohen and Dr. Lawrence D. Baker in 1973. The initial capitalization was $500 each in exchange for 500 shares of common stock each. T-22, D-1.

2.

Melvin H. Cohen did not transfer the 500 shares of NFPS, Inc. to his wife Janice Beth Epstein Cohen (hereinafter sometimes "Janice Cohen") for Three Thousand Five Hundred ($3,500) Dollars in June 1974. T-25, 170.

3.

The testimony at trial as to the occurrence of this transaction was contradictory. T-25, 138, 170, 279.

4.

A check drawn by Janice Cohen on a savings account held jointly by Janice and Mel Cohen endorsed in blank by Janice Cohen to Tecalli Apartments carried no indication that it was in consideration for the alleged stock transfer. D-12.

5.

The two buy--sell agreements prepared in 1975 which were introduced to indicate that Janice Cohen had become the owner of Melvin Cohen's interest in the stock in NFPS, Inc. were never executed. D-4, 4A.

6.

The purported transfer was not reflected on the books of NFPS, Inc. D-1, T-31.

7.

Despite Cohen's testimony that he had discussed the transfer of ownership with several individuals, including Stan Coburn, Tom Chorey, Craig Wagner, Bill Epstein, and Mark Kaufman, all attorneys at the time with the firm of Troutman, Sanders, Lockerman & Ashmore, T-32, 33, as early as 1976, only two of these attorneys were produced as witnesses at trial and neither of them could recall having knowledge of the alleged transfer prior to March or April of 1979. T-204, 209, 212, 254, 260.

8.

Ten percent of the outstanding shares of NFPS, Inc. was transferred to Ruth Van Hoesen, the administrator of NFPS, Inc., in February 1977. T-280.

9.

Ms. Van Hoesen signed an investment letter dated February 23, 1977, indicating that one-half of the stock was being transferred from the holdings of Dr. Lawrence Baker and one-half from the holdings of Melvin Cohen. T-280(d), D-1.

10.

On February 23, 1977, new stock certificates were issued by NFPS, Inc. to Dr. Baker and Melvin Cohen reflecting the reduced number of shares that each held after the transfer to Ms. Van Hoesen. D-1, D-5, T-102.

11.

An investment memorandum dated December 15, 1976 and prepared by the law firm of Troutman, Sanders, Lockerman & Ashmore in connection with Ponce de Leon-Juniper Limited, a limited partnership, reflected that four hundred fifty (450) shares of the corporate general partner of that limited partnership, NFPS, Inc. were owned as of that date by Melvin H. Cohen. C-6. The attorney who was responsible for the preparation of this document indicated that the information contained in it was based upon information produced by Cohen. T-209.

12.

On February 5, 1979, Melvin H. Cohen signed a financial statement showing himself to be the owner of stock in both NFPS, Inc. and Atlanta Hospital for Women, Inc. D-8.

13.

Atlanta Hospital for Women, Inc. (AHW, Inc.) is a Georgia corporation formed to be and act as the corporate general partner in Atlanta Hospital for Women, Ltd., a Georgia limited partnership which leases and operates the Midtown Hospital facility. T-40.

14.

AHW, Inc. was incorporated in early 1977 with an initial capitalization of $100. T-41. Cohen received 450 of the shares initially issued by AHW, Inc. T-43.

[711]*71115.

On March 21, 1977, 788 shares of AHW, Inc. were sold to a group of investors, hereinafter the Wiskind-Singer group, for Seventy-five Thousand ($75,000) Dollars or approximately Ninety-five and 18/100 ($95.18) Dollars per share. T-87.

16.

On July 12, 1977, the attorneys for Coleman took the deposition of Melvin H. Cohen in an attempt to locate assets to satisfy a judgment against Cohen. Deposition July 12, 1977. At that deposition, Cohen indicated by his testimony that he owned no stock in either NFPS, Inc. or AHW, Inc. See Deposition, T-87, 88.

17.

Coleman relied upon the statements made in this deposition in entering the settlement agreement, the legality of the rescission of which is the subject of this proceeding. T-220, 269, 270.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The parties here contest the legality of a purported rescission of a settlement agreement and the subsequent levy by the Sheriff. The parties do not dispute that Cohen was not in default at the time of the rescission. But Coleman contends that he had the right to rescind the settlement agreement because the agreement was procured by Cohen’s fraud.

Georgia law favors settlements and cessation of litigation. Ga.Code § 20-1205, Dickerson v. Dickerson, 19 Ga.App. 269, 91 S.E. 346 (1916),

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127 B.R. 287 (M.D. Georgia, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
6 B.R. 708, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 4207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-ellenberg-in-re-cohen-gad-1980.