Collet Ventures, Inc. v. Marchese (In re Collet Ventures, Inc.)

106 B.R. 607, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 1857
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedOctober 26, 1989
DocketBankruptcy No. 88-03912-3-11; Adv. Nos. 89-4105-3-11, 88-0775-3-11
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 106 B.R. 607 (Collet Ventures, Inc. v. Marchese (In re Collet Ventures, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Collet Ventures, Inc. v. Marchese (In re Collet Ventures, Inc.), 106 B.R. 607, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 1857 (W.D. Mo. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

FRANK W. KOGER, Bankruptcy Judge.

The matters before the Court are: 1) Motion for Summary Judgment of Plaintiff Collet Ventures, Inc. (“Debtor”), and 2) Counterclaim and Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment of Defendants Frank Márchese, Jack Márchese, Frank Márchese and George H. Barr as the statutory trustees of FJM Construction Company, MRKZ Management Enterprises, The Márchese Company, and Ashland SOS Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, Inc. (“Defendants”). Debtor seeks a determination that Defendants have not complied with the relevant procedure in asserting their counterclaim against Debtor, and thus, the claim is barred. Defendants seek a determination that an unwritten prepetition agreement existed with Debtor which provides the basis for the assertion of the counterclaim in the above-captioned consolidated adversary proceedings. In addition, Defendants seek to set aside the default judgment previously entered by the Honorable Dennis J. Stewart.

These matters come before this division of the Court due to the untimely death of Judge Stewart. Accordingly, the procedural background of these consolidated adversary proceedings shall be summarized before the Court enters it findings and conclusions.

On December 22, 1988, Debtor filed Adversary Case No. 88-0775-3-11 against Defendants, seeking turnover and possession of property of the estate and past due rent. . Prior to the filing of its bankruptcy petition and this adversary case, Debtor had instituted a state court action against Defendants regarding possession of Debtor’s property and recovery of damages. Due to the filing of Debtor’s Chapter 11 petition, the state court action was stayed. Neither Debtor nor Defendants sought to remove the pending state court action to the federal bankruptcy courts.

On February 3, 1989, Debtor filed its motion for and suggestions in support of default judgment in Adversary Case No. 88-0775-3-11. On that same day, Judge Stewart granted this motion and entered an order granting possession and awarding money damages to Debtor (“the February 3rd Order”). The Clerk’s Judgment consistent with this order was entered on February 5, 1989.

On February 16, 1989, Defendants filed their motion to reconsider the February 3rd Order. On February 27, 1989, this motion was denied by Judge Stewart.

On February 28, 1989, Debtor filed its first amended complaint seeking injunctive relief and damages due to the alleged failure of Defendants to comply with the February 3rd Order. Originally filed as a separate adversary proceeding, Adversary Case No. 89-4105-3-11 was consolidated with Adversary Case No. 88-0775-3-11 at the request of Debtor. On March 2, 1989, a hearing was held regarding Debtor’s request that Defendants be temporarily en[610]*610joined; this request was denied at the conclusion of the hearing and memorialized in an order entered by Judge Stewart on March 9, 1989.

Unlike the original adversary case, Defendants answered the consolidated adversary action in a timely manner. Defendants also asserted a counterclaim against Debtor, claiming that an unwritten agreement existed that was breached by Debtor.

On May 3, 1989, Judge Stewart entered an order denying the injunctive relief requested by Debtor as the result of Debtor’s failure to avail themselves of further evi-dentiary opportunity. On May 5, 1989, a notice and order was entered setting a hearing on the merits of the Defendants’ counterclaim. On May 12, 1989, Debtor filed motion to file a reply to Defendants’ counterclaim out of time, to which Defendants objected. The hearing originally scheduled in the May 5th notice and order was continued as the result of numerous consensual motions for continuance. In the interim, a hearing was scheduled to hear the dispute regarding the motion to allow the untimely filing of the reply to the counterclaim.

On August 17,1989, Debtor filed motions for summary judgment on Defendants' counterclaim and for an order compelling discovery responses or sanctions. On August 25, 1989, Defendants filed their suggestions in opposition to the motion for summary judgment and their motion to set aside the default judgment.

After due notice, a hearing on the motion for summary judgment, motion to compel discovery, motion to allow the untimely filing of Debtor’s reply to the counterclaim, and the merits of Defendants’ counterclaim, was finally held on August 29, 1989 at which time Debtor, Defendants, and their respective counsel appeared. As part of this hearing, the parties conceded that the discovery dispute was resolved and that it was not necessary for the Court to compel discovery or issue sanctions. After considering the initial argument of counsel, the Court permitted the filing of Debtor’s reply to the counterclaim out of time. After considering the testimony and other admitted evidence, the demeanor of the witnesses, the Court’s file, and the record of this proceeding, the Court hereby makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Federal Bankruptcy Rule 7052.

Debtor’s motion for summary judgment is essentially premised upon the argument that Defendants failed to assert a compulsory counterclaim in response to the filing of Adversary Case No. 88-0775-3-11. Debtor relies upon Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13 in support of its position that Defendants’ failure to assert a compulsory counterclaim as part of the original action now bars them from raising the claim.

Debtor’s argument fails on two counts. First, Debtor ignores the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13(a)(1)1, which provide that a counterclaim need not be raised if the claim was the subject of another pending action. In the matter at hand, the basis for Defendants’ counterclaim had been asserted in the pending state court action. Thus, Rule 13(a)(1) excuses the Defendants from those provisions of Rule 13 that compel the assertion of the counterclaim.

Second, Federal Bankruptcy Rule 70132 is applicable in this consolidated adversary action. Defendants’ claim is based upon its alleged prepetition agreement with Debtor, which did not arise after the entry of order for relief. Thus, Defendants were excused from asserting a compulsory counterclaim in the original adversary action pursuant to Federal Bankrupt[611]*611cy Rule 7013. In summary, Debtor’s motion for summary judgment is denied.

The failure of Debtor to prevail on its summary judgment motion does not require a finding in favor for Defendants on their counterclaim. The counterclaim in this consolidated adversary action is premised upon Defendants’ allegation that they had a prepetition agreement with Debtor that was breached. The Court notes that the bar date to file claims against Debtor was August 15, 1989; a review of the claims register shows that no claim was timely filed by any of the Defendants. Thus, the assertion of the counterclaim by Defendants is at best an informal proof of claim. The Court must therefore determine whether the claim asserted by Defendants to which Debtor has objected shall be allowed pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 502. For the reasons stated below, the Court finds that Defendants have failed to state a claim which can be allowed against Debtor.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
106 B.R. 607, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 1857, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collet-ventures-inc-v-marchese-in-re-collet-ventures-inc-mowd-1989.