Corcoran v. Drakeford

233 F. Supp. 235, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7825
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. South Carolina
DecidedSeptember 4, 1964
DocketCiv. A. No. AC-1301
StatusPublished

This text of 233 F. Supp. 235 (Corcoran v. Drakeford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corcoran v. Drakeford, 233 F. Supp. 235, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7825 (southcarolinaed 1964).

Opinion

SIMONS, District Judge.

This action was instituted in this Court on November 21, 1963 by plaintiff, John P. Corcoran, Jr., in his capacity as Trustee for Bevis Shell Homes, Inc., et al., in reorganization proceedings, under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act, [11 U.S.C.A. §§ 1 et seq., 501 et seq.] pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The Complaint alleges that in October 1961, defendant Drakeford entered into a contract with Bevis Shell Homes, Inc., [hereinafter referred to as Bevis] for the erection of a Bevis home on a six acre parcel of land in Kershaw County, S. C. as therein described, “being the identical land deeded to Charity Brown and Nancy Brown by Susie Beckham” by deed recorded in the office of the Clerk of Court for Kershaw County, South Carolina, in Book CU at page 524 on February 14, 1942; that in furtherance of the contract Bevis built a house upon said premises and Drakeford executed and delivered to Bevis her promissory note for $4100.00, payable in monthly installments of $59.90 commencing December 20, 1961, and her mortgage to secure the payment thereof; that defendant Drakeford made payments more or less as agreed through April 15, 1963; that defendants McDowell and Wilson permitted their sister, defendant Drakeford, to occupy said property and to represent it as her own; that they knew or should have known of the erection of said house and made no effort to halt its erection; and that to permit the defendants to assert ownership of said house “would be to permit unjust enrichment”. The Complaint asks that the Court permit the plaintiff to remove the house from the premises, or in the alternative to give plaintiff judgment for $3000.00 as the value of the house.

The defendants McDowell and Wilson moved to dismiss the action upon the grounds: [1] that the Complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted; and, [2] that, prior to the commencement of this action in July 1963, said defendants commenced an action in the Court of Common Pleas for Kershaw County, South Carolina [hereinafter referred to as the state court action] against John P. Corcoran, Jr., as Trustee aforesaid, et al. to quiet the title to the identical land described in the Trustee’s Complaint, and to cancel an instrument purporting to be a deed from these defendants to defendant Drakeford. In support of the motion, it is stated that the verified Complaint in [237]*237the state court action alleges that said purported deed from defendants McDowell and Wilson to defendant Drake-ford was forged by agents of Bevis, .and that said deed and mortgage are nullities and should be set aside as fraudulent. It is further alleged that .service of the Complaint and Summons in the state court action was made upon the plaintiff Trustee herein on the 30th •day of July, 1963, and that the state court thereby acquired jurisdiction of the res long prior to the commencement of the within action. The motion further •observes that all claims of the Trustee against the moving defendants could be adjudicated in the state court action.

If the state court acquired jurisdiction of the action to quiet title by setting aside and cancelling the purported deed to Drakeford, and the mortgage from Drakeford to Bevis, then defendants’ motion should be granted and plaintiff’s action dismissed since the •court that first acquired jurisdiction of the res in cases involving title to real estate should adjudicate the controversy. Miller v. Long, 71 F.Supp. 603 [E.D.S.C. 1945] 1 affirmed 152 F.2d 196. In City of Orangeburg v. Southern Railway Co., 134 F.2d 890 [4th Cir. 1943], the court Iheld that:

“Under the established rule set out in Kline v. Burke Const. Co., 260 U.S. 226, 43 S.Ct. 79, 67 L.Ed. 226, 24 A.L.R. 1077, and in many other decisions, the court, state or federal, which first acquires jurisdiction of the subject matter of a suit in rem iholds it to the exclusion of any other court until its duty is fully performed, and to that end may enjoin the parties from proceeding in any other court when the effect of action therein would be to defeat or to impair its own jurisdiction.” [p. 892.]

It is undisputed that the moving defendants brought their action, and that the .state court obtained jurisdiction of the res, over three months before the Trustee commenced the present action. Nevertheless, the Trustee asserts that the state court action cannot be maintained because the bankruptcy court acquired jurisdiction of the debtor [Bevis] and its property in the reorganization proceedings under Chapter X; that the reorganization court’s jurisdiction being summary and exclusive, the state court never acquired jurisdiction; and that the jurisdiction of this Court is properly invoked to aid the bankruptcy court in administering the debtor’s [Bevis’] estate. The Court is not - impressed with plaintiff’s contentions.

It is true that this Court would have jurisdiction to adjudicate the Trustee’s claim in a plenary action under Chapter X, if jurisdiction had not already vested in the state court, since the Bankruptcy Act confers on District Courts throughout the United States jurisdiction to determine the issues in plenary suits, brought by the reorganization Trustee, without regard to diversity of citizenship or the amount in controversy. Williams v. Austrian, 331 U.S. 642, 67 S.Ct. 1443, 91 L.Ed. 1718.

It is also true, that in corporate reorganizations, the bankruptcy court has exclusive jurisdiction of the bankrupt debtor and its property wherever located, with power to adjudicate claims relating thereto, and to send its process into any state when necessary to that end. But the property in this case [the six acre parcel of land and the house thereon] is not the property of the bankrupt debtor and it, nor the Trustee [plaintiff], is in possession of same. The law is well established that exclusive jurisdiction in the reorganization court does not exist where non-residents are in possession of property under a bona fide adverse claim. A leading case is In re Mt. Forest Fur Farms of America, wherein it was held:

“No jurisdiction vests in a court of bankruptcy to adjudicate, in a sum[238]*238mary proceeding, a controversy over property held adversely to the bankrupt estate, except by consent of the adverse claimant, or where the adverse claim is merely color-able. Unless summary jurisdiction exists, the trustee in bankruptcy must resort to plenary suit.” 122 F.2d 232 p. 238, [1941].'

See also Thompson v. Magnolia Petroleum Co., 309 U.S. 478, 60 S.Ct. 628, 84 L.Ed. 876. In First National Bank in Houston v. Lake, 199 F.2d 524 [4th Cir. 1952], cert. den. 1953, 344 U.S. 914, 73 S.Ct. 337, 97 L.Ed. 705, the Court clearly pointed out the difference between the power of the reorganization court there, and the power of the reorganization court in the Mt. Forest Fur Farms case when, speaking through Chief Judge Parker, 199 F.2d at pp. 532-533, it said:

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Related

Kline v. Burke Construction Co.
260 U.S. 226 (Supreme Court, 1922)
Thompson v. Magnolia Petroleum Co.
309 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1940)
Williams v. Austrian
331 U.S. 642 (Supreme Court, 1947)
First Nat. Bank in Houston, Texas v. Lake
199 F.2d 524 (First Circuit, 1953)
Warder v. Brady
115 F.2d 89 (Fourth Circuit, 1940)
City of Orangeburg v. Southern Ry. Co.
134 F.2d 890 (Fourth Circuit, 1943)
Miller v. Long
152 F.2d 196 (Fourth Circuit, 1945)
Miller v. Long
71 F. Supp. 603 (E.D. South Carolina, 1945)

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Bluebook (online)
233 F. Supp. 235, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7825, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corcoran-v-drakeford-southcarolinaed-1964.