Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States v. Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc. (In Re Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc.)

13 B.R. 86, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 3382, 7 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 1295
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 13, 1981
Docket19-51711
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 13 B.R. 86 (Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States v. Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc. (In Re Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States v. Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc. (In Re Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc.), 13 B.R. 86, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 3382, 7 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 1295 (Ga. 1981).

Opinion

WILLIAM L. NORTON, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Barkley-Cupit Enterprises, Inc., a Georgia corporation, filed a Voluntary Chapter 11 Petition on April 6, 1981.

2. The primary asset of the Debtor is a country club and the appurtenances thereto known as the Rivermont Golf and Country Club (hereinafter referred to as the “Club”). The Debtor first came into possession of the Club in 1973 pursuant to a Lease-With-Option-To-Purchase Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Lease") entered into by and between the Debtor’s predecessor and a joint venture comprised of Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States (hereinafter referred to as “Equitable”) and Roy D. Warren Company, Inc., a Georgia real estate sales corporation.

3. In 1975, the joint venture was dissolved as a result of the bankruptcy of Roy D. Warren Company, Inc., and Equitable subsequently was substituted as lessor under the Lease.

4. The Lease was for a term of seven (7) years, beginning April 16, 1973, and ending April 15, 1980. (Lease, ¶ 5-C.) There was no rent due and payable under the Lease.

5. The Lease, as modified, also contained a provision giving the Debtor an option to purchase the Club on April 15, 1980, for the sum of $1,080,000.00. To exercise the option, the Debtor was required to notify Equitable, in writing, of its intent to exercise the option on or before April 15, 1979. (Lease, ¶ 5-H.)

6. On April 5, 1979, William Barkley, one of the Debtor’s two shareholders and president of the corporation, caused to be delivered to Equitable written notice of the Debtor’s exercise of the option to purchase.

7. The next day, on April 6, 1979, the Debtor filed a Complaint against Equitable in the United States District Court for the *88 Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, seeking damages for violations of the Sherman Act, wrongful actions in connection with the Lease, tortious interference with the Debtor’s business, and other wrongful acts. Thereafter, and after the April 15, 1979 deadline for exercising the option, Equitable filed a counterclaim in the District Court action in which it contended that Mr. Barkley’s April 5, 1979 notice was inadequate as an exercise of the option and in which Equitable sought a declaratory judgment that, because of this alleged inadequacy, the Debtor’s option to purchase had lapsed.

8. After extensive discovery, both the Debtor and Equitable filed Motions for Summary Judgment on the issue of the adequacy of the April 5, 1979 notice as an exercise of the option to purchase. On January 31, 1980, the District Court granted the Debtor’s Motion for Summary Judgment and denied Equitable’s Motion, holding that the Debtor had timely, validly, and effectively exercised its option to purchase the Club. Equitable’s appeal from the judgment entered on that order is pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

9. After the adverse ruling in the District Court, Equitable instituted a disposses-sory proceeding in the State Court of Fulton County seeking to oust the Debtor from the Club. The basis for the initiation of the dispossessory proceeding was Equitable’s contention that the Debtor had failed to follow through on the exercise of the option by tendering the purchase price of the property prior to April 15, 1980, the date on which the Lease expired.

10. The State Court of Fulton County granted a summary judgment to Equitable. Several days later, however, on June 26, 1980, the District Court entered an injunction enjoining Equitable from pursuing dis-possessory proceedings in the Georgia courts pending final resolution of the District Court action. The basis for the injunction was that the District Court had already ruled on the issues raised in the State Court and that an injunction was necessary to preserve the District Court’s jurisdiction.

11. Before the injunction order was entered, the Debtor had filed an appeal from the summary judgment entered in the dis-possessory proceeding. The District Court’s injunction did not bar the Debtor from pursuing the appeal, and the issue was fully briefed and argued by both parties before the Georgia Court of Appeals. The appeal resulted in a reversal of the judgment dispossessing the Debtor.

12. Thereafter, on January 22, 1981, in order to prevent litigation of identical issues in two separate forums, the District Court enjoined the State Court proceedings in toto.

13. Equitable responded to the first in-junctive order by filing another appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In addition, Equitable filed a motion in the District Court seeking to compel the Debtor to post security under Rule 65(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the payment of such costs and damages as Equitable may incur or suffer in the event of a later determination that the injunction was wrongful.

14. The Debtor opposed the Motion to Compel the giving of security, and both parties presented voluminous affidavits, appraisals, and briefs to the District Court in support of their respective positions. In the face of conflicting evidence and positions, the District Court appointed an independent expert to determine and recommend what would constitute proper security for purposes of Rule 65(c).

15. The independent expert submitted to the District Court a “Summary Report” wherein he recommended that the Debtor be required to pay into the registry of the Court $10,350.00 per month. The independent expert found this amount to be “[t]he minimum fair rental value of the property in question for the period commencing April 15, 1980, and extending for the duration of this litigation (estimated at two years).... ” The independent expert arrived at this figure by considering the market value of the Club and determining the return Equitable could reasonably have re *89 ceived on $1,080,000.00 if the Debtor had tendered the purchase price of the Club on April 15, 1980.

16. In an order dated March 6, 1981, the District Court adopted the report and recommendation of the independent expert and directed the Debtor to post security in the amount of $10,350.00 per month for the duration of the litigation. The District Court also made its order retroactive to April 15, 1980, in essence requiring the Debtor to make a lump sum payment into the registry of the Court of more than $110,000.00.

17. Before the payment became due, the Debtor, on April 6, 1981, filed the instant Petition in an effort to effect a reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

18. Almost immediately after the petition was filed i. e., on April 17, 1981, Equitable instituted this adversary proceeding under Part VII of the Bankruptcy Rules seeking relief from the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362, adequate protection of its alleged interest in the Club, and, alternatively, possession of the Club.

19.

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13 B.R. 86, 1981 Bankr. LEXIS 3382, 7 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 1295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equitable-life-assurance-society-of-the-united-states-v-barkley-cupit-ganb-1981.