Fitzpatrick v. Central Communications & Electronics, Inc. (In Re Tennessee Valley Steel Corp.)

203 B.R. 949, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 1686, 30 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 155, 1996 WL 755719
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedDecember 23, 1996
DocketBankruptcy No. 94-32813, Adv. Proc. No. 96-3106
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 203 B.R. 949 (Fitzpatrick v. Central Communications & Electronics, Inc. (In Re Tennessee Valley Steel Corp.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fitzpatrick v. Central Communications & Electronics, Inc. (In Re Tennessee Valley Steel Corp.), 203 B.R. 949, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 1686, 30 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 155, 1996 WL 755719 (Tenn. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

RICHARD S. STAIR, Jr., Chief Judge.

This adversary proceeding was commenced by the Chapter 11 Trustee, Michael H. Fitzpatrick, on May 2, 1996, by the filing of a Complaint seeking to avoid and recover nine allegedly preferential payments made by the Debtor to the Defendant, Central Communications and Electronics, Inc., totaling $9,406.18. The Trustee’s action is grounded on 11 U.S.C.A. §§ 547(b) and 550(a)(1) (West 1993). The parties stipulate that the payments, all made by check within the ninety days preceding the filing of the Debtor’s voluntary petition under Chapter 11 on November 11, 1994, were made on the dates each check was honored by the Debtor’s bank as follows:

*951 August 22,1994 $1,917.11
August 25,1994 2,402.69
August 29,1994 3,879.68
September 20,1994 144.51
September 22,1994 189.99
September 28,1994 52.36
October 7,1994 303.37
October 26,1994 261.65
November 2,1994 254.82

See Barnhill v. Johnson, 503 U.S. 393, 112 S.Ct. 1386, 118 L.Ed.2d 39 (1992).

Additionally, the Trustee seeks to recover prejudgment interest from July 12, 1995, the date the Debtor, while serving as debtor-in-possession, demanded repayment of the disputed transfers. The Defendant stipulates that the Trustee has met his burden of proof on all elements under § 547(b) but relies on the ordinary course of business defense under 11 U.S.C.A. § 547(c)(2) (West 1993) to defeat the Trustee’s claim. Alternatively, if the court determines the Defendant is unable to avail itself of the § 547(c)(2) defense, the Defendant contends it is entitled to an offset against the preferential transfers pursuant to the “new value” exception of 11 U.S.C.A. § 547(c)(4) (West 1993). All issues were tried before the court on December 9, 1996. The parties premarked and prefiled fifty-three exhibits, all of which were introduced into evidence during the course of the trial. The Defendant has the burden of proof on all issues under § 547(c). 11 U.S.C.A. § 547(g) (West 1993).

This is a core proceeding. 28 U.S.C.A. § 157(b)(2)(F) (West 1993).

I

The Debtor, Tennessee Valley Steel Corporation, operated what is known as a mini steel mill in Harriman, Tennessee, through which it manufactured steel rebar. The Defendant operates a Motorola Service Center and sells, installs, and services Motorola communications equipment. At all times material to this adversary proceeding, the Defendant sold and serviced equipment utilized by the Debtor to communicate between its maintenance, electrical, shipping and other departments. The Debtor and Defendant began their business relationship in September 1993, and that relationship continued until the Debtor’s commencement of its bankruptcy case.

The Debtor and Defendant conducted their business strictly on a credit basis. A sale or service order attributable to the Debtor generated a work ticket containing a description of the equipment or service provided by the Defendant and its cost to the Debtor. Subsequent to delivery of the equipment or services, the Defendant would mail an invoice to the Debtor accompanied by a copy of the work ticket. Each invoice stated the payment terms at “net 10 days.” One of the Defendant’s owners, Sharon Curbow, who also serves as the Defendant’s bookkeeper, testified that the ten-day payment term stated on each invoice is a computer-generated term; that the Defendant’s customers, including the Debtor, were not expected to pay their accounts within ten days; and that, generally, a telephonic inquiry of the Debtor was not made unless an invoice was at least forty-five days past due. Ms. Curbow also testified that monthly statements were routinely forwarded the Defendant’s customers, including the Debtor, who had balances due on the thirtieth day of each month. Finally, Ms. Curbow testified that copies of invoices and work tickets attributable to equipment and services provided the Debtor were always transmitted to the Debtor by mail; that the Debtor always paid by check; that the number of invoices paid by the Debtor by a single check varied; and that the Debtor transmitted its payment by mail. The parties’ method of doing business did not vary during the preference and pre-preference periods.

During the nine months preceding the commencement of the preference period, the Debtor made payments to the Defendant on forty-three invoices ranging from fourteen to seventy days after the invoice date. The average time within which the Debtor paid these forty-three invoices was 35.67 days. During the ninety-day preference period, the Debtor made twenty payments ranging from nineteen days to eighty-six days from the invoice date. The average time of payment during the preference period was 43.10 days from the invoice date. There is no dispute that, as a matter of course, the Debtor’s *952 payments were routinely made beyond the ten-day payment term stated on each invoice. In fact, during the course of their business dealings, the Debtor never made a payment to the Defendant within ten days.

II

Bankruptcy Code § 547(e)(2) provides:

The trustee may not avoid under this section a transfer—
(2) to the extent that such transfer was—
(A) in payment of a debt incurred by the debtor in the ordinary course of business or financial affairs of the debtor and the transferee;
(B) made in the ordinary course of business or financial affairs of the debtor and the transferee; and
(C) made according to ordinary business terms[.]

11 U.S.C.A. § 547(c)(2) (West 1993).

In the Sixth Circuit, a party asserting an ordinary course of business defense must prove each of the three elements of § 547(c)(2) by a preponderance of the evidence. Logan v. Basic Distrib. Corp. (In re Fred Hawes Org., Inc.), 957 F.2d 239, 242-43 (6th Cir.1992).

Discussing the interplay between § 547(b) and § 547(c)(2), the Sixth Circuit recently observed:

The preference rule aims to ensure that creditors are treated equitably based on the theory that “[ujnless the favoring of particular creditors is outlawed, the mass of creditors of a shaky firm will be nervous, fearing that one or a few of their number are going to walk away with all the firm’s assets; and this fear may precipitate debtors into bankruptcy earlier than is socially desirable.” In re Tolona Pizza Prods. Corp., 3 F.3d 1029, 1032 (7th Cir.1993) (citations omitted). See also H.Rep. No. 595, 95th Cong., 1st Sess.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
203 B.R. 949, 1996 Bankr. LEXIS 1686, 30 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 155, 1996 WL 755719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fitzpatrick-v-central-communications-electronics-inc-in-re-tennessee-tneb-1996.