Fleet v. Rhode (In Re Fleet)

89 B.R. 420, 1988 WL 83577
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 7, 1988
DocketBankruptcy No. 81-04969K, Adv. No. 87-0394S, Misc. No. 88-285
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 89 B.R. 420 (Fleet v. Rhode (In Re Fleet)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fleet v. Rhode (In Re Fleet), 89 B.R. 420, 1988 WL 83577 (E.D. Pa. 1988).

Opinion

ORDER

FULLAM, Chief Judge.

AND NOW, this 7th day of July, 1988, it is hereby ORDERED and DECREED as follows:

*421 1. The Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law of the Bankruptcy Court are adopted;

2. Judgment is entered in favor of the Plaintiffs and against the Defendants in this proceeding.

3. Defendant LORRAINE RHODE is enjoined from disposing of the premises known as 446 Pricketts Mill Road, Tabernacle, New Jersey, pending maturity and liquidation of the Plaintiffs’ claims.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

DAVID A. SCHOLL, Bankruptcy Judge.

A. PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The instant adversarial proceeding, filed on April 28, 1987, by the named Plaintiff, was certified as a class action pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule (hereinafter “B.Rule”) 7023 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (hereinafter “F.R.Civ.P.”) 23(b)(2), on September 30, 1987, which could be maintained on behalf of, essentially the same plaintiff class certified 1 also by Order of September 30, 1987, in a related adversary proceeding in this Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, Adv. No. 83-0880K (hereinafter referred to as “the Primary Action”). 2

2. In this proceeding, the Plaintiff seeks to set aside two allegedly fraudulent conveyances of the residential realty of Defendants JOHN RHODE (hereinafter referred to as “Rhode”) and LORRAINE RHODE (hereinafter referred to as “Lorraine”) located at 446 Pricketts Mill Road, Tabernacle, New Jersey (hereinafter referred to as “the Premises”), and presently titled to Lorraine only.

3. The Primary Action was filed on March 31, 1983, charging that the Defendants, UNITED STATES CONSUMER COUNCIL, INC., a New Jersey-based corporation (hereinafter referred to as “USCC”); Rhode, the principal of USCC; and several individual subordinate employees of USCC had engaged in certain illegal and deceptive practices in providing services to distressed debtors who were the clientele of USCC, in violation of consumer protection laws of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

4. After a Motion to Dismiss the Primary Action was denied by our predecessor, the Honorable William A. King, Jr., in an Opinion of October 15, 1985, reported at 53 B.R. 833, the Defendants failed to answer the Complaint or make requested discovery, and a default judgment on the issue of liability only was entered against USCC and Rhode only on June 12, 1986, by the Honorable James McGirr Kelly of our district court, acting on Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law certified to him by Judge King.

5. On March 2, 1987, Judge Kelly entered an Order adopting our Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in response to a Motion of Rhode to set aside the default judgment, and denying that Motion, reported at 70 B.R. 845.

6. In denying the Motion described in Findings of Fact 5 supra, we concluded that Rhode and his counsel made a calculated decision to attempt to ignore the judgment entered in the Primary Action because they perceived it to be an action directed at judgment-proof entities and hence not worthy of defense until the Plaintiffs in that action filed a motion to prevent Rhode and Lorraine from alienating the Premises, which was granted by us on October 16, 1986. 70 B.R. at 849, *422 850, 851. We also specifically found contentions of Rhode and his counsel that they were unaware of the entry of the default judgment until receipt of the motion concerning alienation of the Premises “unworthy of belief and ... not credible.” 70 B.R. at 849.

7. In our decision on class certification in the Primary Action, we granted the motion in conjunction with a finding that the default judgment extended only to the named plaintiffs rather than to unnamed class members as well. See 76 B.R. at 1005-08.

8. After trial of the instant proceeding on January 12 and January 15, 1988, we requested the parties, upon receipt of the transcript, to file Proposed Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Briefs. The foregoing were all received by March 31, 1988, although the Plaintiffs’ opportunity to file a Reply Brief, which they ultimately declined, did not expire until on or about April 12, 1988.

9. The Premises was originally purchased on June 30, 1982, by the USCC with a downpayment of $50,000.00 made out of corporate funds of USCC.

10. Rhode testified that the property was placed in the name of USCC to enable that entity to borrow funds to expand into a large nationally-franchised enterprise.

11. On September 28, 1982, USCC transferred the property to Rhode and Lorraine for a recited consideration of one ($1.00) dollar.

12. In explaining the reason for this transfer, Rhode testified that, by September, 1982, just three months after the initial purchase of the Premises, it had become apparent that the franchising scheme was unworkable, and that this realization motivated this transfer.

13. Rhode contended that consideration existed for this transfer, despite a lack of any documentation, including any loan documents, in that it constituted a recovery of investments of approximately $20,000.00 made to the business by Rhode and Lorraine.

14. The business began in 1980 with a single location, which was relocated on one occasion, in Camden. Offices were also opened in Newark, New Jersey, in April, 1982, and in Washington, D.C., in July, 1982.t

15. The Newark and Washington offices were closed in January, 1983, and the Camden office stopped seeing new clients in February, 1983, and closed in March, 1983, about the time of the filing of the Primary Action.

16. On January 28, 1983, Rhode transferred his interest in the Premises to Lorraine for a recited consideration of one ($1.00) dollar.

17. Rhode testified that the motivating factor for this transfer was personal health problems which he believed might be fatal and that, accordingly, he wished to protect the Premises from any claims by his former wife for alimony or support. The Defendants’ counsel suggested, in his Brief, that consideration existed in Rhode’s desire to repay Lorraine for her investment in USCC, but that there is no testimonial support in the record therefor.

18. At the time of both transfers, the equity in the Premises was at least the $50,000.00 invested in it, and, although no evidence was presented on this point, we assume that this value has significantly appreciated since 1983.

19. In his original deposition in aid of execution of the default judgment against USCC and him, entered into the record here with another pre-trial deposition, Rhode testified that the only assets of USCC at any time other than the Premises were “[sjome typewriters, xerox machine ... [sjecond hand ...” that he sold “for junk when the office closed. They weren’t worth anything;” and desks and file cabinets that were “all junk” and that he either gave away or couldn’t even give away.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 B.R. 420, 1988 WL 83577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fleet-v-rhode-in-re-fleet-paed-1988.