Fuqua Industries, Inc. v. Mission Marine Associates, Inc. (In re Mission Marine Associates)

3 B.R. 543, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5300
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedApril 14, 1980
DocketBankruptcy No. B-79-01241
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 3 B.R. 543 (Fuqua Industries, Inc. v. Mission Marine Associates, Inc. (In re Mission Marine Associates)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fuqua Industries, Inc. v. Mission Marine Associates, Inc. (In re Mission Marine Associates), 3 B.R. 543, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5300 (N.J. 1980).

Opinion

OPINION

WILLIAM LIPKIN, Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter arises out of a Complaint filed by Fuqua Industries, Inc. (Fuqua) to establish a lien on the assets of the Debtor, Mission Marine Associates, Inc. (Mission). Mission recognizes that Fuqua’s lien, if any, is subordinate to the lien executed in favor of A. J. Armstrong, Inc. (Armstrong).

[545]*545Fuqua’s complaint consists of five counts. The First and Second Counts, dealing with advances of money secured by real estate mortgages and financing statements on personal property, are the subject matter of this opinion. The remaining counts are not being pressed for determination.1

Irvine Fasteners, Inc. (Irvine), a creditor of the debtor, disputes the validity of a lien in favor of Fuqua.

Briefly the facts are as follows:

On September 17, 1976 Mission became obligated to Fuqua, as evidenced by two notes in the sums of $1,375,000. and $500,-000. respectively. The notes were subordinated to the debtor’s obligation to Armstrong. The notes further provided that they were secured by a perfected lien on all the assets of the debtor. An additional promissory note was executed in the sum of $500,000. on October 29, 1976, containing the same provisions as the previous notes, as to security terms, etc. I shall skip over the exhibits offered which relate to a settlement and note dated March 31, 1977 between Fuqua and Mission and others, which resolved a dispute as to the value of the assets and amount of liabilities.2 I also shall skip over the note dated June 23, 1977 in the sum of $800,000., which recites the same provisions of the other notes.

The basis of contention finally comes down to an interpretation of instruments offered in evidence, dated March 15, 1978, and a determination of the effect of same. They consist of a Pledge Agreement and two notes, in the respective sums of $3,175,-000. and $900,000., payable by Mission to Fuqua.

The Pledge Agreement was entered into by and between Fuqua, David Trumbull, Maurice Cunniffe, Philip R. Gustlin and Buster Hammond, designated as “Shareholders”, and Mission. The Pledge Agreement provided for the Shareholders to escrow all the stock owned by them to Fuqua.

It is clear from the testimony that Mission was having financial difficulty at the time of the execution of the Pledge Agreement and Notes. It is also clear from the terms of the Pledge Agreement and the Notes executed by the parties that the escrow of stock referred to in the Pledge Agreement was not a novation and substitution of such collateral security in place of the mortgages and security agreement theretofore executed in favor of Fuqua. The personal property in California was validly secured by the filing of a Financing Statement with the Secretary of State in Sacramento. The two real estate mortgages on real estate of the debtor in New Jersey in the sum of $1,000,000. and $146,-000., plus an assignment of a mortgage on real estate mortgaged to Aetna Insurance Company in the sum of $82,000, the principal of which had been paid to Aetna by Fuqua, were proven to be properly recorded.

I find that the Pledge Agreement referred to above did not substitute the stock escrow as security for the indebtedness as contended by Irvine. It is clear from that instrument that it was only additional security for the debt that already existed. Fuqua did not become the owner of the assets of Mission by reason of the stock pledge. The operation of the business remained with Mission. The fact that Mission had to report on its financial affairs to Fuqua did not create a merger of the debt due it with ownership. Fuqua did not participate in the day by day operation or assume such dominion and control as to constitute Mission a subsidiary of Fuqua.

The other ground upon which Irvine seeks to set aside the liens of Fuqua must also be denied. Irvine seeks to have the [546]*546lien declared invalid upon the ground that a new security agreement was not executed in 1978 when the Pledge Agreement and two notes were executed. The financing statement filed with the Secretary of State of California on November 24,1976, together with the Security Agreement executed at that time in 1976, created a valid security interest in Fuqua in the personal property listed therein such as equipment, machinery, molds, inventory, etc. Furthermore, the notes executed at the time of the transaction referred many times to the obligation as a secured one.3 The purpose of filing a Financing Statement is to give notice to other creditors of the existence of a possible lien. That purpose is served when supported by a security agreement.

It is not necessary that the Security Agreement be encompassed in one instrument. In this matter the Pledge Agreement has sufficient references therein to identify the existence of a Security Agreement and Fuqua’s status as a secured creditor. The preamble and the witnessing paragraph designate Fuqua as a secured creditor. If a default occurred Fuqua, at its option, could dispose of its collateral in accordance with the rights of a secured creditor under the California Uniform Commercial Code — Secured Transactions. The Pledge Agreement further provided in paragraph 12: “The rights of the Secured Party provided for hereunder shall be cumulative and non-exclusive, any exercise of one shall not preclude the exercise of any other right afforded by law.”

There was a properly executed security agreement effected in 1976 with a recorded Financing Statement filed in California in that year which are still effective as of this date on assets situated in the State of California. That Security Agreement has not been voided and the instruments executed in 1978, consisting of the Pledge Agreement and notes, are sufficient to constitute Fu-qua as a secured creditor. The notes and the Pledge Agreement executed on March 15, 1978 have sufficient references therein to satisfy the requirements of the Uniform Commercial Code.4

The foregoing conclusions of law, based upon the facts in this case, are mandated by the decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, filed February 8,1980, In the Matter of Bollinger Corporation, Bankrupt, 614 F.2d 924. The Court in Bollinger rendered an interpretation of the law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dealing with the Uniform Commercial Code. Since the [547]*547State of New Jersey has adopted the same uniform law, I am of the opinion that the principles declared in Bollinger are applicable to similar situations in New Jersey. Therein the Third Circuit held,

When the parties have neglected to sign a separate security agreement, it would appear that the better and more practical view is to look at the transaction as a whole in order to determine if there is a writing, or writings, signed by the debtor describing the collateral which demonstrates an intent to create a security interest in the collateral. Id. at 928.

In that case the relevant writings were:

(1) the promissory note; (2) the financing statement; (3) a group of letters constituting the course of dealing between the parties. Id. at 928.5

In the Bollinger case the court held as follows:

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3 B.R. 543, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fuqua-industries-inc-v-mission-marine-associates-inc-in-re-mission-njb-1980.