General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Midway Motor Sales, Inc. (In re Midway Motor Sales, Inc.)

581 B.R. 519
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedDecember 11, 2008
DocketCASE NUMBER 04-42726; ADVERSARY NUMBER 04-4147
StatusPublished

This text of 581 B.R. 519 (General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Midway Motor Sales, Inc. (In re Midway Motor Sales, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Midway Motor Sales, Inc. (In re Midway Motor Sales, Inc.), 581 B.R. 519 (Ohio 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Honorable Kay Woods, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Before the Court is Motion of Plaintiff GMAC LLC for Summary Judgment [522]*522(“Motion for Summary Judgment”) (Doc. # 130)1 filed by Plaintiff General Motors Acceptance Corporation (“GMAC”) on August 4, 2008. On August 25, 2008, Defendants David A. Flynn and David A. Flynn, Inc. (collectively “Flynn”) filed Response in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment (“Response”) (Doc. # 133). For the reasons given below, the Court finds that the Motion for Summary Judgment should be granted.

This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and the general order of reference (General Order No. 84) entered in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(a). Venue in this Court is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and 1409. This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(0). The following constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7052.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Debtor Midway Motor Sales, Inc. (“Midway”) filed a voluntary chapter 11 petition on June 3, 2004 (“Petition Date”), which was converted to a chapter 7 case on September 24, 2004. Prior to the Petition Date, Midway operated a GMC light duty and medium duty truck dealership (“Dealership”) in New Waterford, Ohio. (First Supp. Compl. ¶ 9.) (Doc. # 86.) Sometime in the fall of 2003, Flynn entered into negotiations with Midway to purchase substantially all of the assets of the Dealership. (Mot. Summ. J. at 3.) On or about April 21, 2004, Midway and Flynn entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement (“Purchase Agreement”) for certain assets of Midway. (Id. Ex. C.) Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Midway, Midway’s president Michael Joseph Mercure, and its vice president Michael James Mercure (collectively, “Seller”)2 agreed to sell and Flynn agreed to purchase:

A. All nonobsolete, new, unused and undamaged parts and accessories for GMC LIGHT DUTY, LIGHT DUTY COMMERCIAL, WORKHORSE, and MEDIUM DUTY vehicles shown in the current GENERAL MOTORS Parts Books at current Cost to dealers as shown in the latest GENERAL MOTORS Parts Books, which are returnable to GENERAL MOTORS at closing. Any obsolete parts shall remain property of the SELLER.
B. All parts price books, shop manuals, sales training materials, sales literature, Stationery and other special supplies.
C. GENERAL MOTORS special service tools.
D. Goodwill associated with the business. The SELLERS [sic] hereby grant the use of the trade name MIDWAY MOTOR SALES INC. at no charge to PURCHASER.

(collectively, the “Assets”). (Purchase Agr. ¶ 1 A-D.)

The Purchase Agreement, which did not include the sale of the shares of Midway, had three distinct components, as follows: (i) provided for Flynn to purchase the Assets for a purchase price of $500,000.00 plus returnable parts (“Purchase Price”) (Id. ¶¶ 1 and 3); (ii) provided for Flynn to purchase “all new 2004 model GMC LIGHT DUTY, LIGHT DUTY COM[523]*523MERCIAL, WORKHORSE and MEDIUM DUTY vehicles including demonstrators, if any, on hand as well as those which have been shipped but have not yet arrived at the dealership” (“Vehicles”) at “factory invoice price thereon” plus or minus certain specified items (Id. ¶ 4); and (iii) provided as a condition that Seller had to arrange for Flynn to lease the premises upon which the Dealership operated, including “any furniture, fixtures and equipment currently in use” thereat for a term of thirty-six (36) months “at a monthly lease payment of five thousand dollars ($5000)[,]” (renewable for 36 months at the same price) (Id. ¶ 14). The only part of the Purchase Agreement at issue in this Adversary Proceeding is the first component of the Purchase Agreement, ie., the sale of the Assets for the Purchase Price.

The returnable parts refund totaled $59,283.31. (Mot. Summ. J. Ex. H.) Thus, the total Purchase Price for the Assets was $559,283.31. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Flynn was required to pay Midway the Purchase Price, as follows:

A. Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) deposit as earnest money to be paid by the PURCHASER to SELLER’S attorney to be held in escrow when this document is executed.3
B. A sum of two hundred forty thousand dollars ($240,000) to be paid m cash on the day of closing between PURCHASER AND SELLER. A sum of one hundred twenty-five thousand ($125,000) on first anniversary of closing and a sum of one hundred twenty-five thousand ($125,000) on second anniversary of closing at no interest.

(Purchase Agr. ¶ 3 (emphasis added).)

Prior to closing of the Purchase Agreement, Flynn learned that Midway might be involved with odometer tampering (hereinafter “Odometer Fraud”).4 (Mot. Summ. J. at 4; Resp. at 3.) Two days before closing,5 on May 26, 2004, Flynn called the President of Midway, Michael Joseph Mercure, to determine whether the rumors concerning Odometer Fraud were true. (Resp. Ex. B and Ex. C at 122.)

Flynn: The rumors abound here that Midway is in odometer fraud prob- ■ lems, is there any truth to this?
Mercure: Not that I’m aware of.
Flynn: You never clocked any Builder Supply [sic] trucks that came off lease?
Mercure: Absolutely not.
Flynn: Okay. Cause I’ll be honest with you I don’t want to buy a dealership that has that kind of problems.
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Mercure: Yeah, well I can tell you its not true.
Flynn: Okay. I’m taking your word at that—that’s all I need.

(Resp. Ex. B (emphasis added).)

Closing on the Purchase Agreement occurred on or about May 28, 2004, pursuant [524]*524to an order of Judge Richard McMonagle of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. (First Supp. Compl. ¶ 17.) At closing, Flynn tendered $58,039.98 in cash, which, pursuant to Judge McMonagle’s order, was put into an escrow account. (Id. ¶¶ 22-23.)

GMAC filed the instant adversary proceeding on August 11, 2004, to determine the validity, extent and priority of its claim against Midway, Flynn, and numerous other parties. The issues in this adversary proceeding have been bifurcated.

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Bluebook (online)
581 B.R. 519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-motors-acceptance-corp-v-midway-motor-sales-inc-in-re-midway-ohnb-2008.