Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc. v. First Fidelity Bank, N.A. (In Re Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc.)

187 B.R. 128, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13338, 1995 WL 547824
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedSeptember 14, 1995
DocketCiv. A. 95-2418 (NHP)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 187 B.R. 128 (Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc. v. First Fidelity Bank, N.A. (In Re Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District 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
Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc. v. First Fidelity Bank, N.A. (In Re Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc.), 187 B.R. 128, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13338, 1995 WL 547824 (D.N.J. 1995).

Opinion

*130 OPINION

POLITAN, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on appellants’ appeal from a Bankruptcy Court Order dated April 4, 1995 and a subsequent denial of appellants’ motion for reconsideration dated April 18, 1995. Also before the Court is the appellee’s motion to supplement the record on appeal to include three Chapter 11 plans of reorganization not before the Bankruptcy Court at the time the subject determinations were made. The Court has heard the arguments of the parties as to the appeal and the motion to supplement the record, and has considered the parties’ submissions on both issues; and shall now deny the appellee’s motion to supplement the record on appeal; affirm the Bankruptcy Judge’s denial of the appellants’ motion before her to extend their Chapter 11 exclusivity period; and reverse the Bankruptcy Judge’s termination of the appellants’ exclusivity period under 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) as an abuse of discretion.

This appeal arises from the consolidated voluntary Chapter 11 filings of Geriatrics Nursing Home, Inc. (“Geriatrics”) and North Jersey Nursing and Convalescent Center, Inc. (“North Jersey”) (collectively “the Debtors”). North Jersey is a long-term care facility or nursing home which operates at 296 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, New Jersey, a property owned by Geriatrics.

In or about 1987, Geriatrics borrowed certain monies from the Howard Savings Bank (“Howard”). Subsequent to Howard’s insolvency and receivership by the FDIC, First Fidelity Bank, N.A. (“First Fidelity” or “ap-pellee”) succeeded to Howard’s rights. For reasons not relevant to the instant determination, North Jersey later began experiencing difficulty in meeting its monthly mortgage payments and was refused an adjustment in its payment schedule by First Fidelity. Levies upon North Jersey’s bank accounts exacerbated the matter, and on November 8, 1994, both North Jersey and Geriatrics filed separate voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. On November 15, 1994, the matters were consolidated.

On January 31, 1995, the Debtors filed a joint Disclosure Statement and Plan of Reorganization. Subsequently, on March 16, 1995, the Debtors filed a motion to extend their Chapter 11 exclusivity period pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) (“the Motion”), in order that they might continue to solicit acceptance of their Plan of Reorganization. First Fidelity filed a cross-motion seeking to terminate the period of exclusivity pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) (“the Cross-motion”), in order to permit the filing of alternative plans. On March 20, 1995, the Debtors filed their First Amended Disclosure Statement and First Amended Plan of Reorganization.

A hearing on the proposed amendments to the Debtors’ Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement, as well as on the Motion and the Cross-motion, was held in the Bankruptcy Court on April 4, 1995. The amendments were approved by the Bankruptcy Judge in an oral decision, but the Debtors’ request for an extension of the exclusivity period was denied and First Fidelity’s motion to terminate exclusivity was granted. The Debtors sought reconsideration on the issue of the exclusivity period and, at a hearing on April 18, 1995, the Bankruptcy Judge denied their motion. The Debtors timely appealed the matter to this Court.

Jurisdiction

The Court is satisfied that it is, in its discretion, vested with jurisdiction to decide the appeal of this interlocutory determination by the Bankruptcy Court. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). See generally Commerce Bank v. Mountain View Village, Inc., 5 F.3d 34, 36 (3d Cir.1993); In re White Beauty View, Inc., 841 F.2d 524, 527 (3d Cir.1988).

Issues on Appeal

The issue on appeal is whether the Bankruptcy Judge abused her discretion in refusing to extend, and instead deciding to terminate, the exclusivity period in which the Debtors alone could file and solicit support for their Plan of Reorganization pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1121(b) and (c).

Motion to Supplement the Record on Appeal

The appellee seeks permission to supplement the record on appeal, specifically to *131 include proposed plans of reorganization filed in the Bankruptcy Court after the April 4, 1995 decision to terminate the period of exclusivity in this case. Those plans were not in the record in the bankruptcy case when the determinations under appeal were made. Having reviewed the submissions in support of and in opposition to the motion, the Court is not convinced that supplementing the record will assist it in deciding this appeal. Therefore, the Court shall deny the appel-lee’s motion to supplement the record on appeal.

Standard of Review

The standard of review to be employed on an appeal from the Bankruptcy Court is narrow in scope: “an order altering the exclusivity period will not be set aside absent an abuse of discretion.” In re Gibson & Cushman Dredging Corp., 101 B.R. 405, 409 (E.D.N.Y.1989) (citation omitted). Abuse of discretion can be found when a “judge fails to apply the proper legal standard or to follow proper procedures in making the determination, or bases an award upon findings of fact that are clearly erroneous.” Zolfo, Cooper & Co. v. Sunbeam-Oster Co., Inc., 50 F.3d 253, 257 (3d Cir.1995) (citing Electro-Wire Prods., Inc. v. Sirote & Permutt, P.C. (In re Prince), 40 F.3d 356, 359 (11th Cir.1994)). See also N.L.R.B. v. Frazier, 966 F.2d 812, 815 (3d Cir.1992) (quoting Int’l Union v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 820 F.2d 91, 95 (3d Cir.1987) (“An abuse of discretion arises when ‘the [lower] court’s decision rests upon a clearly erroneous finding of fact, an errant conclusion of law or an improper application of law to fact.’ ”)); Natural Resources Defense Council v. Texaco, 906 F.2d 934, 937 (3d Cir.1990); FGH Realty Credit v. Newark Airport/Hotel Ltd., 155 B.R. 93, 97 (D.N.J.1993).

To the extent that the Bankruptcy Judge rested her conclusion as to the issue of terminating the exclusivity period on legal issues, the Court shall engage in plenary review of that determination.

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187 B.R. 128, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13338, 1995 WL 547824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/geriatrics-nursing-home-inc-v-first-fidelity-bank-na-in-re-njd-1995.