Giuliano v. Ins. Co. of Pa. (In re LTC Holdings, Inc.)

597 B.R. 554
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware
DecidedFebruary 4, 2019
DocketCase No.: 14-11111 (CSS) (Jointly Administered); Adv. No.: 15-51889 (CSS); Adv. No.: 16-51036 (CSS) (consolidated with Adv. No. 15-51889)
StatusPublished

This text of 597 B.R. 554 (Giuliano v. Ins. Co. of Pa. (In re LTC Holdings, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Giuliano v. Ins. Co. of Pa. (In re LTC Holdings, Inc.), 597 B.R. 554 (Del. 2019).

Opinion

Sontchi, C. J.

*556INTRODUCTION

Bankrupt and insolvent entities tend to struggle in the runup to bankruptcy or insolvency. Teetering finances, poor management, or simply a bad business model may plague these companies. Economic difficulties may exacerbate these pressures and leave companies vulnerable to powerful, exploitative actors. As such, the Bankruptcy Code and the laws of New York State provide protections for debtors and insolvents that reach back to before the bankruptcy filing or insolvency. These statutes allow for the avoidance of fraudulent transfers and transfers without fair consideration occurring prior to the bankruptcy or insolvency if those transfers caused or happened during insolvency.

Before the Court is a motion for partial summary judgment on some of these statutes, as well as smaller related matters. Here, a surety is seeking to dispose of a Trustee's allegations of wrongdoing.

This Court will deny summary judgment on most counts pertaining to fair or reasonably equivalent consideration. The agreement governing the transfers does not give a value for the consideration given by each side and other evidence does not fill in this factual gap. Further, the Court lacks information pertaining to insolvency at the time of transfers and, if there was no insolvency at the time, then to the causal relationship between the transfers and the insolvency. Consideration, insolvency, and causality are factually-driven inquiries.

The record is not clear or strong enough to support an entry of summary judgment in such a fact-dependent context. Courts should hesitate to cut off discovery when the facts are sparse, contradictory, or vague. Because this is the case here, the Court will deny summary judgment.

However, the Court will grant summary judgment as to the counts pertaining to fraud. Trustee points to few badges of fraud and does not at all articulate the crux of his allegation that ICSP threatened Debtors.

JURISDICTION & VENUE

This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157 and 1334. Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and 1409. This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(A), (F) and (H).

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Debtor Lakeshore Toltest Company ("LTC") was a construction company and parent of construction companies Toltest, Inc. ("Toltest") and Lakeshore Engineering Services ("LES"), collectively "Debtors."1 The United States had retained *557Debtors to perform several construction projects, including structures in the Middle East for the Department of Defense.

On May 2, 2014 ("Petition Date"), Debtors filed a voluntary Chapter 7 petition. Two and half years later, the Trustee filed a complaint against the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania ("ICSP"), a surety for several Debtor Government contracts.2 The complaint alleges, among other things, that ICSP forced Debtors to enter into an unfavorable financing arrangement while they were struggling financially. In this arrangement, memorialized by contract, parties agreed to be governed by New York law.3 At the end of 2017, ICSP moved for summary judgment on the first five counts of the complaint.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Trustee complains that ICSP bullied and fleeced the Debtors when they were struggling financially. He contends that months before the Petition Date, ICSP pressured Debtors to enter into an unfavorable and potentially fraudulent financing arrangement that required Debtors to give up control and make substantial transfers to ICSP while getting little to nothing in return. He wants the court to avoid the transfers Debtors made to ICSP and to compel ICSP to return these transfers to Debtors. To this end, Trustee brings nine counts against ICSP, which responds by seeking summary judgment on Counts 1-5 concerning avoidance and recovery of fraudulent transfers and conveyances. The remaining four counts concern preferential transfers, defendant's liability, and breach of contract. ICSP contends that it did not seek to and did not take advantage of LTC. On the contrary, the surety argues that it was acting to reign in a profligate principal.4 Furthermore, it counters that it did provide adequate consideration by agreeing to forego its clear contractual remedy stemming from the principle Debtors' non-performance. Because the value of this forbearance remains uncertain, the Court will deny summary judgment on most counts. However, ICSP has shown that it is entitled to relief on a fraud-related count. The Court will grant summary judgment on this count.

Around September 2009, ICSP issued to the Debtors a series of bonds ("Bonds") as surety on certain of the Debtor's Government contracts ("Bonded Projects"), guaranteeing that the contracts would be completed.5 At about the same time, LES and ICSP executed an indemnity agreement, which Toltest and LTC joined the following year (collectively the "Agreement of Indemnity").6 This agreement required Debtors to indemnify ICSP against liabilities arising under the Bonds. ICSP executed the Bonds in reliance upon this and at Debtors' request.7

In the event of default, the Agreement of Indemnity allowed ICSP to demand that LTC provide "funds equal to the aggregate penal sum of the then outstanding Bonds, as determined by the Surety in its sole discretion regardless of whether any actual liability for Loss exists under any of *558the Bonds."8 Such events of default include refusal or inability to pay or perform, breach of contract, petition for reorganization, default on a credit facility agreement, and proceedings that interfere with LTC's use of certain equipment.9

The United States terminated some Bonded Projects for default and threatened to terminate more.10 ICSP and Debtors have agreed that such termination was wrongful.11 Nevertheless, Debtors were in default under the Agreement of Indemnity.12 The default triggered multiple remedial rights for ICSP against Debtors. Two critical rights were ICSP's right to be indemnified and its right to demand that LTC put up as collateral an amount determined by ICSP to guard against losses it anticipated.13

Meanwhile, LTC was hurting. It was under "tremendous financial strain" and "unable to perform or complete" its Bonded Projects.14

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Bluebook (online)
597 B.R. 554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giuliano-v-ins-co-of-pa-in-re-ltc-holdings-inc-deb-2019.