Gulf Electroquip, Inc. v. Rodriguez

132 B.R. 991, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14560, 1991 WL 220559
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedSeptember 25, 1991
DocketCiv. A. 91-2229, 91-2230
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 132 B.R. 991 (Gulf Electroquip, Inc. v. Rodriguez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gulf Electroquip, Inc. v. Rodriguez, 132 B.R. 991, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14560, 1991 WL 220559 (E.D. La. 1991).

Opinion

ORDER AND REASONS

DUPLANTIER, District Judge.

Appellant, Gulf Electroquip, Inc., has appealed from the bankruptcy court’s dismissal of its complaint seeking a declaration that a debt owed it by appellees, Wilbert A. Rodriguez and Thomas J. Wetta, III, was not dischargeable. For the following reasons, the judgment of the bankruptcy court is REVERSED, and the case is remanded to the bankruptcy court for further proceedings consistent herewith.

In August 1989, appellees filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Code. Because the pertinent facts and legal issues apply to both petitions, I treat them as one. Appellant was listed as an unsecured creditor in the amount of $272,000.00, but was not listed on the mailing matrix. Because appellant was not listed on the mailing matrix, it did not receive formal notice of the pending bankruptcies, nor of the creditors’ meeting, nor of the November 21, 1989, deadline for filing its complaint to establish the nondis-chargeability of the debt.

In June 1990, appellant filed its complaint seeking a declaration that the debt owed to it by appellees was nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), (3), (4), or (6). Appellees moved to have the complaint dismissed as untimely. The parties agree that the timeliness of appellant’s complaint is governed by 11 U.S.C. section 523(a)(3)(B). When a debt is not listed or scheduled in time to permit the creditor to file a timely request for determination of discharge, the creditor is not foreclosed from establishing that the debt is nondischargeable, unless the creditor had notice or actual knowledge of the case in time to file its request timely. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(3)(B). The Fifth Circuit has held that this rule applies when a creditor is not listed on the mailing matrix. In re Adams, 734 F.2d 1094 (5th Cir.1984). Thus, the primary issue is whether appellant received actual notice of appellees’ bankruptcy proceedings prior to the November 1989 deadline.

After an evidentiary hearing, the bankruptcy court found that appellant received notice of the bankruptcies in August or September 1989 through a letter sent to its attorney, Craig Power. The court therefore dismissed appellant’s complaint as untimely. The bankruptcy court’s factual finding is subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review. See Matter of Bufkin Bros., Inc., 757 F.2d 1573, 1577-78 (5th Cir.1985). Conclusions of law are of course reviewed de novo. Id.

The bankruptcy court based its judgment on the following facts elicited at the eviden-tiary hearing. Prior to the time that appel-lees filed their bankruptcy petitions, Jonathan Bookman, a member of the law firm of Bronfin, Heller, Steinberg & Berins, represented appellant in connection with a *993 debt owed to it by Kenner Marine & Machinery, Inc. Appellees were officers and stockholders of Kenner Marine. Kenner Marine filed for bankruptcy in June 1989; its bankruptcy attorney was Emile Turner of Turner, Young, Hebbler & Babin.

At a meeting regarding the Kenner Marine bankruptcy in August 1989, Mr. Turner told Mr. Bookman that appellees had filed individual petitions for relief under chapter 11. Appellees contend that shortly thereafter Mr. Bookman wrote a letter to Craig Power, Texas counsel for appellant and appellant’s undisputed agent, indicating that Mr. Bookman had been informed about appellees’ bankruptcy proceedings. Mr. Power testified that he never received such a letter. The only evidence of such a letter was a copy from Mr. Bookman’s files. Mr. Bookman did not recall writing such a letter until he found the copy in his files in approximately September of 1990. He did not have personal knowledge that such a letter was mailed to Mr. Power; he could only “assume” that the letter had gone through his office’s mailing process.

The bankruptcy court found that appel-lees met their burden of proving that appellant had notice of their bankruptcy proceedings before the November 1989 deadline by showing that appellant received notice through the letter sent from Mr. Book-man to Mr. Power in August or September 1989. In so finding, the court relied upon the presumption that if mail is properly addressed, stamped, and deposited in an appropriate receptacle, delivery has occurred. See Dunlop v. United States, 165 U.S. 486, 17 S.Ct. 375, 41 L.Ed. 799 (1897); Atherton v. Atherton, 181 U.S. 155, 21 S.Ct. 544, 45 L.Ed. 794 (1901); Hagner v. United States, 285 U.S. 427, 52 S.Ct. 417, 76 L.Ed. 861 (1932); Beck v. Somerset Technologies, Inc., 882 F.2d 993 (5th Cir.1989). However, an analysis of cases that have utilized the presumption of delivery shows that appellees are not entitled to the presumption, because they did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the letter was properly mailed.

■Some courts have relied upon the presumption of delivery when letters were shown to have been sent by certified mail, with receipts returned to the senders. See Beck, 882 F.2d at 996; Ottermann v. Ganns, 455 So.2d 1385, 1386-87 (La.1984). In other cases proof of mailing was established because letters were shown to have been sent through a systematic process at the clerk’s office or through records at the clerk’s office. See In re Longardner, 855 F.2d 455, 459-60 (7th Cir.1988); In re Majors, 19 B.R. 275 (Bankr.M.D.Tenn.1982); In re Heyward, 15 B.R. 629 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y.1981). In yet other cases, there was significant proof that the letters at issue were actually mailed. See Atherton, 181 U.S. 155, 21 S.Ct. 544 (sender actually paid postage and placed letter in mails); Wells Fargo v. Kozloff, 695 F.2d 940 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 818, 104 S.Ct. 77, 78 L.Ed.2d 89 (1983) (sender saw letter go into envelope and envelope sealed, and testified as to regular office mailing procedures).

These cases do not support a finding the original of Mr. Bookman’s letter was mailed to Mr. Power. The letter was not sent certified mail or through any particular system for mass mailings. Appellees’ only evidence that a letter was mailed was Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
132 B.R. 991, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14560, 1991 WL 220559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gulf-electroquip-inc-v-rodriguez-laed-1991.