Hartwig Poultry, Inc. v. CW Service (In re Hartwig Poultry, Inc.)

57 B.R. 549, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 6837
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedJanuary 24, 1986
DocketBankruptcy No. 84-0256
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 57 B.R. 549 (Hartwig Poultry, Inc. v. CW Service (In re Hartwig Poultry, 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
Hartwig Poultry, Inc. v. CW Service (In re Hartwig Poultry, Inc.), 57 B.R. 549, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 6837 (Ohio 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

RICHARD L. SPEER, Bankruptcy Judge.

This cause comes before the Court upon the Motions For Summary Judgment filed by Defendant Kendall’s Transport Refrigeration, Inc. (hereinafter Kendall), and by the Plaintiff against Kendall. The parties have each submitted arguments as to the merits of these motions and have had the opportunity to respond to the arguments made by opposing counsel. The Court has reviewed those arguments as well as the entire record in this case. Based upon that review and for the following reasons the Court finds that the Plaintiffs Motion For Summary Judgment should be GRANTED, and that Kendall’s Motion For Summary Judgment should be DENIED.

FACTS

The Plaintiff in this adversary proceeding is the Debtor-In-Possession in the related Chapter 11 case. The Debtor-In-Possession filed its voluntary Chapter 11 Petition with this Court on October 19, 1982. In an effort to collect assets for the estate, the Debtor-In-Possession filed this action against numerous Defendants, including Kendall. The Complaint alleges a cause of action for the recovery of a preference pursuant to the provisions of 11 U.S.C. Section 547. Subsequent to the filing of the Complaint, the Debtor-In-Possession submitted to Kendall a set of interrogatories and a request for admissions. These requests were directed at discovering certain facts which surround the alleged preference. As set forth in the pleadings, the responses to the discovery requests, and the exhibits attached thereto, it appears that Kendall was employed by the Debtor-In-Possession to perform maintenance on certain refrigeration units. In response to the invoices which were sent to the Debtor-In-Possession for the work, the Debtor-In-Possession issued two checks to Kendall from its operating accounts. The relevant dates of the service and the payments are shown below:

Invoice Date of No. 2715 2736 2784 2851 2913 2912 3072 3071 3073 Service 7/12/82 7/12/82 7/15/82 7/19/82 7/27/82 7/27/82 8/21/82 8/21/82 8/21/82 Date Pymt. Due 7/26/82 7/26/82 7/26/82 8/2/82 8/10/82 8/10/82 9/3/82 9/3/82 9/3/82 Amount $ 4.22 $ 497.09 $ 387.93 $ 181.82 $ 35.19 $ 84.80 $ 211.36 $ 56.84 $2,628.88

It should be noted that the date of payment is the date on which the funds were debited from the Debtor-In-Possession’s account. The invoices sent by Kendall represent billings for both labor and materials which were utilized during the course of the maintenance.

In its Motion For Summary Judgment, the Debtor-In-Possession contends that by virtue of the proximity between the payments and the filing of the Petition, and that fact that the invoices were paid subsequent to the date on which payment was due, the payments constitute voidable preferences under 11 U.S.C. Section 547. On the other hand, Kendall contends that because of the proximity between the rendition of services and the payments for those services, the payments are subject to the “business expense” exception to an otherwise voidable preferential transfer.

LAW

Prior to the enactment of the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984, P.L. 98-353, the provisions of 11 U.S.C. Section 547 stated in pertinent part:

“(b) ... the trustee may avoid any transfer of property of the debtor-
(1) to or for the benefit of the creditor;
(2) for or on account of an antecedent debt owed by the debtor before such transfer was made;
(3) made while the debtor was insolvent;
[551]*551(4) made—
(A)on or within 90 days before the date of the filing of the petition;
(5) that enables such creditor to receive more than such creditor would receive if—
(A) the case were a case under chapter 7 of this title;
(B) the transfer had not been made; and
(C) such creditor received payment of such debt to the extent provided by the provisions of this title.”
“(c) The trustee may not avoid under this section a transfer—
(1) to the extent that such transfer was—
(A) intended by the debtor and the creditor to or for whose benefit such transfer was made to be a contemporaneous exchange for new value given to the debt- or; and
(B) in fact a substantially contemporaneous exchange;
(2) to the extent that such transfer was—
(A) in payment of a debt incurred in the ordinary course of business or financial affairs of the debtor and the transferee;
(B) made not later than 45 days after such debt was incurred;
(C) made in the ordinary course of business or financial affairs of the debtor and the transferee; and
(D) made according to ordinary business terms.”

The pre-amendment version of that section is applicable to this adversary proceeding, inasmuch as the Chapter 11 case was filed prior to the effective date of the amendments. See, P.L. 98-353 Section 553(a).

Under these provisions, a trustee or a debtor-in-possession, see, 11 U.S.C. Section 1107, may avoid the transfer of an interest of the debtor in property which was made to a creditor on account of an antecedent debt within ninety (90) days prior to the petition if the debtor was insolvent at the time of the transfer and if the transfer enables the creditor to receive more than they would have received in a Chapter 7 proceeding had the transfer not been made. Allison v. First Nat. Bank & Trust Co. (In re Damon), 34 B.R. 626 (Bkcy.D.Kan.1983).

A trustee could not avoid a transfer which was intended by the debtor, and which was, in fact, a contemporaneous exchange for new value. Ray v. Security Mutual Finance Corp. (In re Arnett), 731 F.2d 358 (6th Cir.1984). The most determinative factor in assessing whether or not a transfer was a contemporaneous exchange is the intent of the parties to create such an exchange. McClendon v. Cal-Wood Door (In re Wadsworth Bldg. Components, Inc.), 711 F.2d 122 (9th Cir.1983). In that regard, it is generally held that when a transfer to a creditor is accomplished by check, the transfer does not occur until the check is honored by the. drawee bank. See, Harris v. Harbin Lumber Co. of Royston, Inc. (Matter of Ellison), 31 B.R. 545 (Bkcy.M.D.Ga.1983).

A party is entitled to a summary adjudication if they can demonstrate that there are no genuine issues as to any material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See,

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Bluebook (online)
57 B.R. 549, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 6837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartwig-poultry-inc-v-cw-service-in-re-hartwig-poultry-inc-ohnb-1986.