Haywin Textile Products, Inc. v. Bill's Dollar Stores, Inc. (In Re Bill's Dollar Stores, Inc.)

164 B.R. 471, 25 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 728, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 331, 25 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 599, 1994 WL 86594
United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware·Decided March 10, 1994·No. 17-12755·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PETER J. WALSH, Bankruptcy Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment in an adversary proceeding filed by Plaintiff Haywin Textile Products, Inc. (“Haywin”) against Defendant/Debtor-in-Possession Bill’s Dollar Stores, Inc. (“BDS”) seeking reclamation of goods, pursuant to Section 546(c) 1 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq. 2 and Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7001 and 7003. As the goods in question have been sold by BDS in the ordinary course of its business, Haywin now seeks § 503(b) priority for its claims pursuant to § 546(c)(2)(A).

This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and § 157(a). This is a core proceeding within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2).

Both parties assert, and the court agrees, that there are no genuine issues of material fact. The legal issue to be decided — whether goods which arrive at a buyer’s yard but remain in common carriers’ trailers, unhitched from their cabs and left in the yard by the carriers, are “received” for the purpose of § 546(c) on the day they arrive in the yard or two days later when they are unloaded into the buyer’s warehouse — is appropriate for disposition by summary judgment. Because I conclude that BDS “received” the goods when they were deposited in its yard, Haywin does not have valid reclamation claims with respect to those goods as its demand was not “made within ten days after receipt of such goods by the debtor” as required by § 546(c)(1), and summary judgment will be granted in favor of BDS.

FACTS AND POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES

Haywin is an importer and wholesale distributor of home textile products, including bedsheets, towels, etc. BDS operates a large chain of retail stores. BDS and Haywin had from time to time contracted for the purchase/sale of textile products in the ordinary course of both company’s businesses. The goods at issue are the subject of two purchase orders aggregating $169,579 and were shipped under three separate bills of lading. The goods were picked up by two different common carriers at Haywin’s facility in Brooklyn, New York on June 23 and 25, 1993, and both carriers arrived at BDS’s central warehouse yard in Columbus, Missis *473 sippi on Sunday, June 27, 1993. 3 The carriers’ drivers disengaged the trailers from their cabs, received copies of the bills of lading signed by BDS’s employees, and left BDS’s premises. The goods remained in the trailers until June 30, 1993 when BDS’s personnel transferred them to BDS’s warehouse.

Upon discovery of what it alleges was BDS’s insolvency 4 and pursuant to § 546(c) and U.C.C. § 2-702(2) 5 , Haywin sent a written demand for reclamation by letter on Friday, July 9, 1993 and by telefax on Monday, July 12, 1993. BDS received the demand by telefax on July 12, the day it filed its voluntary Chapter 11 petition without having paid Haywin for the goods. The date of the dispatch, rather than the date of receipt, determines when a “demand” is made for purposes of § 546(c). Montello Oil Corp. v. Marin Motor Oil, Inc. (In re Marin Motor Oil, Inc.), 740 F.2d 220 (3d Cir.1984). While BDS has reserved the right to contest whether Haywin actually sent the July 9 demand letter, for purposes of the cross-motions for summary judgment, BDS agrees that the demand of July 9 satisfies the 10 day requirement if the § 546(c)(1) receipt is deemed to have occurred on June 30 as a matter of law.

In support of its position that receipt occurred on June 30, Haywin makes two principal arguments: BDS did not have unlimited physical possession of the goods until'June 30, and BDS’s payment practices treat the date the goods arrive in the warehouse as the date of “receipt.”

Relying on U.C.C. § 2-103(i)(c) which defines “receipt of goods” as “taking physical possession of them”, Haywin claims that it was not until BDS unloaded the goods from the common carrier’s trailers on June 30 that it took physical possession and therefore receipt occurred. Since, according to Haywin, the trailers were owned by the common carriers, BDS did not have unfettered possession until June 30. Furthermore, according to Haywin, Haywin “could have exercised [its] remedy of stopping delivery upon discovery of [BDS’s] insolvency, outside of [its] reclamation rights, and the carrier could have re-connected the trailers to the trucks and removed [Haywin’s] goods from the yard.”

As to BDS’s payment practices, Haywin points out that receipt of the goods in BDS’s warehouse, not the yard, is a triggering event. When the goods are received in the warehouse they are inspected for quality and quantity, the correct amount owed to the seller is determined, BDS’s payment obligation is recorded in its computer based accounting system, and the payment obligation commences. BDS’s “checker sheets” and warehouse receiving forms indicate that these “receipt” events occurred on June 30, at the earliest. Furthermore, BDS’s purchase orders show “2% ROG,” which Haywin says means that BDS is entitled to a 2% discount if the invoice is paid upon receipt of *474 goods and BDS has acknowledged that receipt in the warehouse controls where payment terms are based on “receipt of goods.”

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Haywin Textile Products, Inc. v. Bill's Dollar Stores, Inc. (In Re Bill's Dollar Stores, Inc.), 164 B.R. 471, 25 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 728, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 331, 25 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 599, 1994 WL 86594 (Del. 1994).

164 B.R. 471 (Haywin Textile Products, Inc. v. Bill's Dollar Stores, Inc. (In Re Bill's Dollar Stores, Inc.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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