Hedglin v. Community Bank (In re A & C Chevrolet-Olds, Inc.)

3 B.R. 396, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17217
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 21, 1980
DocketCiv. A. No. 79-10234
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 3 B.R. 396 (Hedglin v. Community Bank (In re A & C Chevrolet-Olds, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hedglin v. Community Bank (In re A & C Chevrolet-Olds, Inc.), 3 B.R. 396, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17217 (E.D. Mich. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES HARVEY, District Judge.

This is an appeal from a decision of the Bankruptcy Court holding defendant Community Bank liable to plaintiff Trustee for $12,582.49. The Bankruptcy Court determined that this liability arose out of defendant Bank’s wrongful set-off of funds due Bankrupt A & C Chevrolet-Olds, Inc. (hereinafter Bankrupt) from defendant Bank against personal loans of Clarke Cummings, president of Bankrupt, with defendant Bank.

Defendant asserts two reasons for reversal of the Bankruptcy Court’s judgment. First, it alleges that the Bankruptcy Court failed to consider certain bookkeeping increases made to Bankrupt’s account by defendant Bank as only provisional in nature and therefore subject to revocation by defendant Bank in the event of overdraft or dishonor pursuant to Article 4 of the UCC. Second, defendant Bank argues that § 68 of the Bankruptcy Act entitles it to set-off against any debt owing from the Bank to the Bankrupt, the debts owing from the Bankrupt to it.

On March 19, 1980, the Court heard oral arguments in this matter pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 809.

This Court is required to accept the Bankruptcy Judge’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Bankruptcy Rule 810. The relevant facts as found by the lower court and adopted by this Court may be briefly summarized as follows:

1) On January 31, 1978 Bankrupt drew a check on its account with defendant Bank in the amount of $27,900.65 made payable to General Motors Acceptance Corporation (hereinafter GMAC).

2) On February 3, 1978, GMAC deposited the $27,900.65 check in its account with Second National Bank of Saginaw.

3) On February 3, 1978, Second National Bank forwarded the $27,900.65 check to the Federal Reserve Bank for collection and finally to defendant Community Bank.

[397]*3974) On February 7, 1978, Community Bank received the $27,900.65 check for collection.

5) On February 8, 1978, defendant Community Bank notified Clarke Cummings, president of Bankrupt that Bankrupt’s checking account with defendant Bank was overdrawn.

6) On February 8, 1978, Bankrupt deposited six cheeks totalling $26,029.76 with defendant Bank to cover the overdraft created by the GMAC check. One of the six checks was for $14,000.00 and was drawn on Bankrupt’s checking account with the Port Austin Bank.

7) On February 9, 1978, defendant Bank returned the $27,900.65 check through collection channels and marked the check “uncollected funds.”

8) On February 10,1978, defendant Bank transferred $27,996.81 from the Bankrupt’s checking account and placed it in a money order made payable to defendant Community Bank.

9) On February 10, 1978, after learning that defendant Bank had withdrawn funds from its account, Bankrupt stopped payment on the $14,000.00 cheek drawn on the Port Austin Bank and deposited with defendant Community Bank on February 8, 1978.

10) On February 14,1978, Bankrupt filed its petition and was adjudicated a bankrupt.

11) On February 15, 1978, defendant Community Bank converted the $27,996.81 money order made payable to it into a $14,000.00 money order made payable to it and $13,996.81 cash. The $13,996.81 was applied by Community Bank to six loans. Five of these loans were from the defendant Bank to Cummings as an individual. $12,582.49 was applied to these five personal loans. $1,414.32 was applied to a loan from defendant Bank to the Bankrupt.

12) On February 16, 1978, the $14,000.00 check drawn on the Port Austin Bank was returned to Community Bank unpaid due to the stop payment order issued by Bankrupt and Community Bank cancelled the $14,-000.00 money order.

13) On February 27,1978, Second National Bank protested the late return of the GMAC check for $27,900.65 by defendant Community Bank.

14) On February 28, 1978, the account of defendant Community Bank was debited in the amount of $27,900.65 by the Federal Reserve Bank.

15) On April 11,1978, defendant Community Bank charged the account of Bankrupt $27,900.65.

To these facts, this Court adds the additional finding admitted by plaintiff Trustee in paragraph 5 of his complaint that: “On or about February 10, 1978, an agent of defendant Bank called the Port Austin State Bank and found out there were insufficient funds to satisfy check.”

Defendant Bank argues that the Bankruptcy Court erroneously viewed the transfer of “funds” from the Bankrupt’s checking account to outstanding loan accounts of Clarke Cummings as a transfer of funds owned by the Bankrupt instead of a shifting of provisional bookkeeping entries between accounts.

The Court notes that defendant Bank admits this transfer was wrongful under Section 70 of the Bankruptcy Act since it occurred after February 14, 1978, when the stay imposed by Bankruptcy Rule 601 is in effect. In addition, the Court finds the Bankruptcy Court was correct in holding that a shift of this nature would not be a set-off within the meaning of Section 68 of the Bankruptcy Act since the debts were not mutual. Clearly, to be “mutual” within Section 68, “the debits or credits must be in the same right and between the same parties, standing in the same capacity.” Collier on Bankruptcy, Section 68.04(2.1), p. 867.

In view of this then, if the shift between the checking and loan account involved actual funds of the Bankrupt or represented an off-set of a debt owing to the Bankrupt from defendant Bank then the judgment of the Bankruptcy Court would be sustained.

[398]*398However, an examination of the facts enumerated above, in light of the banking procedures provided for in Article 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code, convinces the Court that the argument of defendant Bank has merit.

M.C.L.A. § 440.4201 (U.C.C. § 4201) provides that the bookkeeping entries made by a bank increasing a depositor’s account at the time a foreign item is sent for collection is a provisional entry. The practice of making this provisional settlement does not effect a Bank’s right of charge-back or refund from its customers. M.C.L.A. § 440.-4212.

In the instant case, the bookkeeping increases to Bankrupt’s checking account for the $14,000.00 Port Austin check and the $27,900.65 GMAC check which was returned to defendant Bank on February 7, 1978 were merely provisional entries.

The effect of a provisional entry is explained in the official comments to Section 4212 of the U.C.C. (M.C.L.A. § 440.4212) as follows:

“Purposes:
1. Under current bank practice, in a major portion of cases banks make provisional settlement for items when they are first received and then await subsequent determination of whether the item will be finally paid. This is the principal characteristic of what are referred to in banking parlance as “cash items”. Statistically, this practice of settling provisionally first and then awaiting final payment is justified because more than ninety-nine per cent of such cash items are finally paid, with the result that in this great preponderance of cases it becomes unnecessary for the banks making the provisional settlements to make any further entries. In due course the provisional settlements become final simply with the lapse of time.

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3 B.R. 396, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hedglin-v-community-bank-in-re-a-c-chevrolet-olds-inc-mied-1980.