In Play Membership Golf, Inc. v. Billy Casper Golf, LLC (In re In Play Membership Golf, Inc.)

576 B.R. 15
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Colorado
DecidedSeptember 29, 2017
DocketBankruptcy Case No. 13-14422 EEB; Adversary Proceeding No. 15-1191 EEB
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 576 B.R. 15 (In Play Membership Golf, Inc. v. Billy Casper Golf, LLC (In re In Play Membership Golf, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Play Membership Golf, Inc. v. Billy Casper Golf, LLC (In re In Play Membership Golf, Inc.), 576 B.R. 15 (Colo. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER DISMISSING ADVERSARY PROCEEDING FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

Elizabeth E. Brown, Bankruptcy Judge

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the parties’ supplemental briefs filed at the Court’s request to assist the Court in its determination of whether it has jurisdiction over this case. At the outset of this litigation, the Debtor’s largest secured creditor, Mile High Banks (the “Bank”) was a defendant. Some of the claims the Debtor asserted against the Bank gave rise to core jurisdiction. Following the dismissal of all claims against the Bank and other events that have transpired, the Court finds the remaining claims are not core proceedings and they are no longer “related to” an open bankruptcy case. The only issue is whether the Court should exercise its discretion to retain jurisdiction or dismiss this case.

1. BACKGROUND

The facts relevant to a determination of jurisdiction are undisputed in this case.1 The Debtor owned and operated the Plum Creek and Deer Creek golf courses in Colorado. The Bank held a first priority hen on both courses owned by the Debtor and on a third course in Fort Worth, Texas, owned by a related entity. After the Bank declared its loans in default and had a receiver appointed by the state court, the Debtor filed its chapter 11 petition on March 22,2013.

Almost one year later, on March 7, 2014, the Debtor filed its Fourth Amended Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”).2 The Plan incorporated the terms of an agreement between the Debtor and the Bank. The parties agreed that the Bank’s claim would be bifurcated into a secured claim in the amount of $4.5 million and an unsecured deficiency claim of approximately $6.8 million. The Debtor agreed to execute three promissory notes to reflect the indebtedness: Note A in the amount of $2.65 million, Note B in the amount of $1.85 million, and Note C in the amount of $6.8 million. Notes A and B were to represent the secured portion of the Bank’s claim and Note C represented the unsecured claim. Both Notes A and B were to mature on the earlier of: a sale of the golf courses, a refinancing of the indebtedness, or August 31, 2015 (the “Closing Date”). In the interim, the Debtor was obligated to retain an independent management company to operate the golf courses. If the Debtor fully satisfied the Bank’s secured claim within twelve months from the confirmation or[19]*19der, Note C would be forgiven. If it took the Debtor longer than one year to repay but it was still accomplished prior to the Closing Date, then Note C would be discounted by fifty percent. If Notes A and B were not paid before the Closing Date, there would be no forgiveness of the deficiency claim. If the Debtor failed to sell or refinance by the Closing Date, the Bank could also record deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure that the Debtor had executed and placed into escrow.

The Plan also obligated the Debtor to make interim payments. On the Plan’s effective date, the Debtor was required to pay the Bank $500,000 and to begin monthly payments on its secured claims. By the Closing Date, it had fully repay all secured claims. Non-priority unsecured creditors were to be paid either within thirty days of the Plan’s effective date from a pro rata distribution of $25,000’ or they could elect to wait and receive full payment at the sale or refinancing of the real property.

The Court confirmed the Plan on August 11, 2014. The parties disputed whether the Plan’s effective date was November 1,2014 or December 1, 2014, but the $500,000 payment to the Bank was due no later than December 1. The Debtor was unable to meet this deadline. It requested and obtained several extensions. According to the Bank, it agreed to the extensions because the Debtor represented it had a qualified buyer for the Plum Creek golf course, who had made a deposit toward the purchase price. The Bank later asserted that the Debtor fraudulently induced the extensions because the “deposit” it passed on to the Bank did not come from a prospective buyer, but from operating funds generated by the golf courses. The last extension expired on January 2, 2015.

In accordance with its proposed Plan, the Debtor hired Defendant Billy Casper Golf, LLC (“BCG”) as its independent management company in April, 2014, This new relationship, however, quickly soured, By the end of October, 2014, the Debtor had terminated BCG’s contract and BCG had ceased working for the Debtor. The Debtor alleges that BCG failed to adhere to its budget, that it employed third parties without first obtaining the Debtor’s consent, and that it failed to meet performance benchmarks under its management agreement. Following termination, BCG used all or most of the remaining operating funds to pay itself management fees, incentive fees, and termination fees. The Debtor claims these payments were unauthorized and in violation of the management contract. It has asserted claims against BCG for civil theft, conversion, unjust enrichment, and breach of the management agreement.

The Debtor sold the Plum Creek course in January, 2015. At that time, the Debtor distributed over $1.6 million to its creditors, including $1.2 million to the Bank. These payments satisfied its effective date obligations, fully paid some secured creditors, and paid any unsecured creditors that had elected to receive a reduced distribution.

However, the Debtor disputed the Bank’s application of $500,000 of its payment toward the unsecured Note C, instead of the secured Notes A and B, It filed this adversary proceeding on May 14, 2015, asserting claims against the Bank for declaratory judgment, breach of the Plan, breach of the loan agreement, and for in-junctive relief. The Court never had the opportunity to hear the Bank’s position on the proper application of the payment. In defense of the preliminary injunction motion, the Bank recounted its view of numerous Plan defaults and misrepresentations allegedly made by the Debtor. It also requested that the Court dismiss the [20]*20claims against the Bank because these claims were outside the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction or that it exercise discretionary abstention to allow these claims to proceed in state court. Since some of the Debtor’s claims against the Bank involved Plan interpretation and enforcement, which are core jurisdictional matters, the Court denied the requests for dismissal or abstention. Instead the Court set an evi-dentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction motion. Shortly before this hearing date, the Debtor and the Bank settled and filed a notice of dismissal of all claims against the Bank on June 16, 2015. Following dismissal of the Bank, the Court did not have further contact with this case until the parties filed cross motions for summary judgment.

The summary judgment motions caused this Court to examine more closely the nature of the remaining claims. This prompted the Court to order briefs on the jurisdictional issues. Upon review of the initial briefs, the Court realized that nothing in the adversary or the main case disclosed the status of the Plan. Consequently, the Court ordered the parties to supplement their briefs. The Debtor’s supplement revealed that, by August 31, 2015, just over three months after it had filed this adversary proceeding, the Debtor had satisfied all remaining Plan obligations when it refinanced the debt on the Deer Creek course. At the Court’s prompting, the Debtor then applied for a final decree on December 9, 2016. The Court entered the decree on January 10, 2017 and closed the case on January 13, 2017.3

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Bluebook (online)
576 B.R. 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-play-membership-golf-inc-v-billy-casper-golf-llc-in-re-in-play-cob-2017.