In Re Blumeyer

224 B.R. 218, 12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 24, 1998 Bankr. LEXIS 1115, 1998 WL 564339
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 29, 1998
DocketBankruptcy 98-9823-9P1
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 224 B.R. 218 (In Re Blumeyer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Blumeyer, 224 B.R. 218, 12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 24, 1998 Bankr. LEXIS 1115, 1998 WL 564339 (Fla. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER ON FREDERICK C. DUBIN-SKY’S MOTION TO CHANGE OR TRANSFER VENUE

ALEXANDER L. PASKAY, Chief Judge.

This cause came on for hearing upon the Motion to Change or Transfer Venue filed by Creditor, Frederick C. Dubinsky (“Mr. Du-binsky”). The Court reviewed the Motion, the record and heard argument of counsel and now finds and concludes as follows:

Hope P. Blumeyer (“Debtor”) filed her voluntary Petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on June 8, 1998. A review of the Schedules reveals that the Debtor and her spouse, as tenants by the entireties, own a vacant lot in Mohave County, Arizona valued at $50,000.00, and a condominium in Naples, Florida valued at $350,-000.00. The Debtor’s Statement of Financial Affairs discloses that the Debtor received rental income from the condominium for both 1996 and 1997 in the amounts of $18,000 and $24,000, respectively.

The Debtor also owns personal property with an aggregate scheduled value of $1,727,-500.00, consisting of a 50% ownership interest with a scheduled value of $1,500,000.00 in the entities, A.B. Carter, Inc., Risk Retention Service Corporation, Association Groups of America, and BIC Premium Finance Corporation (the “Companies”), and household goods, furnishings, furs, jewelry, clothing, security deposits and cash.

It is without dispute that the Debtor lives and works in Missouri. The Debtor lives in a rented apartment in Missouri and owns no real property there. For the last two years, the Debtor has been employed part-time as a secretary by General Paging, Inc., located in Columbia, Missouri.

Dubinsky requests that this Court transfer the Debtor’s Chapter 11 case from this District to the Eastern District of Missouri, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1410, 1412 and 157(a), and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1014. Dubinsky contends that this Chapter 11 case was filed in an improper venue because the Debtor’s domicile and only residence is in Missouri. The Debtor, on the other hand, contends that venue is proper in the Middle District of Florida and that the case should not be transferred to Missouri because the Debtor’s principal asset, that being the condominium, is located within this district.

The propriety of a selected venue is determined by the requirements of Section 1408 of Title 28, United States Code which provides,

Except as provided in section 1410 of this title, a case under title 11 may be commenced in the district court for the district — •
(1) in which the domicile, residence, principal place of business in the United States, or principal assets in the United States, of the person ... have been located for the one hundred and eighty days immediately preceding such commencement, or for a longer portion of such one-hundred and eighty days immediately preceding such commencement, or for a longer portion of such one-hundred-and-eighty-day period than ... were located in any other district; or ...

28 U.S.C. § 1408.

Under this Section, the court determines the proper venue by reference to facts existing *220 during the 180 days prior to the commencement of the case to determine the district of the debtor’s residence, domicile, principal place of business, or location of the person’s principal assets. See In re Micci, 188 B.R. . 697, 699 (S.D.Fla.1995). The four tests of venue, domicile, residence, principal place of business in the United States, and principal assets in the United States, are given in the alternative and any of the four is jurisdiction-ally sufficient. In re Gurley, 215 B.R. 703, 707-08 (Bankr.W.D.Tenn.1997). Thus, even if Dubinsky is correct and the Debtor’s domicile or residence is not in Naples, Florida, venue may still be proper if the Debtor’s principal asset has been located here for the preceding 180 days. See e.g. In re J & L Plumbing & Heating, Inc., 186 B.R. 388 (Bankr.E.D.Pa.1995) (Section 1408 was satisfied where principal asset was an account receivable being litigated in the jurisdiction.); In re Pavilion Place Associates, 88 B.R. 32 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.1988).

It is without question that the Debtor owned and still owns the condominium in Naples, Florida since- at least 1996. Furthermore, although the scheduled value of the Debtor’s Companies indicate that the Companies are the Debtor’s principal assets, it appears that that is not the case. Although the Debtor may have had a cognizable interest in the Companies on the date of the filing of the Petition, the Companies are no longer under her dominion and control. In addition, no evidence has been presented regarding the location of the Debtor’s Companies and, therefore, Dubinsky failed to meet his burden of proving that venue is improper under the location of the principal assets provision.

Even if venue is proper, however, the issue remains whether the case should be transferred to the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (“Missouri Bankruptcy Court”) in the interest of justice or the convenience of the parties. The factors to be considered by the Court regarding whether to transfer a case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1412 and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1014(a)(1) are as follows:

(1) The proximity of creditors of every kind to the Court;
(2) The proximity of the debtors to the Court;
(3) The proximity of the witnesses necessary to the administration of the case;
(4) The location of the assets;
(5) The economic administration of the estate;
(6) The necessity for ancillary administration if bankruptcy should result.

See In re Commonwealth Oil Refining Co., Inc., 596 F.2d 1239 (5th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1045, 100 S.Ct. 732, 62 L.Ed.2d 731 (1980); See also In re Finley, Rumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, 149 B.R. 365 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y. 1993)(“The ‘interest of justice’ is a broad and flexible standard which contemplates a consideration of whether transferring venue would promote the efficient administration of the bankruptcy estate, judicial economy, timeliness and fairness.”).

Clearly, the Debtor and many of her assets are located in Missouri. The fact that the Debtor lives and works part-time in Missouri weighs in favor of transferring the case to Missouri, since little, if any, economic harm would befall the Debtor by the transfer.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
224 B.R. 218, 12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 24, 1998 Bankr. LEXIS 1115, 1998 WL 564339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-blumeyer-flmb-1998.