In re Coop de Consumidores del Noroeste

464 B.R. 525, 2012 WL 169951
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 13, 2012
Docket09-08645
StatusPublished

This text of 464 B.R. 525 (In re Coop de Consumidores del Noroeste) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Coop de Consumidores del Noroeste, 464 B.R. 525, 2012 WL 169951 (prb 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

ENRIQUE S. LAMOUTTE, Bankruptcy Judge.

This case is before the court upon the request by Trafon Group, Inc., formerly known as Encinal, Inc. d/b/a Starmeat (hereafter referred to as “Trafon” or “Creditor”) for payment of amounts owed, claiming to be the beneficiary of a statutory trust under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, as amended (“PASA”). The Chapter 7 Trustee (hereinafter referred to as “Trustee”) opposed the request and filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that Trafon failed to comply with certain requirements that must be concurrently satisfied under the PASA provisions, 7 U.S.C. § 196, mainly; (i) Trafon is not a livestock and/or live poultry cash seller in conformity with 7 U.S.C. § 196(b) and § 197(d); and (ii) Trafon failed to preserve its statutory trust due to its lack of notification to the Debtor and to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture within the mandatory time frame (within the thirty day period of the final date established for making payment to the cash seller of livestock) in conformity with 7 U.S.C. §§ 196(b) and 197(d), and 9 C.F.R. § 203.15 (Docket No. 295). Trafon filed its opposition to the Trustee’s motion for summary judgment arguing the following: (i) whether Trafon sold “livestock” as defined under PASA to Debtor is a genuine issue of material fact that precludes the granting of Trustee’s motion for summary judgment; (ii) Trafon preserved its trust under 7 U.S.C. § 228(b), given that this section, “... allows for the parties to effect payment in another manner so long as the parties expressly agree in writing;” (iii) “[i]n the case at hand, the parties agreed that the seller retains a trust claim over the commodities sold until full payment is received. All the invoices at issue specifically stated: ‘[t]he seller of these commodities retains a trust claim over these commodities, all inventories of food or other products derived from these commodities and any receivables or proceeds from the sales of these commodities and any receivables or proceeds from the sales of these commodities until full payment is received;” and (iv) “[cjonsidering that it was stipulated on the invoices that the seller retains a trust claim over the com[528]*528modities sold ‘until full payment is received,’ such provision constitutes an agreement to make payment in another manner. In the present case, the thirty days of the final date for making payment began when the Debtor filed Bankruptcy and Trafon was put on notice that they will not receive payment.” (Docket No. 329). The Trustee filed his reply to Tra-fon’s opposition to the motion for summary judgment (Docket Nos. 332 & 341). For the reasons set forth below the Trustee’s motion for summary judgment is hereby granted.

Facts and Procedural Background

Cooperativa de Consumidores del No-roeste filed a bankruptcy petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on October 9, 2009. The Debtor included Tra-fon (Star Meat Inc.) in Schedule F (Creditors Holding Unsecured Nonpriority Claims) as an unsecured creditor in the amount of $46,505.80. The Debtor included in line item number four (4) of its Statement of Financial Affairs a lawsuit for collection of money in the state court of Aguadilla (Case No. A1CI2009-00872) in which Trafon Group Corp. H/N/C Star-meat is the plaintiff. On October 19, 2009, the Trustee filed a Notice of Assets and Request for Claims Bar Date informing that there are assets in this case which are expected to result in a dividend to creditors, and requested the Clerk of the Court to set and notice a bar date for filing claims (Docket No. 6). On October 27, 2009, the Clerk of the Court gave notice to creditors informing that assets have been recovered by the Trustee and that creditors must file a proof of claim by January 25, 2010 (Docket No. 11). The 341 meeting of creditors was scheduled for November 4, 2009 and was continued and held on December 1, 2009. The Trustee requested that the case be held open for potential asset recovery (Docket Nos. 4, 23 & 42). On January 29, 2010, Trafon filed proof of claim # 126-1 for an unsecured claim in the amount of $46,456.12 which was incurred from March 27, 2009 to May 13, 2009.

On October 25, 2010, Trafon filed a motion requesting the Trustee to pay the invoices owed. Trafon alleges that it is a PASA trust beneficiary based on the following: (i) that during the period of March 27, 2009 through May 12, 2009 it supplied livestock, livestock products, poultry and poultry products to the Debtor; (ii) on January 29, 2010, Trafon filed a proof of claim in the amount of $46,456.12 for unpaid invoices of which it claims $41,776.33 is protected by PASA, and as a beneficiary of the PASA statutory trust, it has priority over creditors and over lenders to which packers have given a security interest in packer’s inventory and receivables subject to such trust; and (iii) Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Freeman, 369 F.2d 952 (D.C.Cir.1966), recognized that retail stores such as the one debtor operated where meat and meat products are processed for sale are considered “packers” within the meaning of PASA (Docket No. 212).

The Chapter 7 Trustee (hereinafter referred to as “Trustee”) filed on October 26, 2010 his opposition to Trafon’s Motion Requesting Order Instructing the Trustee to Pay PASA Trust Beneficiary presenting the following arguments: (i) the proof of claim filed by Trafon (claim # 126-1) specified that it was an unsecured creditor and it failed to specify that it was protected by the PASA trust; (ii) Trafon is commencing a proceeding pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7001(1), (2) and (9), thus these actions must be initiated by an adversary proceeding; (iii) Debtor is not a “packer” as defined by 7 U.S.C. § 1911, and thus Trafon [529]*529does not have a valid PASA trust claim; (iv) Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Freeman, 369 F.2d 952, is distinguishable from the instant case due to the specifics of the operations and processing activities of the Safeway supermarket chains; (v) Trafon fails to describe the actual activity Debtor engaged in which is within the scope of PASA; and (vi) the products Trafon sold to Debtor were already processed when they arrived at Debtor’s stores as evidenced by the invoices (Docket No. 216).

On November 22, 2010, Trafon filed its reply to the Trustee’s opposition to its motion requesting an Order instructing the Trustee to pay it as a PASA trust beneficiary, arguing the following: (i) that pursuant to the case of In re Frosty Morn Meats, Inc., 7 B.R. 988 (Bankr.M.D.Tenn.1980) an adversary proceeding is not required to adjudicate whether Trafon’s claim is protected by a PASA trust; (ii) the Trustee’s emphasis on the case of D & W Food Centers, Inc. v. Block,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
464 B.R. 525, 2012 WL 169951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-coop-de-consumidores-del-noroeste-prb-2012.