In Re Great Lakes Steel & Fabricating Industries, Inc.

83 B.R. 1015, 1988 WL 25175
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 14, 1988
Docket19-10091
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 83 B.R. 1015 (In Re Great Lakes Steel & Fabricating Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Great Lakes Steel & Fabricating Industries, Inc., 83 B.R. 1015, 1988 WL 25175 (Ind. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION DETERMINING PRIORITY OF POST-JUDGMENT ATTACHMENT LIEN

FRANCIS G. CONRAD, * Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter 1 is before us on Area’s “Motion to Determine Priorities and for Order of Payment of Funds Held by Debt- or,” concerning the disposition of proceeds resulting from a post-petition settlement in a non-bankruptcy case in Federal District Court in the Northern District of Indiana. Area claims it is entitled to the settlement proceeds based upon a proceedings supplemental “Attachment Order” it obtained against Debtor’s judgment debtor, Schneider, Inc. (Schneider). Debtor disputes the validity of Area’s post-judgment attachment and takes the position that Area’s failure to file a proof of claim bars recovery.

Because we find the Attachment Order that emanated from the proceedings supplemental valid in all respects and thereby giving Area a specific lien in the settlement proceeds, and because we hold that *1017 § 506(d) does not bar Area from enforcing its claim, we grant Area’s motion.

The parties stipulated to the relevant facts. Area obtained a consent judgment against Debtor on April 28, 1982 in the Porter County Superior Court under Cause No. 82-PSC-234 for Sixteen Thousand Four Hundred Twenty Eight and 23/100 Dollars ($16,428.23).

On May 3, 1982, Area filed, in the Porter County Superior Court, and served on Debtor, a motion for proceedings supplemental under Ind.Code Ann. § 34-1-44-7.

On June 2, 1982, Debtor appeared at the proceedings supplemental hearing and responded to all questions asked of it. Based on the answers, Area sent interrogatories to Schneider. Schneider answered on November 8, 1982 stating that Debtor had filed a counterclaim against it in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Indiana under Cause No. H81-0533, and entitled Schneider, Inc. v. Great Lakes Steel & Fabricating Industries, Inc. Debtor’s counterclaim was disputed, contingent, and unliquidated.

Based upon this response, Area caused an Attachment Order to be entered by the Porter County Superior Court on January 18, 1983. A copy of the proposed Order was served, prior to entry, on the debtor’s then attorney of record, John M. Lyons. Debtor does not dispute that an Attachment Order was entered and that a copy of the proposed Order was served on its attorney.

Debtor filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 19, 1984. Area was notified about the bankruptcy. Area is listed in the bankruptcy schedules as an unsecured creditor. It is listed as unsecured because James R. Kent, president of the debtor, claims he had no information to the contrary.

Settlement of the counterclaim and claim in the Schneider, Inc. v. Great Lakes Steel & Fabricating Industries, Inc. matter occurred prior to Area’s motion to determine priorities. Debtor’s present bankruptcy attorney became aware of the attachment after the settlement but prior to the execution of the settlement agreement by both parties. 2 Debtor’s approved Disclosure Statement and unapproved liquidating Plan of Reorganization indicate that the settlement represents its total assets. The plan proposes that all settlement monies will be paid over to the United States for delinquent taxes.

On July 28, 1987, the Porter County Superior Court, on Debtor’s motion to vacate the attachment, entered an Order that the issue of priority and validity of the attachment properly belonged in this Court.

Area has not filed a proof of claim as of October 7, 1987, the date it filed its motion to determine priorities. The record reveals that the time required for any creditor, including Area, to file a proof of claim expired August 20, 1984.

In fact, Area has not appeared at any creditors’ meetings, pre-conference hearings, or the hearing on the Disclosure Statement.

We are asked to decide whether the Attachment Order is valid under Indiana law when obtained upon verified motion without a hearing, affidavit, or bond, and, if so, whether an unliquidated counterclaim, with no certainty about validity or amount, may be the proper subject of a proceedings supplemental Attachment Order to satisfy a prior judgment against the counterclaim-ant? Additionally, we are asked to decide if a judgment creditor is required to file a proof of claim in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case when the debtor’s Schedule A-3 does not indicate the claim is evidenced by a judgment or is otherwise non-contingent, liquidated, and not disputed?

Area argues that: Debtor was served with the verified motion for proceedings supplemental; a copy of the proposed Attachment Order was served on Debtor’s counsel of record under Rule 5 3 of the *1018 Indiana Trial Rules; and, even if a copy of the Attachment Order had not been served on Debtor’s counsel, the Attachment Order is valid because Rule 5 contemplates that only Orders required by their terms be served upon each party. 4 Since Schneider, not Debtor, was the supplemental defendant to whom the Attachment order was directed, service was required only on Schneider. Finally, Area asserts that it complied with Indiana Trial Rule 69(E) 5 in the procurement of its Attachment Order as well as Ind.Code Ann. § 34-1-44-7 (West 1987). 6

Debtor interposes that Indiana Trial Rule 64(A) 7 has expanded the use of attachment *1019 to include post-judgment as well as prejudgment remedies. As such, Area failed to comply with Ind.Code Ann. § 34-1-11-4.1 (West 1987) 8 because it did not file an affidavit or post a bond to protect the debtor/defendant under Ind. Code Ann. § 34-1-11-5 (West 1987). 9 Thus, Area was granted an Attachment Order without the filing of any affidavits, posting a bond, providing a hearing, or any notice to the debtor of any proceeding to acquire an interest in the counterclaim against Schneider, except a copy of a letter of request to enter to Debtor’s attorney, prior to entry of the attachment. As a result of Area’s alleged failures, Debtor asks us to conclude that Area’s Attachment Order is insufficient to prove a claim under the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 101, et seq.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
83 B.R. 1015, 1988 WL 25175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-great-lakes-steel-fabricating-industries-inc-innb-1988.