In re Hotel Syracuse, Inc.

271 B.R. 443, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 1697, 2001 WL 1704153
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. New York
DecidedDecember 6, 2001
DocketNo. 01-64962
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 271 B.R. 443 (In re Hotel Syracuse, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Hotel Syracuse, Inc., 271 B.R. 443, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 1697, 2001 WL 1704153 (N.Y. 2001).

Opinion

[444]*444MEMORANDUM-DECISION, FINDINGS OF FACT CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER

STEPHEN D. GERLING, Chief Judge.

On August 13, 2001, the Hotel Syracuse, Inc. (“Debtor”) filed a motion seeking authorization to use cash collateral and to provide adequate protection pursuant to § 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1330 (“Code”) (“Motion”). On August 13, 2001, the Court entered an Order authorizing the Debtor’s interim use of cash collateral. On September 7, 2001, the Court also approved a Stipulation, dated August 29, 2001, for the Debtor’s continued use of cash collateral on consent of Titan Management, L.P. (“Titan”).1

The Debtor’s Motion was initially heard on August 21, 2001, in Binghamton, New York. A final hearing was scheduled to be held in Syracuse, New York, on September 4, 2001. In the interim, on August 21, 2001, the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee (“Committee”) was appointed, and on August 30, 2001, the Committee filed a limited objection to the terms of the Debtor’s use of cash collateral, asserting that pursuant to Code § 363(o)(2), Titan had not met its burden of establishing the validity of its security interest in the cash collateral. The Motion was heard on September 4, 2001, and adjourned to October 2, 2001, when it was determined that an evidentiary hearing would be necessary. On October 22, 2001, the Court conducted a brief evidentiary hearing, which was adjourned to November 13, 2001, in order for the Committee to submit a memorandum of law on the applicability of § 258 of the New York Tax Law (“NYTL”) to the admissibility of certain exhibits of the Debtor to which it had objected.

On October 29, 2001, the Committee filed a Supplemental Objection, along with a Brief/Memorandum. On November 8, 2001, Titan filed a Brief/Memorandum, to which the Committee filed a Reply Brief/Memorandum on November 15, 2001. On November 27, 2001, Titan filed a Surre-ply BriefiMemorandum. Also on November 27, 2001, a Response and Surreply Memorandum was filed by the Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company (“Commonwealth”) as an interested party.2 In the interim, the hearing scheduled for November 13, 2001, was rescheduled to November 28, 2001, on the consent of all parties. The Court heard oral argument on November 28, 2001, and agreed to take the matter under submission.

JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

The Court has jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter of this contested matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334, 157(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2)(A), (M) and (O).

FACTS

The Debtor filed a voluntary petition pursuant to chapter' 11 of the Code on August 13, 2001.3 The Debtor operates a 650 room full service hotel in Syracuse, New York. Debtor alleges that pursuant to a Consolidated Promissory Note, dated March 25, 1999, Debtor borrowed $13,650,000 from Titan. See Debtor’s Motion at 3. The Debtor also alleges that as [445]*445security for the loan, Consolidation, Modification, Spreader and Extension Agreement, dated March 25, 1999 (“Consolidation Agreement”) was executed, granting Titan a mortgage on certain real property on which the Debtor’s hotel is operated and a security interest upon and in substantially all of Debtor’s personal property, including, without limitation, rents, account receivables, etc. (“Mortgage”).4 See id. The City of Syracuse Industrial Development Agency (“SIDA”) was also a party to the Consolidation Agreement and was identified, along with the Debtor, as the “Mortgagor.”

DISCUSSION

Code § 363(o)(2) states that “the entity asserting an interest in property has the burden of proof on the issue of the validity, priority, or extent of such interest.” 11 U.S.C. § 363(o)(2). In this case, Titan asserts that it holds a security interest in both real property and personal property in which the Debtor holds an interest, including certain rents derived from operations of the hotel and retail establishments located on the hotel premises. It is the Committee’s position that Titan has not met its burden to establish the nature, extent and priority of its secured position, which would entitle it to adequate protection for the use of cash collateral. At a brief evidentiary hearing conducted on October 22, 2001, the Committee objected to the admission of several of the Debtor’s exhibits, including the Consolidation Agreement and an Assignment of Leases and Rents. Central to the Committee’s position is the argument that NYTL § 258 5 prohibits the admission into evidence of the documents without the payment of the mortgage recording tax provided for in NYTL § 253.

Citing to Marsh v. Leseman, 242 F. 484 (2d Cir.1917), Titan takes the position that § 258 is inapplicable to proceedings before a federal bankruptcy court sitting in New York. In Marsh the trustee was attempting to avoid an alleged preference and relied on NYTL §. 258 in arguing that testimony concerning an unrecorded “mortgage,” which had been destroyed, should not be considered by the court. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit opined that “[t]his provision of the state law [NYTL § 258] as to evidence applies in actions in its own courts, not to actions in the federal courts.” Id. at 486. While there is certainly nothing ambiguous about the statement, the Committee argues that it is nothing more than dicta. The Committee contends that in making the statement, the Second Circuit relied on three cases decided between 1903 and 1910, which held that foreign corporations, although not registered to do business in the state and, therefore, precluded from suing in state court, could sue in the federal courts in the state. According to the Committee, the support for the Second Circuit’s statement is no longer good law [446]*446as “more recent decisions have recognized that a state law barring unregistered corporations from enforcing a claim do bind the Federal courts.”

In support of this statement, the Committee cites to Domino Media, Inc. v. Kranis, 9 F.Supp.2d 374 (S.D.N.Y.1998). In Domino the defendants asserted that Domino Media, Inc., a dissolved Colorado corporation, had no standing to sue in a New York federal court based on the argument that (1) Colorado law prohibits dissolved corporations from suing more than two years after dissolution and (2) New York laws forbids suit by a foreign corporation doing business in the state without authority.

The court in Domino first noted that Rule 17(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted in 1937, provides that “[t]he capacity of a corporation to sue or be sued shall be determined by the law under which it was organized.” The court observed although at first glance it appeared that the law of Colorado alone would control, the court found that the analysis was not quite that straight forward. It first noted that in 1949 the Supreme Court in Woods v. Interstate Realty Co., 337 U.S. 535, 69 S.Ct. 1235, 93 L.Ed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
271 B.R. 443, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 1697, 2001 WL 1704153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hotel-syracuse-inc-nynb-2001.