In re Jewelcor Inc.

178 B.R. 640, 32 Oil & Gas Rep. 1858, 32 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1858, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 243, 1995 WL 91514
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 4, 1995
DocketBankruptcy Nos. 1-91-00140 to 1-91-00154
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 178 B.R. 640 (In re Jewelcor Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Jewelcor Inc., 178 B.R. 640, 32 Oil & Gas Rep. 1858, 32 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1858, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 243, 1995 WL 91514 (Pa. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge.

The consolidated Debtor, Jewelcor, has filed a Motion to Assume an Executory Contract, that is, a certain lease with M & G Equities. M & G has countered with a Motion to Compel Rejection of the Lease and a Motion to Compel Payment of Administrative Rent. Also pending between the parties, but not yet heard by the Court, is a Motion of Jewelcor to Compel Specific Performance of an oral settlement agreement.

The basic facts are not contested. The property in question is located at 4833 Car-lisle Pike, Mechaniesburg, Pennsylvania. On May 11,1976, Jewelcor Incorporated entered into a lease with the then owner, Main Realty [642]*642Holding Trust, for a term of twenty-five (25) years together with various options to extend that period, potentially for five successive leases of five years each.

Subsequent to execution, the real estate was conveyed from Main Realty Holding Trust to M & G Equities, the current owner.

Jeweleor Incorporated filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on October 5,1990. On the last day to assume or reject this contract pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4), Jeweleor moved to assume the lease. No hearing was immediately scheduled thereon and the Debtors Chapter 11 Plan was eventually confirmed notwithstanding the pendency of the Motion to Assume. Thereafter, some controversy occurred between Jeweleor and M & G. It appears that a meeting was conducted between the principals of both sides at which time an oral agreement was reached as to the settlement of this controversy. The terms of that agreement are now in dispute. Although those terms represent the grounds by which the Debtor is moving for specific performance, that Motion is specifically not before me at this time. Apparently, Jeweleor ceased making rental payments in May of 1991 alleging that it was no longer required to do so under the terms of the oral agreement. M & G reacted to the failure to pay rent by subsequently changing the locks to the premises in the fall of 1991 and by thereafter securing tenants to occupy some portion of the premises.

Jeweleor now desires to assume the lease but alleges that its obligation to “cure” all defaults under 11 U.S.C. § 365(b)(1)(A) ceased when M & G changed the locks. M & G, on the other hand, alleged that they changed the locks in order to gain access to this property that was falling in disrepair so that required maintenance, an obligation of the tenant, could be performed at the expense of the owner. Furthermore, M & G asserts that tenants were placed in the premises in order to mitigate their damages which were ongoing because of the failure of Jewel-cor to pay rent.

There is no significant dispute that the Three Dollars ($3.00) per foot annual rental provided in the lease was substantially below the market rate which this Court will find to be Six Dollars ($6.00) per square foot annually as established by the record.

This Court finds that the resolution in this case must turn on'whether the changing of the locks by the owner and the rental of a portion of the premises to others constituted an eviction by the landlord sufficient to excuse the Debtor from paying the rents and other charges agreed to in the lease. Our decision relating to the rights of the parties to an executory contract must turn on state law. Matter of Penrod, 169 B.R. 910 (Bkrtcy.N.D.Ind.1994). In re Kong, 162 B.R. 86 (Bkrtcy.E.D.N.Y.1993).

An analysis of the legal issues must begin with the statute, i.e. 11 U.S.C. § 365. The applicable portion of that section reads as follows:

Executory contracts and unexpired leases.
(a) Except as provided in sections 765 and 766 of this title and in subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section, the trustee, subject to the court’s approval, may assume or reject any executory contract or unexpired lease of the debtor.
(b)(1) If there has been a default in an executory contract or unexpired lease of the debtor, the trustee may not assume such contract or lease unless, at the time of assumption of such contract or lease, the trustee—
(A) cures, or provides adequate assurance that the trustee will promptly cure, such defaults;
(B) compensates, or provides adequate assurance that the trustee will promptly compensate, a party other than the debtor to such contract or lease, for any actual pecuniary loss to such party resulting from such default; and
(C) provides adequate assurance of future performance under such contract or lease.

Thus, if Jeweleor wishes to assume the lease it must first (1) cure or provide adequate assurance that it will cure any default, (2) compensate or provide adequate assurance of prompt compensation to a party for [643]*643any actual pecuniary loss to that party because of such default, and lastly, (3) provide adequate assurance of future performance.

My first inquiry is whether there now exists a default under the contract. The lease provides that rental payments would be made on a monthly basis. The evidence indicates that no rent was paid for the month of May, 1991 and thereafter. Although Jew-elcor asserts that a negotiated settlement relieved it from paying rent, that issue is not presently before the Court.

Alternatively, Jeweleor argues that M & G’s conduct in changing the locks in the fall of 1991 acted as a “eviction” which relieved Jeweleor from farther responsibility for payment of rent and other obligations under the lease. Jeweleor supports this position by pointing out that M & G entered into leases with Good’s Furniture and with the Salvation Army during certain time periods after the fall of 1991 which further indicates that M & G reclaimed the premises to the exclusion of Jeweleor. Jeweleor asserts that any defaults in lease payments accrued only up to the changing of the locks in the fall of 1991. It has been held, under Pennsylvania law that ... “the proper measure of tenant’s damages for eviction, not caused by landlord’s fraud or connivance, nor in disaf-firmance of lease and without intent by landlord to hold adversely to tenants, is the consideration paid for the lease.” Adler v. Sklaroff, 154 Pa.Super. 444, 448, 36 A.2d 231, 233 (1944). Thus, if Jeweleor is correct, and M & G wrongfully evicted the Debtor, then Jewel-cor’s obligation to make lease payments ended when the locks were changed and the lease can be assumed upon compliance with the conditions set forth in § 365 including the default accruing until the fall of 1991.

The premises in question were used by Jeweleor as a retail outlet for its catalog sales until sometime before the bankruptcy when it closed its retail outlet and utilized the premises solely for warehouse purposes. M & G asserts that Jeweleor stopped making rental payments and allowed the premises to fall into disrepair whereby M & G became concerned over their real estate.

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Related

In Re Jewelcor Inc.
190 B.R. 532 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
178 B.R. 640, 32 Oil & Gas Rep. 1858, 32 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1858, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 243, 1995 WL 91514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jewelcor-inc-pamb-1995.