In re Kellogg

113 F. 120, 1902 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 351
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 27, 1902
DocketNo. 448
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 113 F. 120 (In re Kellogg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.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 Kellogg, 113 F. 120, 1902 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 351 (W.D.N.Y. 1902).

Opinion

HAZEL, District Judge.

On March i, 1901, Clara E. Kellogg was adjudged a bankrupt on her voluntary petition. A temporary [122]*122receiver of her property was appointed by this court on the same day. Thereafter, at a meeting of creditors, the receiver was appointed trustee. Immediately after his qualification, the trustee commenced an action against the C. E. Kellogg Company, a Delaware corporation, to set aside, as a fr.aud on creditors, a transfer of property made to that company by the bankrupt January 29, 1901. On the same day that the case was commenced, the Kellogg Company, by its board of directors, rescinded its transfer, and reconveyed the property to the trustee. On June 6, 1900, the bankrupt executed and delivered to Una R. Goslin a mortgage upon this same property, consisting of real estate, which included an extensive planing mill plant. The amount secured by the mortgage was $25,000. The transfer to the Kellogg corporation was made subject thereto. Subsequently, on March 20, 1901, Sophie M. La Grave, of Paris, France, to whom Mrs. Goslin assigned the mortgage, instituted a suit in the supreme court of the state of New York to foreclose it. The trustee thereupon filed in this court a petition praying for an order directing that the assets in his actual possession, including the property mortgaged as hereinbefore stated, be sold free from all incumbrances, and that all liens should be transferred to the proceeds of the sale, their validity and amount to be determined by the bankruptcy court. Notice of this application was given to all creditors, and on the return day proof was made by the mortgagee, Mrs. La Grave, as to the consideration of the mortgage and her status as a lienor. She objected to the jurisdiction of the court, on the ground that the referee had no power to determine in a summary proceeding the question of the validity of the mortgage, and maintained that the validity of the lien could only be determined by plenary suit commenced by the trustee in the proper state tribunal against the holder of the mortgage. The objection was not sustained by the referee. Proofs were then taken, both parties being heard, tending to show that the mortgage lien was usurious in its inception. The referee found that the bankruptcy court had acquired complete jurisdiction over the res; that the lien was asserted to property, title of which was vested in this court, and in the actual possession of the trustee; the transfer to the Kellogg corporation was in fraud o.f creditors, and therefore the trustee, on reconveyance of the property to him, stood in the same relation to the mortgage as the bankrupt. The referee also found, from all the evidence in the case, that the circumstances conclusively justified an inference that the mortgage executed by the bankrupt to Mrs. Una R. Goslin was invalid for usury. The comprehensive opinion of the referee is found in 6 Am. Bankr. R. 3§9-

The questions for review are as follows: (1) Is the defense of usury available to a trustee in bankruptcy as against an obligation of the bankrupt? (2) Can the question of validity and amount of a mortgage lien upon property in the bankrupt estate be determined in a summary proceeding before a referee? (3) Did the supreme court of the state of New York acquire jurisdiction of the property, to the exclusion of the United States district court, by [123]*123the filing of the summons, complaint, and notice of pendency of action in foreclosure before the trustee was appointed, the bankruptcy court having previously acquired jurisdiction by the filing ‘of the petition in bankruptcy and the appointment of a receiver, who had qualified and taken possession of the property prior to the commencement of said action of foreclosure? (4) Where the mortgagor, with intent to hinder and delay her creditors, conveys the mortgaged property to a corporation participating in such intent, and the trustee repudiates such transfer on account of such fraud, and takes possession of the property, and by mutual consent the fraudulent grantee and the trustee rescind such conveyance, does the fact that the property upon which the mortgage was an apparent lien was transferred by the mortgagor to the said corporation, after the recording of the mortgage and subject to the lien thereof, before the beginning of the bankruptcy proceedings, preclude the trustee from pleading usury? (5) Was the mortgage void for usury as a matter of fact?

The second and third questions may be considered together. At the outset, therefore, it is important to inquire of what did the estate of the bankrupt consist at the time of the adjudication. Assuming that the bankrupt, Mrs. Kellogg, held the legal title to the mortgaged property in question when adjudication was made, it passed into the custody of this court, and therefore, by operation of law, the title of the bankrupt vested in the trustee as of the date of such adjudication. The estate of the mortgagor or mortgagee in mortgaged premises within the state of New York must, of course, follow the rules laid down by the state tribunal. In re Novak, 7 Am. Bankr. R. 27, 111 Fed. 161. A mortgage on real estate in the state of New York has none of the characteristics of the conveyance, but is merely a chose in action, giving no legal estate in the land, but entitling the owner of the mortgage to a lien thereon, as security for the debt thereby secured. Trimm v. Marsh, 54 N. Y. 599, 13 Am. Rep. 623. The property was therefore protected from any action which might have been taken other than in a suit instituted to foreclose or establish a lien of the mox'tgage. The entire property, subject to whatever lien Mrs. ',a Grave possessed, came within the control of the court of bankruptcy. This court had undoxibted authority, after an adjudication in bankruptcy, to stay the foreclosure suit commenced by Mrs. La Grave. No less had k authox'ity to direct a sale by the trustee in bankruptcy free and clear of all liens and incumbrances, and transfer a lien 1o the proceeds. In re Worland, 1 Am. Bankr. R. 450, 92 Fed. 893; In re Pittelkow (D. C.) 92 Fed. 903. The purpose and object of tlxe bankrupt act is to vest such power and authority in the courts of bankruptcy, at law and in equity, as will give jurisdiction to carry out and enforce the provisions of the act. By subdivision 7 of section 2, jurisdiction is conferred to “cause the estates of bankrupts to be collected, reduced to money axxd distributed, and determine controversies in relation thereto, except as herein otherwise provided.” The claim, therefore, that this court has jurisdiction must be based upon the authority conferred on it by clause 7 of section 2. The [124]*124supreme court said in Bardes v. Bank, 178 U. S. 535, 20 Sup. Ct. 1005, 44 L. Ed. 1175:

“The chief reliance of the appellant is upon clause 7, § 2. But this clause, in so far as it speaks of the collection, conversion into money, and distribu-• tion of the bankrupt’s estate, is no broader than the provisions of section 1 of the act of 1867, and in that respect, as well as in respect to the further provision authorizing the court of bankruptcy to ‘determine controversies in relation thereto,’ it is controlled and limited by the concluding words of the clause, ‘except as herein otherwise provided.’ ”

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Bluebook (online)
113 F. 120, 1902 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 351, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-kellogg-nywd-1902.