In Re Kenval Marketing Corp.

40 B.R. 445, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 5592
United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided May 31, 1984·No. 19-11325·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

OPINION

EMIL F. GOLDHABER, Bankruptcy Judge.

The question before the bench is whether we should grant a motion filed by the debt- or, in which the assignee for the benefit of creditors joins, 1 to vacate our recent order granting relief on an involuntary petition against said debtor. The motion is predicated, in part, on the assignee’s allegation that the trustee will not be able to assert successfully the preference avoiding powers that could have been pressed by the assignee had relief on the petition not been granted. For the reasons expressed herein we will deny the motion.

Although we previously stated the facts in our original opinion on this case, 2 we will reiterate them here for the sake of continuity and clarity. 3 The debtor executed an assignment for the benefit of its creditors on March 8, 1983. Four months later, on July 6, 1983, three qualified creditors, to whom was owed 72% in amount of the claims against the debtor, filed an involuntary petition for relief against it under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code (“the Code”), charging that the debtor, after the assignment, “was generally not paying such debtor’s debts as such debts became due” in accordance with the standard set forth in § 303(h)(1) of said Code. During the four month period prior to the assignment, the debtor made substantial payments to each of the petitioning creditors for a total of $347,000.00. More than four months prior to the assignment, but not more than one year prior to the filing of the petition, the debtor had made transfers of $275,000.00 to its president and his family and during this time the debtor also satisfied a $735,000.00 loan that was guaranteed by the debtor’s president. The issue before us arises as a result of the assignee’s motion for dismissal of the petition, in which the debtor has joined.

In our original opinion we held that the petitioning creditors had established a pri-ma facie case for the entry of relief under 11 U.S.C. § 303(h), 4 which conclusion is not challenged in the motion for reconsideration. But the debtor has renewed its assertion that this is a proper case for abstention under 11 U.S.C. § 305. 5 The legisla *447 tive history of this section provides some illumination with the following language:

A principle of the common law requires a court with jurisdiction over a particular matter to take jurisdiction. This section recognizes that there are cases in which it would be appropriate for the court to decline jurisdiction. Abstention under this section, however, is of jurisdiction over the entire case. Abstention from jurisdiction over a particular proceeding in a ease is governed by proposed 28 U.S.C. 1471(c). Thus, the court is permitted, if the interests of creditors and the debtor would be better served by dismissal of the case or suspension of all proceedings in the case, to so order. The court may dismiss or suspend under the first paragraph, for example, if an arrangement is being worked out by creditors and the debtor out of court, there is no prejudice to the rights of creditors in that arrangement, and an involuntary case has been commenced by a few recalcitrant creditors to provide a basis for future threats to extract full payment. The less expensive out-of-court workout may better serve the interests in the case. Likewise, if there is pending a foreign proceeding concerning the debtor and the factors specified in proposed 11 U.S.C. 304(c) warrant dismissal or suspension, the court may so act.
Subsection (b) gives a foreign representative authority to appear in the bankruptcy court to request dismissal or suspension. Subsection (c) makes the dismissal or suspension order nonreviewable by appeal or otherwise. The bankruptcy court, based on its experience and discretion is vested with the power of decision.

H.R.Rep. No. 95-595, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 325 (1977), reprinted in 1978 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 5787, 6281-82. Although § 305(c) clearly provides that an order denying abstention is not reviewable, the continued vitality of this bar to appellate review is subject to some uncertainty in the wake of Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50, 102 S.Ct. 2858, 73 L.Ed.2d 598 (1982), and the “Emergency Rule” which was adopted by the federal district courts across the country in December of 1982 to preclude a complete lapse of the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction. Notwithstanding these issues, the legislative history indicates that the bankruptcy court should abstain only on the basis of its informed discretion, and thus, if such an order is now appealable, it may be overturned only on the basis of an abuse of discretion. Apparently § 305(c) will not bar us from reconsidering our own order.

The debtor asserts two bases for vacating our order for relief, the first of which is based on the following language from our prior opinion:

The assignee asserts that he will be able to avoid transactions amounting to $347,-000.00 made within the fourth month vulnerability period provided by state law, although said transfers occurred more than ninety days prior to the filing of the involuntary petition and thus ostensibly are not avoidable under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b) of the Code. But see, 11 U.S.C. § 544(b).

Kenval, at 244-245. In obliquely referring to § 544(b) 6 we were alluding to the possibility that the trustee may be able to assert the same avoiding powers under this provision as the assignee. The assignee asserts that Copter, Inc. v. Gladwin Leasing, Inc., 725 F.2d 37, 39 (3d Cir.1984) precludes a trustee from utilizing state law avoidance powers through § 544(b). In Copter the *448 court construed Pa.Stat. Tit. 39, § 151 7 which states that if a debtor is insolvent or in contemplation of insolvency a preference made to one of his creditors shall inure to the benefit of all creditors if, within four months after such preference, insolvency proceedings are commenced or if an assignment for the benefit of creditors is made.

The court in Copter

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In Re Kenval Marketing Corp., 40 B.R. 445, 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 5592 (Pa. 1984).

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