In re Maryvale Community Hospital, Inc.

307 F. Supp. 304, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9480
CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedNovember 3, 1969
DocketNo. B-9352 PHX
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 307 F. Supp. 304 (In re Maryvale Community Hospital, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Maryvale Community Hospital, Inc., 307 F. Supp. 304, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9480 (D. Ariz. 1969).

Opinion

OPINION

MUECKE, District Judge.

The debtor, Maryvale Community Hospital, Inc., an Arizona corporation, was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on December 12, 1959. From the 6th day of January, 1960 through the 30th day of June, 1962, the debtor, through its promoters, sold to the public, bonds totaling approximately $3,236,900. The bonds sold to the public were issued pursuant to an indenture of mortgage and deed of trust entered into between the debtor and Lane Title and Trust Company. The indenture was recorded July 6, 1960 in the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, Docket #3136, p. 145 and docket #3773, p. 149.1

The promoters of the Hospital represented to the public that the proceeds of the bond sale were to be used for constructing and equipping a hospital on the property securing the bonds under the indenture. The Hospital officially opened on August 24, 1961. The bonds sold by the debtor and its promoters became in default as to certain principal and interest payments and reserve provisions on or about June 1, 1962.2 Thereafter, the operation of the debtor came into serious financial mismanagement and staff problems. The acts of the promoters and [306]*306this mismanagement resulted in certain of the bondholders filing a civil fraud suit under the Federal and State Securities Act against the debtor and its promoters.3

In their law suit, the bondholders asked for appointment of a receiver as well as recovery for violations of securities law and civil fraud. The action itself resulted in a settlement in which the debtor recovered from the promoters, a sum in excess of $100,000.

Almost immediately following the suit filed in the federal courts by the bondholders, the original indenture trustee brought a foreclosure suit in the state court under the indenture. The indenture trustee also asked for the appointment of a receiver, and with the consent of the bondholders, a state court receivership was established in lieu of a federal court receivership.

In November of 1963, the indenture trustee who had initiated the state court proceedings entered into a stipulation with the debtor to dismiss the state court action and terminate the state receivership. Immediately thereafter, a group of bondholders, having previously filed an involuntary petition for reorganization of the debtor under Chapter X, sought the appointment of a federal receiver.

The Chapter X petition was strenuously opposed by the debtor, its directors, the indenture trustee, and the state court-appointed receiver. The debtor was served through its statutory agent as well as the state court receivers. While the debtor did not answer the creditors’ petition at this time, answers contesting the jurisdiction of the Court were filed by the state court receivers and the Union Title Company.

On September 11, 1963, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a motion for approval of its appearance in the reorganization proceeding as a party in interest pursuant to the provisions of Section 208, 11 U.S.C. § 608, of Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act. The Court approved the petition the same day and the SEC has actively participated in the proceeding since that time, acting as an aid to the parties and an advisor to the Court.

A hearing on the Chapter X petition was held in abeyance pending the state court receivership. When the parties to the state court receivership stipulated to dismiss this receivership and return the property to the debtor’s management on November 26, 1963, the petitioning creditors immediately sought and obtained the appointment of a Chapter X receiver under Section 117, 11 U.S.C. § 517 of the Act to hold and protect the debtor’s property pending the approval or dismissal of the creditors’ petition for reorganization.

The debtor subsequently filed an answer controverting the material allegations of the creditors’ petition and specifically objected to the Court’s jurisdiction to approve a creditors’ petition for reorganization against a non-profit corporation. A hearing on the issues was fixed by the Court for December 16,1963, when evidence and argument were presented and briefs submitted on the jurisdictional issues raised. The SEC and the petitioning creditors supported the Court’s jurisdiction while the debtor contested it.4

[307]*307On April 27, 1964, the Court issued Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law declaring that the debtor was incorporated as an Arizona non-profit, non-stock membership corporation which could become a bankrupt under the Bankruptcy Act within the meaning of the term “corporation” found in Section 126, 11 U.S.C. § 526, as that term is defined by Section 106(3), 11 U.S.C. § 506(3) of Chapter X and that the Court had jurisdiction to approve the creditors’ petition.5 Accordingly, the petition was approved on May 11, 1964, and a trustee was appointed to take over the debtor’s business and property for the purpose of rehabilitating and reorganizing it as a going concern.

The original Chapter X petition filed August 1, 1963 contained a statement of the affairs of the debtor and a listing of its assets and liabilities based on the debtor’s financial statement of February 28, 1963 and an appraisal of the property. The liabilities amounted to $3,853,-885.13 and the assets were $1,508,241.49. The only operating statement available was dated August 31, 1962 and showed a gross operating loss to date of $58,528.88. The balance sheet of June 30, 1962, just after the Chapter X petition was granted, showed a current deficit of $553,922.63 and cash on hand of only $14,637.68.

Since the original Chapter X petition was filed and granted, the Hospital has progressed steadily from a bankrupt operation to a solidly based and profitable hospital. During the years the trustee was re-vitalizing the Hospital, numerous proposals to purchase the Hospital were received and negotiations were held on several different occasions. In August of 1968, the negotiations culminated in the sale of Maryvale Community Hospital to Good Samaritan Hospital. All of the assets of the debtor were purchased for cash in the amount of $5,110,000 plus the assumption of debts and various other considerations.

STATEMENT OF THE CURRENT ISSUE

On October 23, 1968, the Trustee was directed to file with this Court on or before November 25, 1968, a plan for distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the debtor’s property and any other remaining assets of the debtor among those having an interest therein. On the same date, the Court also determined that there was only one class of creditors — the bondholders.

On November 22, 1968, the Trustee filed his plan for distribution. The Trustee in Bankruptcy and the Indenture Trustee had determined that according to the terms of the indenture, there was a [308]*308total of $5,054,730.42 due the bondholders as of October 22, 1968, which amount included prepayment premiums and regular and defaulted interest to the date of the sale.

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Bluebook (online)
307 F. Supp. 304, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-maryvale-community-hospital-inc-azd-1969.