In Re NA Flash Foundation, Inc.

541 F.3d 385, 2008 WL 3822951
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedAugust 18, 2008
Docket07-50803
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 541 F.3d 385 (In Re NA Flash Foundation, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re NA Flash Foundation, Inc., 541 F.3d 385, 2008 WL 3822951 (5th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

541 F.3d 385 (2008)

In The Matter Of: N.A. FLASH FOUNDATION, INC., Debtor.
Trustee John Patrick Lowe, Appellant,
v.
Palmetco, Inc., Appellee.

No. 07-50803.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

August 18, 2008.

*386 John Patrick Lowe (argued), Dodson & Lowe, Uvalde, TX, pro se.

Ronald S. Schmidt (argued), Schmidt & Davis, San Antonio, TX, for Palmetco, Inc.

Thomas J. Walthall, Jr., Jay K. Farwell, The Gardner Law Firm, San Antonio, TX, for American Subcontractors Ass'n, Inc., Amicus Curiae.

Before PRADO, ELROD and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.

PRADO, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we are called upon to decide whether Texas law concerning construction trust funds and materialman's liens prevents a bankruptcy trustee from avoiding three prepetition transfers of funds as preferential transfers under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b). Because the creditor in this case would have received the same amount in a hypothetical Chapter 7 proceeding as a result of Texas construction trust fund law as it did in the allegedly preferential transfers, we affirm the district court's decision to refuse to avoid the transfers. Consequently, we need not decide whether an alternative analysis based on materialman's liens would reach the same result.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This case arises out of the bankruptcy proceedings of Debtor N.A. Flash Foundation, Inc. ("NA Flash"). NA Flash is a contractor who works directly with property owners to make concrete foundations for houses. Appellee Palmetco, Inc. ("Palmetco") is a supplier of re-enforcing steel, which is used by builders in the foundations of buildings. Palmetco was a subcontractor on many of NA Flash's projects.

In October 2003, NA Flash made three transfers of money to Palmetco in payment of debts that NA Flash owed: $5,710.50 on October 3, 2003; $10,000.00 on October 6, 2003; and $24,100.00 on October 20, 2003. The payments totaled $39,810.50. The first two transfers were made by cashier's checks drawn on NA Flash's general operating account, and the third transfer was made when NA Flash endorsed a check from Paradise Homes over to Palmetco. Upon receipt of these checks, Palmetco released its materialman's liens on various properties and refrained from filing materialman's liens on other properties.

On December 29, 2003, NA Flash filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. NA Flash's bankruptcy trustee, Appellant John Patrick Lowe ("the Trustee"), filed the instant adversary proceeding against Palmetco in an attempt to recover the three transfers described above. The Trustee alleged that he could avoid the transfers because they were preferential transfers under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b), which provides as follows:

(b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (i) of this section, the trustee may avoid any transfer of an interest of the debtor in property—
*387 (1) to or for the benefit of a creditor;
(2) for or on account of an antecedent debt owed by the debtor before such transfer was made;
(3) made while the debtor was insolvent;
(4) made—
(A) on or within 90 days before the date of the filing of the petition; or
(B) between ninety days and one year before the date of the filing of the petition, if such creditor at the time of such transfer was an insider; and
(5) that enables such creditor to receive more than such creditor would receive if—
(A) the case were a case under chapter 7 of this title;
(B) the transfer had not been made; and
(C) such creditor received payment of such debt to the extent provided by the provisions of this title.

The parties stipulated to subsections (1), (2), (3), and (4)—specifically, that the transfers were (1) made for the benefit of Palmetco, (2) on account of an antecedent debt, (3) while NA Flash was insolvent, and (4) within ninety days of NA Flash's Chapter 7 petition. The parties could not agree on whether the transfers were "of an interest of the debtor [NA Flash] in property" and whether the transfers enabled Palmetco to receive more than it would have received if the transfers had not been made, the case had been filed under Chapter 7, and Palmetco had received payment in accordance with the eventual distribution (subsection (5)).

The bankruptcy court held a short hearing on May 24, 2005, and heard testimony from the Trustee, the president of Palmetco, and Palmetco's attorney. The testimony indicated that, because of the transfers, Palmetco received 100% of what it was owed, while the unsecured creditors were going to receive five cents on the dollar. Palmetco defended the transfers under Texas law regarding materialman's liens and construction trust funds. Palmetco's president testified that it was Palmetco's usual practice to follow all of the requirements for perfecting a materialman's lien under Texas law whenever NA Flash was late on its payments. Palmetco's president also testified that Palmetco was typically able to recover 100% of the money that it was owed whenever it used the lien procedures. The bankruptcy court then took the matter under advisement. On June 28, 2005, the bankruptcy court issued its decision orally and made several findings of fact, ultimately deciding that the Trustee had failed to demonstrate a preferential transfer because Palmetco would have received the same amount in a bankruptcy proceeding through either a materialman's lien or a construction trust fund.

The Trustee appealed to the district court for the Western District of Texas. The district court held that Palmetco would have received the same amount of money under a construction trust fund theory, but not under a materialman's lien theory. Although the district court styled its order as affirming in part, reversing in part, and remanding, the order was essentially an affirmance as it left the bankruptcy court's judgment intact. The Trustee has appealed to this court.

II. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

When a district court remands a case to the bankruptcy court for further proceedings, this court makes a two-prong inquiry to determine whether it may exercise appellate jurisdiction over the district court's decision. Andrews & Kurth, *388 L.L.P. v. Family Snacks, Inc. (In re Pro-Snax Distribs., Inc.), 157 F.3d 414, 420 (5th Cir.1998). First, we decide whether the order of the bankruptcy court was final in character, and second, we decide whether the district court's remand requires extensive further proceedings. Id. Here, the answers to those questions clearly demonstrate that appellate jurisdiction exists. The bankruptcy court's order was a final order—it resolved all of the issues between the parties, determined that the Trustee would take nothing, and assigned costs against the Trustee. The district court's order, although indicating a remand, left nothing for the bankruptcy court to do, as the district court did not alter the bankruptcy court's judgment.

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541 F.3d 385, 2008 WL 3822951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-na-flash-foundation-inc-ca5-2008.