In Re O.P.M. Leasing Services

61 B.R. 596, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 5842
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 19, 1986
Docket19-10445
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 61 B.R. 596 (In Re O.P.M. Leasing Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.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 O.P.M. Leasing Services, 61 B.R. 596, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 5842 (N.Y. 1986).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER DENYING LOCKHEED’S CLAIM FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES

BURTON R. LIFLAND, Bankruptcy Judge.

Lockheed Corporation (“Lockheed”), in Claim Number M52100, seeks $195,463.09 in attorneys’ fees and expenses from the debtor, O.P.M. Leasing Services, Inc. (“O.P.M.”). Lockheed incurred these fees defending a suit in Iowa brought by a third party, Steel Warehousing Inc. (“Steel”). Steel had instituted that suit to quiet title to certain computer equipment it purchased from O.P.M. and to which Lockheed also claimed title. Lockheed argues that because O.P.M. allegedly breached express and implied warranties of title under the New York Uniform Commercial Code (“N.Y.U.C.C.”) and general contract principles it is entitled to recovery. James P. Hassett, the Trustee for O.P.M. (“Trustee”), objects to Lockheed’s claim and contends that it should be expunged.

I. FACTS

O.P.M. is in the business of buying, selling and leasing new and used computers and related equipment. On March 11, 1981, it filed its Chapter 11 petition for reorganization under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 (“Code”). The O.P.M. filing was “precipitated by discovery and newspaper reports that O.P.M. had served as the vehicle for a massive lease fraud exceeding $100 million.” Report of the Trustee Concerning Fraud and Other Misconduct in the Management of the Affairs of the Debtor at 2 (1983). The principals of *598 O.P.M. were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms as a result of their participation in the fraud and other misconduct in the management of O.P.M.’s affairs.

On March 24, 1981, this court directed the United States Trustee to appoint a trustee for O.P.M. Three days later, James P. Hassett was appointed Trustee. He assumed the responsibility of directing the business operations of O.P.M., conducting an investigation of O.P.M.’s past financial affairs, and pursuing various claims available to the O.P.M. estate; he has worked towards insuring the largest recovery for all creditors and has reviewed the claims filed in these proceedings. The Trustee has objected to the claim for fees and expenses filed by Lockheed. Because the Lockheed-O.P.M. history is relevant to the present inquiry, it is set forth in detail.

On June 28, 1978, O.P.M. entered into a Master Lease with Lockheed, and agreed to lease certain computer equipment to Lockheed. As was typical in all O.P.M. transactions, the parties agreed to supplement the Master Lease with various Equipment Schedules (“Schedules”) which described the precise equipment to be leased. See In re O.P.M. Leasing Services, Inc. (Hassett v. Revlon), 23 B.R. 104, 108 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.1982) (discussion of interplay between Master Lease and Schedules). Schedule No. 7 (“Schedule 7”) was signed by Lockheed and O.P.M. on September 18,1980 and involved the lease of certain International Business Machines (“IBM”) equipment.

Although the Master Lease and Schedule 7 contemplated O.P.M. being the lessor and Lockheed the lessee of the equipment, intermediate transactions were required to move the parties into this alignment. Lockheed, not O.P.M., was to purchase the equipment directly from IBM and then resell it to O.P.M. In turn, O.P.M. would lease the equipment back to Lockheed in a typical sale leaseback transaction. The sale leaseback aspect of the transaction is reflected in an October 17, 1980 letter from O.P.M. requesting Lockheed to execute and return a Lockheed-O.P.M. purchase agreement and a bill of sale in which Lockheed warranted that the equipment was free and clear of all liens. Paragraph 2 of the letter states: “[Kjindly have this Purchase Agreement executed and returned to ... O.P.M. in escrow so that we can complete the sale leaseback and equity transaction on October 27, 1980” (emphasis added).

On October 21, 1 1980, Lockheed completed the initial step in the contemplated transaction by purchasing the equipment from IBM (“IBM-Lockheed purchase agreement”) for $2,365,000. Lockheed agreed to pay $591,250 as a cash down payment upon installation of the equipment, and monthly installments of $54,290, inclusive of finance charges until IBM was paid in full. In order to secure payment of the purchase price, IBM retained a purchase money security interest in the equipment (“IBM lien”).

On October 27, 1980, the Lockheed-O. P.M. purchase agreement was also signed by O.P.M., and the agreement with the attached bill of sale was formally executed. O.P.M. agreed to purchase the equipment for $2,365,000, the same amount Lockheed had agreed to pay. The payment terms were identical to those in the Lockheed-IBM transaction and O.P.M. assumed the obligation to pay the cash down payment upon installation of the equipment and the monthly payments thereafter. With the execution of these documents, the groundwork was laid to achieve the parties’ primary objective, the leaseback of the equipment by O.P.M. to Lockheed pursuant to the Master Lease and Schedule 7.

As a result of these transactions, O.P.M. held title to the equipment which it leased to Lockheed as lessee. However, O.P.M.’s title was not the clear title represented in the various documents because it was sub *599 ject to the IBM lien which had attached when Lockheed initially purchased the equipment from IBM. The IBM lien is not evidenced in any of the Lockheed-O.P.M. documents because Lockheed executed an unconditional bill of sale, which is attached as Exhibit B to the Lockheed-OPM purchase agreement. In this bill of sale, Lockheed states:

Seller [Lockheed] hereby expressly represents and warrants that on the date hereof (i) [Lockheed] has good and marketable title to the Equipment, free and clear of any liens, claims and encumbrances whatsoever and [Lockheed] will defend said title; (ii) [Lockheed] has conveyed to Buyer [O.P.M.], and [O.P.M.] has acquired, good and marketable title to the Equipment, free and clear of any liens, claims and encumbrances whatsoever; (iii) [Lockheed] has full right, power and authority to convey the equipment, to Buyer; and (iv) the representations and warranties of [Lockheed] contained in Section 5(a) of the Purchase Agreement, dated October [27], 1980 (the “Purchase Agreement”) between [Lockheed] and [O.P.M.] are true, correct and complete as of the date hereof,

(emphasis added). On October 27, 1980 when all of these documents, were executed and were released from escrow, .the IBM lien was valid and Lockheed knew or should have known that the bill of sale was inaccurate.

Although apparently unknown to Lockheed, but not in violation of any of the lease provisions, O.P.M. sold the equipment, subject both to the Lockheed lease and to the IBM lien, to Starfire Leasing Corporation (“Starfire”) on October 27, 1980 for $2,476,750. Starfire contemporaneously sold the equipment, subject also to the Lockheed lease and the IBM lien, for $2,483,250 to Steel, which purchased the equipment to obtain its tax benefits. Steel in turn leased the equipment back to O.P.M. on October 27, 1980. Steel thus held title to the equipment and leased it to O.P.M. subject to the aforementioned interests. Lockheed was the ultimate lessee of the equipment.

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Bluebook (online)
61 B.R. 596, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 5842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-opm-leasing-services-nysb-1986.