In Re Rankin

141 B.R. 315, 6 Tex.Bankr.Ct.Rep. 246, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 872, 1992 WL 126713
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedMay 28, 1992
Docket19-30165
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 141 B.R. 315 (In Re Rankin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Rankin, 141 B.R. 315, 6 Tex.Bankr.Ct.Rep. 246, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 872, 1992 WL 126713 (Tex. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

RONALD B. KING, Bankruptcy Judge.

The question in this case is whether certain ad valorem tax claims should be reconsidered as to amount and class treatment under a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization. Finding that the claims are entitled to different treatment under the plan of reorganization than previously ordered, the motion to reconsider will be granted, in part.

*317 Bryan Lee Rankin, d/b/a Rankin Oil Company (“Rankin”), filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy case on November 2, 1987. The Second Modified Plan of Liquidation (the “Plan”) was confirmed on October 18, 1989. The movants are eleven local ad valorem taxing authorities (the “Taxing Authorities”), who filed a motion to reconsider the eleven orders regarding their claims. The Taxing Authorities initially resisted their treatment under the Plan, which was filed by creditor and Plan proponent, Hydrogen Energy Corporation (“HEC”), by casting ballots on October 12, 1989, rejecting the Plan. 1 One day prior to the rejections, David W. Copeland, attorney for HEC, sent a letter by facsimile to counsel for the Taxing Authorities, Fay Gill-ham, proposing a “Modification to the Second Modified Plan of Liquidation” (the “Modification”), which purportedly would allay her concerns regarding the treatment of her clients’ claims under the Plan. 2 In the letter, Mr. Copeland stated “[the Modification] I believe addresses your principal concerns and leaves the claims of your clients unimpaired.” The Modification added language to the section of the Plan which dealt with the payment of Class 2 creditors, and provided, in relevant part:

A. Article 5, Treatment of Claims, shall be modified as follows:
1. Section 5.2, Class 2, shall be deleted and amended to read as follows:
5.2 Class 2. Class 2 is unimpaired. Holders of allowed Class 2 Claims will receive on account of such Claims deferred cash payments, over a period not exceeding six years (6) after the date of assessment of said of [sic] Claims, of a value, as of the Effective Date, equal to the allowed amount of Claims, pursuant to Section 1129(a)(9)(C), together with per an-num interest thereon at the statutory rate; the first payment to be made one hundred twenty (120) days after the Effective Date, with subsequent payments made monthly thereafter. All liens held by Class 2 Creditors shall remain in full force and effect until such time as the amount of each respective Claim has been paid in full. Any sale of all or any portion of the Property subsequent to Confirmation will be subject to any applicable lien of the respective Class 2 Creditor.
All taxes incurred by the Debtor subsequent to the Petition Date, together with penalties and interest thereon, shall be treated as Class 1 Claims under the Plan. No Tax Claims are included or includable in Class 7 under the Plan.

(Emphasis added). The italicized language was added by the Modification. The intent of the Modification was apparently to satisfy specific concerns of Class 2 creditors by providing post-petition interest and a guaranty of lien retention. Sections 2.2 and 2.7 of the Plan described Class 2 as “[creditors holding allowed Tax Claims,” and Class 7 as “[c]reditors holding statutory liens.”

The final sentence of the Modification was particularly noteworthy. It appeared to state that “Tax Claims” were not included in Class 7 under the Plan. According to the Taxing Authorities’ memorandum in support of their motion to reconsider, under the Plan, “[c]lass 7 receives a pro rata portion of a small amount of cash, and stock for the remainder of the claims.” Because the Taxing Authorities’ claims appear facially to be “Tax Claims,” it would seem that they were not included in Class 7, based on the last sentence of the Modification. The Taxing Authorities contend that this additional language placed their claims in Class 2, and the representations contained within Mr. Copeland’s letter induced them to withdraw their votes against the Plan. The Plan was confirmed on October 18, 1989, after an attorney for the Taxing Authorities withdrew their rejections.

On January 16, 1990, HEC, as successor to Rankin under the Plan, filed objections to claims of each of the Taxing Authorities *318 and other claimants. Responses were filed thereafter, but the parties sought and obtained a number of continuances, based ostensibly on settlement negotiations, which delayed the hearing until January 14, 1991. At that hearing, an agreed order was submitted concerning the claims of Andrews Independent School District (“AISD”), an entity not represented by counsel for the Taxing Authorities. The order as submitted by the attorneys for the Debtor and AISD provided for payment of AISD’s claim over fourteen months. 3 With regard to the Taxing Authorities’ claims, a hearing was again reset for February 13, 1991. After the February 13, 1991 hearing on each individual claim, HEC’s counsel was responsible for submitting eleven orders reflecting the amount allowed by the Court on each claim. After being notified by the Clerk’s office in June, 1991 that the orders had not been submitted, HEC’s attorney submitted the orders in September, 1991. The orders were entered on September 19 and 20, 1991. Specifically, the orders provided the following disposition with respect to each claim: 4

Claim Amount Treatment
Andrews County ■ $19,855.61 Class 7
Buena Vista I.S.D. 57.18 Class 7
Crane County 16.98 Class 7
Crane County I.S.D. 36.30 Class 7
Crane County Water District .76 Class 7
Ector County 558.12 Class 7
Kermit I.S.D. 5,470.82 Class 7
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah I.S.D. Disallowed
Reeves County Disallowed
Winkler County 1,892.47 Class 7
Wink-Loving I.S.D. Disallowed

The orders provided that each allowed claim be accorded Class 7 treatment.

On September 30, 1991, the motion to reconsider was timely filed by the Taxing Authorities. At the hearing, counsel for the Taxing Authorities orally requested the following alterations to the Court’s orders:

1. Treatment of the claims in Class 2, instead of Class 7;
2. Provision for post-petition, pre-confir-mation interest;
3. Provision for post-confirmation interest; and
4. Recomputation and entry of new amounts attributable to the Taxing Authorities’ claims.

ISSUES

The motion to reconsider and the “Memorandum in Support” cite no statutes, rules or ease law as authority.

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Bluebook (online)
141 B.R. 315, 6 Tex.Bankr.Ct.Rep. 246, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 872, 1992 WL 126713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-rankin-txwb-1992.