In re Sud Properties, Inc.

462 B.R. 547, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4657, 2011 WL 5909624
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedJuly 20, 2011
DocketNo. 11-03833-8-RDD
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 462 B.R. 547 (In re Sud Properties, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Sud Properties, Inc., 462 B.R. 547, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4657, 2011 WL 5909624 (N.C. 2011).

Opinion

[548]*548 ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS CASE

RANDY D. DOUB, Bankruptcy Judge.

Pending before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss filed by First Bank on June 8, 2011 (the “Motion”) and the Response to Motion to Dismiss filed by SUD Properties, Inc. (the “Debtor”) on June 28, 2011 (the “Response”). The Court conducted a hearing on June 29, 2011 in Wilson, North Carolina to consider the Motion and the Response. On July 8, 2011, the Court entered the Order Denying Motion to Dismiss the Debtor’s case. This opinion sets forth the Court’s reasoning for its decision.

BACKGROUND

The Debtor filed a second petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on May 17, 2011. The Debtor is a North Carolina corporation engaged in the business of owning and developing real estate. Vernon D. Danford is the sole owner and manager of the Debtor. In July of 2005, the Debtor was formed. Its sole project was to develop a tract of land in Brunswick County, North Carolina known as “Springstone Subdivision” located at 211 Lanvale Road, Leland, North Carolina (the “Property”). The Debtor began developing the tract in 2005 and by [549]*5492006 eighty-eight (88) lots were platted with completed infrastructure. The Debt- or sold eighteen lots to various buyers. The drop in the real estate market made it difficult for the Debtor to continue selling lots and as a result, the Debtor defaulted on its financial obligations.

Today the Debtor owns sixty-eight lots with completed infrastructure.1 The Debt- or has designated this case as a single asset real estate case as defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(51B).

First Bank, successor to Cooperative Bank, holds two promissory notes executed by the Debtor and secured by first and second deeds of trust on the Property. As of the petition date, the outstanding balances of the two promissory notes, including interest, were approximately $756,337.57 and $513,724.00 for a total obligation of $1,270,061.57. The Property is also subject to a third deed of trust in favor of Springstone Properties, LLC, an entity owned by the principal of the Debt- or. As of the petition date, the balance of this claim including interest was approximately $3,960,000.00.

The Debtor defaulted on each of its loan obligations to First Bank. Both of the loans have fully matured. First Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against the Property. On May 5, 2010, the eve of the foreclosure sale, the Debtor filed its first voluntary Chapter 11 petition. The Debt- or’s plan of reorganization (the “Plan”) was confirmed on October 1, 2010 upon the entry of the Order Confirming Plan (the “Confirmation Order”). The Plan proposed to satisfy First Bank’s indebtedness from the sale of lots in the Springstone Subdivision. The Plan provided a schedule whereby the Debtor was to sell a certain number of lots within certain time parameters. The schedule provided that all seventy lots were to be sold by January 31, 2014. The Plan further provided that in exchange for the treatment of First Bank’s claims, First Bank was to “withdraw its Motion for Relief, withdraw its Objection to Sale, withdraw its Objection to Confirmation and amend its ballots to accept the Plan.” Additionally, the Plan required First Bank to dismiss its foreclosure proceeding without prejudice and in the event of the Debtor defaulting on the terms of the Order, “[n]o future bankruptcy filing by any party shall stay a foreclosure proceeding brought by First Bank against the Springstone Subdivision relating to the First Bank Indebtedness.”

The Debtor was unable to sell the lots in accordance with the schedule set forth in the Plan because the potential buyer was unable to close on the transaction. Accordingly, the Debtor defaulted under the terms of the Plan. The Debtor filed a Motion to Dismiss the first case. This motion was granted and the case was dismissed on April 11, 2011.

Upon the Debtor’s default, First Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against the Property. The foreclosure hearing was scheduled for May 17, 2011 in Brunswick County, North Carolina. The Debtor received notice of the foreclosure hearing and prior to the hearing, the Debtor contacted First Bank and informed its counsel that the Debtor intended to attend the foreclosure hearing. One hour prior to the foreclosure hearing on May 17, 2011, the Debtor filed a second petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Clayton Cheek, as counsel for the Debtor, Mr. Danford, and Justin M. Lewis, as counsel for WASLAW, LLC, the Substitute Trustee, appeared at the foreclosure hearing before the Assistant Clerk of Court in Brunswick County (the “Clerk”). [550]*550Ward and Smith, P.A. manages WAS-LAW, LLC. Additionally, Ward and Smith, P.A. represent WASLAW, LLC in foreclosure proceedings. Justin M. Lewis is an associate attorney with Ward and Smith, P.A.

At the foreclosure hearing, counsel for the Debtor requested a continuance for sixty days. Counsel informed the Clerk that the Debtor filed a second bankruptcy petition earlier that day. Counsel for the Debtor made the Clerk aware that the terms of the dismissal order in the Debt- or’s previous Chapter 11 case stated that a future bankruptcy filing would not stay a foreclosure proceeding.

The Clerk continued the hearing for sixty days. An order was entered on June 3, 2011, continuing the foreclosure hearing. The order was signed by the Clerk who presided over the foreclosure hearing on May 17, 2011. The order stated: “[t]he Holder of the Note ... has agreed to a continuance of the hearing in the matter, pursuant to the request of the Grantor.” The foreclosure hearing was continued until July 18, 2011. The foreclosure sale is currently scheduled for August 17, 2011.

The Debtor’s Statement of Financial Affairs reflect the Debtor received no income from 2010 to present. On Schedule B, the Debtor represented that $266.98 is held in a RBC checking account.

Under the terms of the Debtor’s proposed plan, which was filed in this proceeding on May 18, 20112, one day after the filing of the petition, First Bank’s claim is to be satisfied in exchange for a portion of the Property or “dirt” in full satisfaction of the debt owed to First Bank. Specifically, the Debtor proposes to surrender to First Bank nineteen lots, with an assumed lot sale price of $48,143.00 and thirteen lots with an assumed lot sale price of $48,143.00 in full satisfaction of the debt owed to First Bank.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

In support of its Motion to Dismiss, First Bank contends that because a prior order of this Court authorizes First Bank to foreclose on the Property there is nothing left for the Debtor to reorganize in its second case and therefore the case should be dismissed for “cause” pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(1). In support of this position, First Bank contends that the Confirmation Order entered in the first bankruptcy case has the force and affect of res judicata and therefore, no order entered in the present case can affect the right of First Bank to foreclose on the Property.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
462 B.R. 547, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4657, 2011 WL 5909624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-sud-properties-inc-nceb-2011.