In re Waco Town Square Partners, L.P.

525 B.R. 662, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 441, 60 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 172, 2015 WL 602848
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 11, 2015
DocketCASE NO: 11-38928, CASE NO: 11-38929, CASE NO: 12-03144 Jointly Administered Order
StatusPublished

This text of 525 B.R. 662 (In re Waco Town Square Partners, L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.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 Waco Town Square Partners, L.P., 525 B.R. 662, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 441, 60 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 172, 2015 WL 602848 (Tex. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Marvin Isgur, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

The Court issued an order requiring NSJS Limited Partnership to dismiss a lawsuit pending in the 414th Judicial District Court of McLennan County, Texas on July 24, 2013. This requirement was pursuant to the Order Confirming Waco Town Square Partners, LP (WTSP) and Waco Town Square Partners II, LP’s (WTSP II) Third Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. On appeal, the District Court remanded for further consideration of this Court’s constitutional authority, the requirements of the Confirmation Order, and NSJS’s excusable neglect defense. Having considered the issues raised by the District Court, NSJS’s claims must be dismissed.

Factual Background

A detailed recitation of the factual background of this case is included in both this Court’s July 24, 2013 Memorandum Opinion and the District Court’s March 13, 2014 Opinion. (ECF Nos. 155; 194). In brief, Defendants David Wallace and Michael Wray created Waco Town Square Partners, L.P. and Waco Town Square Partners II, L.P. for the development of a two-phase revitalization project in Waco, Texas. (ECF No. 155 at 1). Plaintiff NSJS Limited Partnership invested $200,000.00 into WTSP II in exchange for 2,083.33 units in the partnership. (ECF No. 194 at 3). Under the terms of WTSP II’s partnership agreement, NSJS had a right to redeem its units at the par amount of its initial investment, plus a preferred return of ten percent per annum. (ECF No. 155 at 2).

During construction of the first phase, Wray realized that WTSP needed additional financing. He obtained a loan from [665]*665Defendant Community Bank and pledged the WTSP II property as collateral for the "WTSP loan. Id. When construction of Phase I finished, the outstanding loan amount exceeded the value of the collateral by some $5,000,000.00. Id. WTSP II sold its only asset, a vacant lot, and lent the proceeds to WTSP to reduce WTSP’s indebtedness to Community Bank. (ECF No. 194 at 3). On July 30, 2010 NSJS tried to exercise its redemption rights under the partnership agreement. Id. Because WTSP II had sold its only asset, there were no remaining funds to pay NSJS the redemption value.

Procedural Posture

NSJS filed a state court lawsuit against Michael Wray, David Wallace, WTSM II (the general partner of WTSP), WTSP II, and Community Bank in state court in McLennan County, Texas for fraud, conversion, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, defalcation, and violations of the Texas Theft Liability Act. (ECF No. 155 at 3). WTSP filed for chapter 11 protection on October 21, 2011 before this Court. WTSP II filed a month later and the state court lawsuit was subsequently removed to the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas.1 On February 16, 2012 the bankruptcy court remanded the state court lawsuit back to state court on mandatory abstention grounds. Id. WTSP II filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing that remand was improper because certain of NSJS’s claims were derivative and as such property of the bankruptcy estate. On May 30, 2012, this Court issued a Confirmation Order for WTSP II’s bankruptcy proceeding. (ECF No. 89). The order provided that:

To the extent that NSJS holds any claims, plead or unplead, belonging to it and not to the Debtors or their respective estates, against any person or entity, other than the Debtors or their estates, NSJS may pursue such claims and nothing in this Order shall bar, enjoin, limit, or impair NSJS from pursuing such claims. Further, within forty-five (45) days of the entry of this Order, NSJS shall amend its complaint in Adversary Proceeding No. 11-06025 ... pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division (removed Case No.2010-4220-5 formerly pending in the 414th Judicial District, McLennan County, Texas) to remove any and all claims and causes of action arising on or before the Confirmation Date that may be asserted by or on behalf of the Debtors or the Bankruptcy Estates and/or on account of the Debtors’ Cases (“Amended Complaint”). If an Amended Complaint is not filed within the time period proscribed [sic] in this Order, all claims contained in the N’SJS Lawsuit shall be deemed claims and causes of action arising that may be asserted by or on behalf of the Debtors or the Bankruptcy Estates and/or on account of the Debtors’ Cases and must be immediately dismissed with prejudice in accordance with Article 13.9 of the Plan.

(Case No. 11-38928; ECF No. 89). On June 14, 2012 the Bankruptcy Court in the Western District denied WTSP II’s motion for reconsideration. (ECF No. 126-2). That court held that the state court suit did “not appear to meet the definition of a derivative action, either in form or in substance.” Id. at 10.

On November 7, 2012, WTSP II’s counsel sent a letter to NSJS advising them that, since the state court complaint had not been amended within the 45-day deadline prescribed by the confirmation order, the suit must be dismissed with prejudice. [666]*666(ECF No. 106 at 6). NSJS continued to assert the suit contained no derivative claims. Nevertheless, on December 14, 2012 NSJS filed a Second Amended Complaint in state court removing WTSP II as a defendant and deleting all claims that were arguably derivative.

WTSP II filed a motion to hold NSJS in contempt for violation of the confirmation order on January 1, 2013. (ECF No. 106). On May 29, 2013 the Court held an eviden-tiary hearing and took the matter under advisement. On July 24, 2013 the Court issued an opinion finding that NSJS’s First Amended Complaint contained several derivative causes of action.2 (ECF No. 155). The Court rejected NSJS’s argument that any failure to amend the complaint was due to excusable neglect. Because NSJS did not amend its complaint within the confirmation order deadline, the Court ordered NSJS to dismiss the state court suit in its entirety. (ECF No. 156). However, the underlying motion to hold NSJS in-contempt was denied.

NSJS appealed the decision to the District Court. On March 13, 2014, the District Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order affirming the denial of the motion for contempt but remanding the case as to the requirement that NSJS dismiss its state court lawsuit. (ECF No. 194). The District Court requested clarification on three issues: (1) the Bankruptcy Court’s authority to order a non-debtor to dismiss a lawsuit in state court; (2) apparent inconsistencies contained within the May 30, 2012 confirmation order; and (3) further consideration of whether NSJS’s failure to amend its complaint in time was the result of good faith and/or excusable neglect. Id. On June 30, 2014 the Court held a hearing and ordered the parties to file briefs on how best to implement the District Court’s Order.

Analysis

I. Bankruptcy Court’s Authority

a. Stem v. Marshall

The District Court order noted that “[i]n light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, it is questionable whether a bankruptcy court’s power under § 105(a) extends to requiring the dismissal with prejudice of ‘state law causes of action by non-debtors against non-debtors.’” (ECF No. 194 at 8). Stern v. Marshall made clear that a bankruptcy court may not issue a final order or judgment in matters that are within the exclusive authority of Article III courts. — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
525 B.R. 662, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 441, 60 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 172, 2015 WL 602848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-waco-town-square-partners-lp-txsb-2015.