In re Whatley

51 B.R. 676, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 6340
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedApril 11, 1985
DocketBankruptcy Nos. E84-40073, E84-40106
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 51 B.R. 676 (In re Whatley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Whatley, 51 B.R. 676, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 6340 (Miss. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVID W. HOUSTON, III, Bankruptcy Judge.

CAME ON for consideration the priority of liens dispute between the United States Small Business Administration, hereinafter referred to as SBA, and Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, hereinafter referred to as Guaranty Bank; all parties being represented by their respective attorneys of record; on a factual stipulation approved by all parties; on proof in Open Court; and the Court having heard and considered same, finds as follows, to-wit:

[677]*677I.

This case involves a priority of liens dispute between two creditors of the debtors, Whatley Farms, Inc., John W. Whatley and wife, Ruby L. Whatley. Although this proceeding would be denominated as a “non-core” proceeding as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 157(c), the two creditors and all of the debtors have consented to trial before this Court, as well as, that this Court might enter a final order following said trial ap-pealable at the election of any of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On October 28, 1975, the Secretary of State of the State of Mississippi issued a certificate of incorporation to the corporate debtor, Whatley Farms, Inc., with the individual debtors, John W. Whatley and Ruby G. Whatley, listed as incorporators. The certificate of incorporation and its proof of publication were filed in the Office of the Chancery Clerk, Humphreys County, Mississippi, on November 17,1975, and recorded in Book of Charters No. 5 at page 293. The corporate minute book of Whatley Farms, Inc., contains the certificate of incorporation, but no minutes of organizational meetings, i.e., a meeting of incorpo-rators or the initial meeting of the original board of directors, as well as, contains no signed corporate minutes for any meetings of the board of directors or of the shareholders. However, there are unsigned minutes for a special board of directors meeting dated April 9, 1976, and a resolution of the stockholders and directors dated May 24,1984. The only executed corporate document, other than the certificate of incorporation, was a resolution in the possession of SBA, dated November 11, 1981, authorizing the corporation to make application to SBA for a loan not to exceed $158,600.00, specifically including the authority to mortgage or pledge the assets of the corporation as security for the loan. The corporate stock of Whatley Farms, Inc., has never been issued and all the printed stock certificates found in the corporate record book remain in blank.

The initial balance sheet which was introduced into evidence reflected a note receivable as a corporate asset due to the corporation from Mr. and Mrs. Whatley in the sum of $52,588.94. On this same balance sheet, a value of the corporate stock was arbitrarily designated at $10,000.00. The corporate accountant designated a value for the farm equipment when creating this balance sheet and offset this value with the amount of the indebtednesses owed against the equipment. The stock valuation and the amount of the note receivable due from the Whatleys were then “plugged” to balance the assets against the liabilities and stockholders equity. § 79-3-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, was totally disregarded which requires the payment of the value of at least $1000.00, for the issuance of corporate stock prior to the transaction of any business. The preparation of the initial balance sheet amounted to no more than an artificial accounting transaction with no actual cash or value infusion being made by the Whatleys. The fact that a note receivable was established strictly violates the provisions of § 79-3-89, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, which prohibits loans being made by a corporation to its officers or directors.

There is no evidence in writing of a bill of sale, deed, or other instrument, except for book entries made by the corporate accountant in the depreciation schedules established for the corporation, that any personal property of any kind was ever lawfully transferred into the corporation by John W. Whatley, Ruby G. Whatley, or any other person, firm, or legal entity.

After incorporation, Whatley Farms, Inc., opened a corporate checking account at the Cleveland State Bank, Cleveland, Mississippi, and utilized this account regularly conducting business activities, including specifically the payment of several obligations to Guaranty Bank and Trust Company. However, as mentioned previously, there was no evidence introduced reflecting that this checking account was ever authorized through the corporate minutes or by a corporate resolution. For all practical purposes, the corporation was a vehicle uti[678]*678lized by the corporate accountant for income tax purposes only. The items of machinery and equipment were depreciated annually on the corporate tax return and considered, somewhat unwittingly in a legal context, by the accountant as corporate assets from the inception of the corporation until the present.

After the issuance of the certificate of incorporation on October 28, 1975, John W. Whatley continued to purchase farm equipment in his personal name and financed these purchases through loans made by Guaranty Bank and Trust Company. These loans were secured by the execution of security agreements and UCC-1 financing statements, encumbering the farm equipment, in favor of Guaranty Bank, several of which are identified hereinbelow:

PILED EQUIPMENT SECURED PARTY EXECUTED BY
1-03-76 699-JD Cottonpicker Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
1-22-76 1-4166 Int. Tractor Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
5-24-77 310 Steiger Tractor disc Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
7-22-77 l-D-6 Caterpillar dozer Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
9-11-78 M-F 760 Rice Combine Indianola Tractor Co. John W. d/b/a Farms Whatley, Whatley
1-17-79 1-MF Rice Combine Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
1-19-79 1-JD Tractor, 2 dirt buckets Guaranty Bank John W. d/b/a Farms Whatley Whatley
3-07-79 2 Reynolds scrappers, drawbar Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
5-31-79 1973 Sunshine Mobile Home Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley
7-19-79 1-JD Tractor & 2 Reynolds dirt buckets Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley, d/b/a Whatley Farms
7-08-80 2-14 yds. Reynolds dirt bucket, New PTA325 Panther Steiger tractor, 1-4840 JD Tractor Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley, d/b/a Whatley Farms
5-23-83 All equipment Guaranty Bank John W. Whatley

At the hearing, the representative of Guaranty Bank acknowledged that all of the loans made to the Whatleys prior to May 23, 1983, had been paid in full and the liens satisfied. Therefore, for purposes of this proceeding, the lien in dispute is that one created on May 23,1983, when the loan was made by Guaranty Bank to the individual debtor, John W. Whatley, secured by all of the farm equipment. The date of this lien is clearly subsequent to the date of the lien created in favor of SBA which is discussed immediately hereinbelow.

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51 B.R. 676, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 6340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-whatley-msnb-1985.