Interstate Plywood Co. v. Blankenship (In re Blankenship)

525 B.R. 629
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 13, 2015
DocketCase No.: 11-13484-JDW; A.P. No.: 12-01050-JDW
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 525 B.R. 629 (Interstate Plywood Co. v. Blankenship (In re Blankenship)) 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
Interstate Plywood Co. v. Blankenship (In re Blankenship), 525 B.R. 629 (Miss. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Jason D. Woodard, United States Bankruptcy Judge

This adversary proceeding came before the Court after a three-day bench trial on the Complaint for Judgment and to Except from Discharge (the “Complaint”)(A.P. Dkt.# 1) filed by Interstate Plywood Co., LLC (“IPC”) and George R. Winfield (“Winfield”) (together, the “Plaintiffs”), against defendant Louise Renee Blankenship (the “Debtor”), requesting that certain debts owed to the Plaintiffs by the Debtor be declared nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), (4), and/or (6).1 A trial on the adversary proceeding was held on June 24 and 25, and October 28, 2014. Testimony was heard from numerous witnesses, documents were received into evidence, and argument was presented to the Court.

At the conclusion of the Plaintiffs’ case, the Debtor made an ore tenus motion for judgment as a matter of law as to all counts. The Plaintiffs conceded that the larceny theory of § 523(a)(4) was inapplicable and confirmed that they were no longer pursuing the larceny claim. For the reasons stated on the record, the Court denied the motion with regard to the remaining claims under § 523(a)(2)(A) and (a)(4), but granted the motion with regard to the § 523(a)(6) claim.

Following the trial, the parties submitted post-trial briefs (A.P. Dkt. # 91 & 92), and this adversary proceeding was taken under advisement on January 27, 2015.

This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 151, 157(a) and 1334(b), and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi’s Order of Reference of Bankruptcy Cases and Proceedings Nunc Pro Tunc Dated August 6, 1984. This is a core proceeding arising under Title 11 of the United States Code as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(A), (I) and (J).2

For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds and concludes that while the Plaintiffs do hold unsecured claims against the Debtor, all of those claims are dis-chargeable in the Debtor’s bankruptcy case.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT3

IPC, a limited liability company, is an industrial hardwood distributor, doing [634]*634business in Shelby County, Tennessee. Winfield is the managing member of IPC. 61 Cabinet, Inc. (“Cabinet”) was a corporation that was also doing business in Shelby County, Tennessee, but is no longer operating. The Debtor’s father, Howard O. Blankenship (“Howard”) was the president of Cabinet, and, for a time, the Debtor was the secretary/treasurer.

Cabinet was in the business of constructing and installing cabinets. Cabinet bought bulk lumber from IPC, which Cabinet then used in the fabrication of cabinets. Although Cabinet installed some prefabricated cabinets in commercial projects (specifically, apartment complexes), the majority of Cabinet’s business involved constructing cabinets in-house and installing them in single-family residential projects. On July 27, 1998, IPC entered into an Agreement Establishing Open Account with Cabinet, which was individually guaranteed by both Howard and the Debtor. Cabinet’s relationship with IPC began at the time of the open account agreement and lasted until Cabinet ceased operations in' 2010.4 IPC never sold prefabricated cabinets to Cabinet.

Cabinet would order lumber from IPC via phone, and then IPC would deliver the materials to Cabinet at its shop. Each order had its own invoice, and invoices were sent to Cabinet once a month, reflecting the previous month’s purchases. The invoices sent from IPC to Cabinet did not identify any specific projects or property at which the cabinets fabricated from that shipment of lumber would .be installed. IPC never filed a materialman’s lien against any property on account of Cabinet’s nonpayment of amounts due to IPC.

The Debtor has a high' school diploma and an associate’s degree in computer science, but no further training in accounting, bookkeeping, or business. She credibly testified that she was not familiar with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and was unfamiliar with standard bookkeeping practices. The Debtor handled the day-to-day bookkeeping operations of Cabinet. The Debtor did not take orders for cabinets from customers, and she did not order supplies or raw materials for the business (from IPC or otherwise). She had additional help with Cabinet’s books from time to time, .but the bookkeeping responsibilities always reverted to her when other employees quit and when Cabinet became unable to afford to hire someone else. The Debtor was generally absent from the office during part of 2006 and all of 2007 while she was receiving cancer treatment, though she still worked from home on a limited basis. The Debtor worked under the complete supervision of Howard. Although she was the corporate secretary and treasurer, the Debtor did not exercise independent judgment or have autonomy over any but the most basic of bookkeeping functions. When Cabinet did not have enough money to pay all of its bills, Howard told the Debtor which bills to pay and which to defer.

From 1998-2006, Cabinet usually paid IPC’s invoices with commercial checks drawn on Cabinet’s bank account. Cabinet’s orders gained volume over time, and IPC eventually became Cabinet’s primary wood supplier. In 2006 or 2007, when Cabinet first began experience financial difficulty brought about by the condition of the housing market, Cabinet began oeca-[635]*635sionally paying IPC with endorsed third-party checks from builders (“builder checks”). The frequency of payment by builder checks increased over time. Later, after a few bounced checks, IPC would not accept checks drawn on Cabinet’s corporate account, requiring payment from Cabinet in cash, certified funds or builder checks.

Winfield testified that he became concerned about Cabinet’s payment issues in 2008, which is when he first became aware of exactly how far Cabinet was behind. In an attempt to remedy the situation, Win-field went to talk with Howard to arrange for payment. Winfield testified that he met with Howard on a near-weekly basis regarding Cabinet’s debt to IPC.5 The Debtor was not a part of these meetings. In one of these meetings, Howard and Winfield agreed to create two different receivable balances: one, a long-term note receivable to cover the arrearage, and a second, regular open account for new deliveries (although they also agreed that IPC would deliver materials to Cabinet on a cash-on-delivery basis only). IPC transferred the- outstanding balance to the long-term note receivable, and opened the new account with the agreement that it would be kept current and a 10% surcharge would be applied to all new purchases to reduce the note on the long-term note. The cash-on-deliver (“COD”) requirement was intended to keep future purchases in check so there would be no additional accumulated balance.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
525 B.R. 629, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/interstate-plywood-co-v-blankenship-in-re-blankenship-msnb-2015.