Karnes v. F.C. Morris & Sons, Inc. (In re Morris)

147 B.R. 929, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 1865
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 24, 1992
DocketBankruptcy Nos. 89-41056, 89-41059; Adv. Nos. 90-0055, 90-0056
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 147 B.R. 929 (Karnes v. F.C. Morris & Sons, Inc. (In re Morris)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karnes v. F.C. Morris & Sons, Inc. (In re Morris), 147 B.R. 929, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 1865 (Ill. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

KENNETH J. MEYERS, Bankruptcy Judge.

At issue in this case is whether a dissolved corporation, of which the debtors were shareholders, validly conveyed its real estate following dissolution or whether, as the trustee contends, the property passed to the debtors as owners of the defunct corporation’s assets so as to become part of [932]*932their bankruptcy estates.1 The trustee has filed a complaint for ejectment and declaratory relief, asserting that because the debtors’ corporation had been involuntarily dissolved at the time of its purported conveyances of real estate, the conveyances were invalid and the debtors hold title to the property as shareholders of the dissolved corporation. Intra Illinois, Inc., and Intra USA, Inc., (“Intra”),2 which purchased the property from the dissolved Iowa corporation, assert that the conveyances were authorized under an Iowa statute governing the “winding up” of corporations. Intra contends, therefore, that it acquired good title to the real estate in question and that the trustee’s complaint should be denied.

The facts are undisputed. Debtors Richard and Robert Morris are brothers who, along with their father, owned 100% of the stock of F.C. Morris & Sons, Inc. (“Morris, Inc.”), a corporation organized under Iowa law. From the time of its incorporation in 1966 until 1973, Morris, Inc. conducted a farming operation in Iowa. In 1973, the corporation registered to do business in Illinois and purchased approximately 3,000 acres of land in Hamilton County, Illinois. Morris, Inc. thereafter farmed this land with the debtors serving as officers of the corporation.3

On November 21, 1977, Morris, Inc. was involuntarily dissolved by the Iowa Secretary of State for failure to pay its annual fee or file its annual report. The debtors were unaware of this fact, and the corporation did not wind up its affairs as contemplated by Iowa statute. Instead, Morris, Inc. continued to operate its farming business as a corporation.

On December 5, 1978, the debtors as officers of Morris, Inc. executed a mortgage on the farm to John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company (“Hancock”) to secure a $3 million loan to the corporation. Subsequently, in December 1979, the corporation sold three separate parcels of land totaling approximately 800 acres to individuals not involved in this litigation.

On February 10, 1981, Morris, Inc. conveyed 1,990 acres of the remaining land to an Illinois land trust, whose beneficiary was Intra Illinois, Inc. The warranty deed from Morris, Inc. identified the grantor as “a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Iowa.” Morris, Inc. used a portion of the proceeds from this sale to pay operating expenses and debts of the corporation. The rest of the proceeds were used by debtors Richard and Robert Morris to invest in oil and gas wells, in alcohol fuels, and in other business enterprises unrelated to Morris, Inc.

Morris, Inc. continued to farm the land sold to Intra pursuant to a 10-year farm lease entered into on November 14, 1980.4 However, it subsequently defaulted on payment of the rent due under the lease, and, in June 1982, Intra served a distraint warrant on Morris, Inc., seizing all the farm equipment of Morris, Inc. and all grain stored on the farm. In September 1982, Morris, Inc. conducted a public auction of its farm equipment and personal property in order to settle Intra’s suit for rent and for damages resulting from Morris, Inc.’s improper farming under the lease. On October 22, 1982, part of the proceeds from the sale of equipment were paid to the Internal Revenue Service to satisfy a tax lien against Morris, Inc. and the balance [933]*933was paid to Intra. Intra also received all the proceeds from sale of the grain seized from Morris, Inc.

On October 22, 1982, Morris, Inc. conveyed the remaining portion of the original farm — approximately 200 acres — to an Illinois land trust for the benefit of Intra USA, Inc. The deed, executed by the debtors as officers of the corporation, also re-conveyed the 1,990 acres that had been previously conveyed in trust to Intra Illinois, Inc. Morris, Inc. never again engaged in farming after June 22, 1982. On December 1, 1982, Morris, Inc.’s certificate to do business in Illinois was revoked by the Illinois Secretary of State.

The conveyances to Intra in February 1981 and October 1982 left the Hancock mortgage of record. Intra did not expressly assume the mortgage but made direct payments to Hancock on the mortgage from 1981 to 1985. In July 1986, Intra defaulted on the mortgage payments, and Hancock filed foreclosure proceedings in state court against both Morris, Inc. and Intra.

In September 1986, Intra filed a motion to dismiss the foreclosure action, asserting that the Hancock mortgage was invalid because Morris, Inc. had been legally dissolved at the time of execution of the mortgage. Prior to this time, neither Hancock nor the debtors knew that Morris, Inc. had been dissolved. At the time of the conveyances to Intra in February 1981 and October 1982, Intra, too, was unaware that Morris, Inc. had been dissolved.

On October 26, 1989, while the mortgage foreclosure proceeding was pending, the debtors filed their separate Chapter 7 petitions in bankruptcy. In their schedules, both debtors claimed an interest in the assets of the defunct corporation, Morris, Inc. The trustee of the debtors’ estates brought the present adversary proceedings seeking possession of the property and authority to sell it for the benefit of creditors. The trustee subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment. Intra, Hancock, and all remaining defendants have stipulated that no triable issue of fact remains and that summary judgment is appropriate.5

The trustee’s complaint, alleging that Morris, Inc. lacked capacity as a dissolved corporation to execute either the mortgage to Hancock or the deeds to Intra, raises separate issues of validity of the mortgage and ownership of the property.6 While these issues are related to the extent they concern the ability of the dissolved corporation to act, the Court has no jurisdiction to determine validity of the mortgage if the real estate was effectively conveyed to In-tra and is not property of the debtors’ bankruptcy estates.7 The Court must, therefore, determine whether Morris, Inc. validly conveyed its real estate following dissolution so that no title or interest remained in the debtors as shareholders of the dissolved corporation.

Intra contends that the conveyances were valid even though Morris, Inc. was dissolved in 1977 prior to the conveyances in 1981 and 1982. Intra asserts that the corporation retained the legal capacity to convey real estate under § 102 of the Iowa Business Corporations Act, in effect at the time of the conveyances, which provided that a dissolved corporation “may continue to act for the purpose of conveying title to [934]*934its property, real and personal, and otherwise winding up its affairs.” Iowa Code § 496A.102 (1981).8 Intra contends that this provision, which contains no limitation as to time, must be read according to its plain terms as authorizing the conveyances to Intra despite Morris, Inc.’s status as a dissolved corporation.9

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Related

Jones v. F.C. Morris & Sons, Inc. (In Re Morris)
171 B.R. 999 (S.D. Illinois, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
147 B.R. 929, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 1865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karnes-v-fc-morris-sons-inc-in-re-morris-ilsb-1992.