Kepler v. Koch (In re Kirchner)

372 B.R. 459, 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 2488
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedMarch 9, 2007
DocketBankruptcy No. 05-14404; Adversary No. 06-39
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 372 B.R. 459 (Kepler v. Koch (In re Kirchner)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kepler v. Koch (In re Kirchner), 372 B.R. 459, 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 2488 (Wis. 2007).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROBERT D. MARTIN, Bankruptcy Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

The defendants are siblings of chapter 7 debtor Bradley Kirchner. In 1998, Bradley “bought” his (and the defendants’) parents’ house at a foreclosure sale. At the time, the parents, Alan and Sandra Kirchner, were debtors in a chapter 13 case in this Court. They provided funds from their retirement accounts — exempt from attachment under Wisconsin law — to repurchase their home at the sale, but did so in Bradley’s name. They were purportedly concerned that the foreclosed mortgage could' still apply to them if they repurchased the house in their own names.

On November 9, 2001, Bradley conveyed the house to the defendants for no consideration. He says he took this step so that he and his now ex-wife Jaime1 could take out a first-time-homeowner mortgage on a different property. He has attempted to obtain documentation of that mortgage application, but to date has been unable to do so.

The chapter 7 trustee, Michael E. Kepler, filed this adversary proceeding on January 13, 2006, seeking to avoid the conveyance from Bradley to the defendants as a fraudulent transfer under chapter 242 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA), made available to the trustee by 11 U.S.C. § 544(b). Following discovery, the trustee [461]*461moved for summary judgment on January 23, 2007.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) (2007), incorporated by Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7056. “All facts and reasonable inferences must be construed in the light most favorable to ... the non-moving party.” Mannoia v. Farrow, 476 F.3d 453, 457 (7th Cir.2007).

There are two ways to meet the burden borne by the party moving for summary judgment. The classic way is to show that the undisputed facts entitle the movant to judgment as a matter of law. See Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 159-60, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). The more “modern”2 method is “by ‘showing’ — that is, pointing out to the district court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Where the movant is relying on this second method of obtaining summary judgment, under the “substantial evidence standard,” the movant must show that the nonmovant has insufficient evidence to survive summary judgment. Then the burden shifts to the nonmovant to present such evidence.

Subpart (e) of Rule 56 sets forth the substantial evidence standard.

Supporting and opposing affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge, shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence, and shall show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein. Sworn or certified copies of all papers or parts thereof referred to in an affidavit shall be attached thereto or served therewith. The court may permit affidavits to be supplemented or opposed by depositions, answers to interrogatories, or further affidavits. When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this rule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party’s pleading, but the adverse party’s response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If the adverse party does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against the adverse party.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). The rule’s requirement that affidavits be made based on personal knowledge “parallels Rule 602 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which forbids a witness (other than an expert witness ...) to testify to matters of which he does not have personal knowledge.” Palucki v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 879 F.2d 1568, 1572 (7th Cir.1989). “Personal knowledge within the meaning of these rules includes ... inferences from sense data as well as the sense data themselves (all knowledge is inferential — including sense data).” Id.

III. FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCE

Section 544(b)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code permits a trustee to

[462]*462avoid any transfer of an interest of the debtor in property or any obligation incurred by the debtor that is voidable under applicable law by a creditor holding an unsecured claim that is allowable under section 502 of this title or that is not allowable only under section 502(e) of this title.

11 U.S.C. § 544(b)(1) (2004).3

The applicable law in this instance is Wisconsin’s version of the UFTA. It provides, in part:

(1) A transfer made or obligation incurred by a debtor is fraudulent as to a creditor whose claim arose before the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred if the debtor made the transfer or incurred the obligation without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the transfer or obligation and the debtor was insolvent at that time or the debtor became insolvent as a result of the transfer or obligation.

Wis. Stat. § 242.05(1) (2001) (same in 2005). Read together, these two statutes permit a trustee to avoid a pre-petition transfer of property if: (1) the debtor had an unsecured creditor at the time of the transfer who was still an unsecured creditor at the time of the bankruptcy filing; (2) the debtor did not receive a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the transfer; (3) the debtor transferred an interest that the debtor had in property; and (4) the debtor was insolvent at the time of (or was rendered insolvent by) the transfer.

The parties effectively concede that the first two elements of the trustee’s cause of action are met.

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Related

Osberg v. Risler (In Re Risler)
443 B.R. 508 (W.D. Wisconsin, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
372 B.R. 459, 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 2488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kepler-v-koch-in-re-kirchner-wiwb-2007.