Kittery Point Partners, LLC

United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maine·Decided December 20, 2019·No. 17-20316·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE

In re: Chapter 11 Kittery Point Partners, LLC, Case No. 17-20316

Debtor

ORDER DETERMINING OBJECTION TO CLAIM

On November 19, 2019, the Court conducted a consolidated evidentiary hearing on three matters: (i) Count I of the Debtor’s complaint against Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC (“Bayview”) in Adversary Proceeding No. 17-2065 [AP Dkt. No. 51]; (ii) the Debtor’s objection to Bayview’s claim [Dkt. No. 111], Bayview’s response [Dkt. No. 114], and the Debtor’s reply [Dkt. No. 118]; and (iii) confirmation of the Debtor’s Second Amended Plan of Reorganization [Dkt. No. 154] and Bayview’s objection to that plan [Dkt. No. 181]. During the hearing, the Debtor and Bayview agreed on the terms of a modified plan and they asked the Court to enter an order confirming the plan, as modified. That order has since been entered. See [Dkt. No. 259]. In light of the consensual resolution of the disputed confirmation issues, the Court is left to determine the claim objection in the chapter 11 case and the remainder of the Debtor’s complaint in the adversary proceeding (namely, Count I, in which the Debtor asks the Court to determine that Bayview holds no claims against the Debtor, its property, or the estate, and to disallow any claims that Bayview may assert). Because both of these matters seek the same relief, this order will be entered on the docket in the chapter 11 case and on the docket in the adversary proceeding. For ease of reference, the Court will refer to Count I of the adversary proceeding and the Debtor’s objection to claim in the chapter 11 case collectively as the “Objection to Claim.” After the hearing on November 19, the Court entered an order permitting Bayview to amend its proof of claim to correct the amount of prepetition interest and fees associated with the claim. See [Dkt. No. 253]. The Objection to Claim relates to the proof of claim as amended [POC No. 2-2] (the “Proof of Claim”). By the Proof of Claim, Bayview asserts a claim against the Debtor’s estate secured by a mortgage (the “Mortgage”) on real property of the Debtor in Kittery Point, Maine (the

“Property”). The Mortgage attached to the Proof of Claim reflects a transfer of certain rights from the Debtor to Middlebury Equity Partners (“MEP”) in 2005 in exchange for a loan evidenced by a promissory note in the face amount of $600,000 (the “Note”). The Note and an assignment of the Mortgage from MEP to Bayview are also attached to the Proof of Claim and, together with the Mortgage, form the basis of Bayview’s claim. In the adversary proceeding, the Debtor asserts that the Note and Mortgage are unenforceable because (a) the Debtor did not exist when those documents were executed, and (b) no consideration was exchanged for the execution of the Note and Mortgage. In the chapter 11 case, the Debtor asserts that Bayview’s claim should be disallowed due to a failure of

consideration—a theory the Debtor seeks to distinguish from the lack of consideration theory advanced in the adversary proceeding. Specifically, the Debtor alleges that MEP promised to pay off Wells Fargo’s prior mortgage on the Property in the amount of $550,000 and to disburse $39,835 to the Debtor in exchange for the rights the Debtor granted to MEP in the Note and the Mortgage—i.e., the right to repayment of the $600,000 loan and an interest in the Property securing that right of repayment. The Debtor alleges that MEP could have performed these promises at any time prior to the commencement of the chapter 11 case, but never did. To support these allegations, the Debtor points to, among other things, the following documents (all of which were admitted in evidence at the hearing): (1) a closing statement for the loan from MEP to the Debtor showing that a disbursement of $589,835 was “To be advanced to Borrower Per Loan Agreement” [Pl. Ex. E];

(2) a different closing statement for that same loan showing that $550,000 was to be disbursed “to retire first mortgage” and that $39,835 was to be disbursed “to Borrower” [Pl. Ex. F]; and

(3) a commitment for title insurance in the amount of $600,000 for MEP and its assigns requiring discharge of the prior mortgage held by Wells Fargo [Pl. Ex. G].

Neither the Bankruptcy Code nor the Bankruptcy Rules establish particular burdens of proof for claims or claim objections. See Raleigh v. Ill. Dep’t of Revenue, 530 U.S. 15, 22 & n.2 (2000). The Rules do, however, supply an evidentiary presumption: under Rule 3001(f), a proof of claim constitutes “prima facie evidence of the validity and amount of the claim” if the proof of claim is properly filed and executed. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3001(f). The Debtor has not identified any deficiency in the execution or filing of the Proof of Claim and has conceded that the Proof of Claim is entitled to a presumption of validity. See [Dkt. No. 234]. After reviewing the Proof of Claim, the Court concludes that it was executed and filed in accordance with the applicable Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. As such, the Proof of Claim constitutes prima facie evidence of the validity and amount of Bayview’s claim. The Debtor may overcome the presumptive validity of the Proof of Claim by producing “substantial evidence.” See Juniper Dev. Grp. v. Kahn (In re Hemingway Transp., Inc.), 993 F.2d 915, 925 (1st Cir. 1993). Substantial evidence “consists of evidentiary-quality material which, if accepted, would qualify or contradict” the rights asserted by Bayview. See In re Perron, 474 B.R. 310, 313 (Bankr. D. Me. 2012); see also In re Allegheny Int’l, Inc., 954 F.2d 167, 173-74 (3d Cir. 1992) (“In practice, the objector must produce evidence which, if believed, would refute at least one of the allegations that is essential to the claim’s legal sufficiency.”). Here, it is unnecessary to plumb the exact contours of the substantial evidence standard because regardless of how it may be defined, the standard was not met. The evidence offered by the Debtor was designed to bolster its theories that Bayview’s claim is unenforceable due to a lack, or a failure, of consideration. As the Court concluded during the hearing, that line of attack—and all of its many iterations—is doubly foreclosed: first, by the Delinquency

Repayment Agreement (“DRA”) executed by the Debtor and Bayview in 2009 [Jt. Ex. C] and the waivers in that document explicitly acknowledging the validity of the Note, the Mortgage, and the debt; and second, by the preclusive effect of the final order in the state court action between the Debtor and Bayview concerning the validity of the Note and Mortgage [Jt. Ex. E]. These conclusions depend, in part, on the events that gave rise to the DRA and the state court litigation, which can be stitched together by resort to the parties’ stipulation [Dkt. No. 243] and the evidence admitted during the November 2019 hearing. Before the Debtor acquired the Property, it was owned by James Austin. [Stip. ¶ 2.] In 2003, Mr. Austin granted a mortgage on the Property to Wells Fargo to secure a note in the amount of $550,000. See [Jt. Ex. B]. Later,

in March 2005, Daniel Systo signed the Note and Mortgage, ostensibly on behalf of the Debtor, although the Debtor had not been formed as a legal entity and did not own the Property when the documents were signed.

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