La Vigna v. Lipshie (In re Wise)

173 B.R. 75
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedOctober 25, 1994
DocketBankruptcy No. 886-60032-20; Adv. No. 893-8386-20
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 173 B.R. 75 (La Vigna v. Lipshie (In re Wise)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
La Vigna v. Lipshie (In re Wise), 173 B.R. 75 (E.D.N.Y. 1994).

Opinion

ROBERT JOHN HALL, Bankruptcy Judge.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Before the Court1 is a motion by one Defendant, Barbara Wise (“Wise”), for an order dismissing Plaintiffs’ complaint (“Motion”) pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; Wise asserts that Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim for relief. The Court held a hearing upon the Motion and has examined the parties’ papers, which include the Motion, a memorandum of law, affidavits and affirmations. For the reasons set forth below, the Court holds that Plaintiffs have stated a claim for relief and are entitled to a trial; therefore, Wise’s Motion is DENIED.

RELEVANT FACTS

On or about July 29, 1985, Debtor and his wife, Wise herein, transferred their interest in the real property located at 4 Yardley Drive, Dix Hills, New York (“Real Property”) to the Plaintiffs for a purported consideration of $150,000. On January 10, 1986, the Debtor filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy relief under chapter 7 of title 11, United States Code (“Bankruptcy Code”). Soon afterwards, the Trustee of Debtor’s estate, Ronald Lipshie, commenced an adversary proceeding (“Prior Adversary Proceeding”) to have the July, 1985 transfer of the Real Property avoided as fraudulent under the Bankruptcy Code. The defendants in the Prior Adversary Proceeding were Debt- or, his wife Wise and the transferees of the Real Property (the Plaintiffs in the instant adversary proceeding).

The Prior Adversary Proceeding concluded with the Court granting the Trustee’s motion for summary judgment against the within Plaintiffs. The Trustee also took a default judgment against Debtor and his wife Wise. The Court’s ruling was that the transfer by Debtor and Wise of the Real Property to the Plaintiffs constituted an avoidable fraudulent transfer because (i) Debtor received less than a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the Real Property, and (ii) Debtor became insolvent as a result of the transfer.2 The Court’s ruling within the Prior Adversary Proceeding fell squarely within Bankruptcy Code section 548(a)(2)(A), which covers avoidance of fraudulent transfers.3 The Plaintiffs subsequently appealed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which affirmed this Court’s ruling, 119 B.R. 392.

In January of 1993, the Trustee sold the Real Property for $265,000. In August of the same year, the Plaintiffs commenced the within adversary proceeding in which they request that the Court establish a lien on the [78]*78proceeds of this sale. Plaintiffs assert that such lien should be equivalent to the amount they conveyed to Debtor and Wise as a down payment, or deposit, toward the purchase price for, plus Plaintiffs’ actual expenses in maintaining and improving, the Real Property-

LEGAL DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs assert they are entitled to the relief demanded by virtue of sections 548(c) and 550(d)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code. These sections provide redress to a good faith transferee who is defeated in a fraudulent transfer action. Where the transfer is avoided pursuant to section 548 because, as in the instant case, the debtor received less than a reasonably equivalent value in return for the property:

a transferee ... of such a transfer ... that takes for value and in good faith has a hen on or may retain any interest transferred ... to the extent that such transferee ... gave value to the debtor in exchange for. such transfer....

11 U.S.C. § 548(c).

Section 550 provides relief to good faith transferees where property is taken from them pursuant to section 548 as well as other sections of the Code; in pertinent part, the section provides:

(d)(1) A good faith transferee from whom the trustee may recover under [various Bankruptcy Code Sections] has a lien on the property recovered to secure the lesser of—
(A) the cost, to such transferee, of any improvement made after the transfer, less the amount of any profit realized by or accruing to such transferee from such property; and
(B) any increase in the value of such property as a result of such improvement, of the property transferred.
(2) In this subsection, “improvement” includes—
(A) physical additions or changes to the property transferred;
(B) repairs to such property;
(C) payment of any tax on such property;
(D) payment of any debt secured by a lien on such property that is superi- or or equal to the rights of the trustee; and
(E) preservation of such property.

Id. § 550(d).

As stated, Defendant Wise seeks an order dismissing the complaint Plaintiffs bring under sections 548(c) and 550(d). Wise contends that Plaintiffs fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Wise argues that the documents submitted in the Prior Adversary Proceeding provide facts which are sufficient to permit the Court to find, as a matter of law, that the Plaintiffs were not good faith transferees. Since Plaintiffs’ good faith is a requisite to their being entitled to relief pursuant to both sections 548(c) and 550(d), Wise argues that Plaintiffs have no claim for relief.

A. Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim for Relief

The requirements that the moving party must meet to prevail on a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) are well settled. A motion to dismiss should not be granted “unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his [or her] claim which would entitle him [or her] to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); e.g., Johnsrud v. Carter, 620 F.2d 29, 32 (1980) (Citing Conley); Thomas W. Garland v. City of St. Louis, 596 F.2d 784, 787 (8th Cir.) (citing Jackson Sawmill Co. v. United States, 580 F.2d 302, 306 (8th Cir.1978)), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 899, 100 S.Ct. 208, 62 L.Ed.2d 135 (1979). Whether Plaintiffs took the Real Property in good faith is indisputably a factual question. All factual questions must be resolved in favor of the parties opposing the Rule 12(b)(6) motion. See, e.g., Kossick v. United Fruit Co., 365 U.S. 731, 732, 81 S.Ct. 886, 888-89, 6 L.Ed.2d 56 (1961); Guessefeldt v. McGrath, 342 U.S. 308, 310, 72 S.Ct.

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