Lafarge North America, Inc. v. Poffenberger (In re Poffenberger)

471 B.R. 807
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maryland
DecidedMarch 30, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 09-35124-WIL; Adversary No. 10-00527
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 471 B.R. 807 (Lafarge North America, Inc. v. Poffenberger (In re Poffenberger)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lafarge North America, Inc. v. Poffenberger (In re Poffenberger), 471 B.R. 807 (Md. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WENDELIN I. LIPP, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the Court is the “Amended Complaint by Lafarge North America, Inc. to Determine Dischargeability of Debt (11 U.S.C. § 528(a)) and to Object to Debtor’s Discharge (11 U.S.C. § 727(a))” (the “Amended Complaint”) and the “Debtor’s Supplemental Answer and Affirmative Defenses to All Counts of Plaintiffs Complaint” (the “Answer”). The Court held a two-day trial on May 10-11, 2011, at the conclusion of which the parties were permitted to file post-trial briefs. The Court has considered the pleadings filed by the parties, the oral arguments made by counsel, the testimony given at trial, and the exhibits admitted into evidence. For the following reasons, the Court finds in favor of the Plaintiff on Count II of the Amended Complaint and the Debtor shall be denied a discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(7).

I. Findings of Fact

The following facts were either stipulated to by the parties or established at trial, and are relevant to the Court’s determination.1 Plaintiff, Lafarge North America, Inc., (“Plaintiff’ or “Lafarge”) is a Maryland Corporation that maintains its principal places of business in Herndon, Virginia, and Southfield, Michigan. Defendant, William Everett Poffenberger (“Debtor”, “Defendant” or “Poffenberger”) is a resident of Maryland. Poffenberger was the stockholder (with his wife, as tenants by the entirety), officer and director of Everett V. Moser, Inc. (“Moser”), a ready-mix concrete producer.2 Moser can be described as a family business. Moser was started by the Debtor’s grandfather and was eventually inherited by the Debt- or and his siblings.3 The Debtor’s son, Dwayne Poffenberger, worked for Moser performing maintenance and dispatch duties and driving a truck from the time he was a teenager until it ceased operating. The Debtor’s daughter, Billi Jo Horseman, worked for Moser from 1996 until it ceased operating. While working for Moser, Ms. Horseman handled Moser’s accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and answered Moser’s telephones.

In September, 2000, Moser sought and obtained credit from Lafarge so that it could make open-account purchases of cement from Lafarge. On or about September 8, 2000, Poffenberger and Moser signed and submitted to Lafarge a written Credit Application and Agreement (the “Application”). Pursuant to the Application, Poffenberger personally guaranteed payment of the amounts due to Lafarge by Moser. After establishing credit with La-farge, and for years thereafter, Moser purchased cement from Lafarge and, in due course, made payment therefore. Neither [812]*812Moser nor the Debtor made any payment to Lafarge for any cement purchased by Moser from and after early June, 2008.

In July, 2009, Lafarge filed suit in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Maryland against Moser and the Debtor (the “State Court Action”). In the State Court Action, the Debtor and Moser denied the allegations of Lafarge’s complaint concerning the amounts due Lafarge and their obligations to pay those amounts. In the State Court Action, Lafarge served document discovery requests to Poffenberger and Moser by mail on September 16, 2009. At some point in October, 2009, Poffenber-ger concluded that Moser could no longer continue in business and he informed his children that he was going to close Moser and file for bankruptcy protection. Also in October, 2009, Poffenberger retained his bankruptcy counsel, Craig Palik, Esq. On October 19, 2009, Poffenberger and Moser served written responses to the document discovery requests served by Lafarge on September 16, 2009. On October 30, 2009, Moser first produced documents to La-farge. Moser’s accounts payable ledger pertaining to Lafarge, a copy of which had been requested by Lafarge on September 16, 2009, was not produced to Lafarge until November 16, 2009. The Debtor testified that between the end of October, 2009, and the beginning of November, 2009, the Comptroller of Maryland placed a lien on Moser’s business bank accounts. The Debtor further testified that approximately two weeks later, the Comptroller of Maryland placed a lien on the Debtor’s personal bank account.

On or around November 4, 2009, the Debtor, in contemplation of a sale of Mos-er’s concrete mixing vehicles, obtained an appraisal of those vehicles. On November 18, 2009, the documents for the formation of Bolivar Ready Mix, LLC (“Bolivar”) were signed. Like, Moser, Bolivar is a ready-mix concrete business. Bolivar is owned by the Debtor’s children, Dwayne Poffenberger and Billi Jo Horseman. On November 23, 2009, Bolivar filed its Articles of Organization. On November 25, 2009, Lafarge filed a motion for summary judgment in the State Court Action. On December 6, 2009, Moser ceased operations. On December 7, 2009, Bolivar deposited a check in the amount of $2,000.00 into its operating account. The check was from Compass, a former customer of Mos-er’s, and was a prepayment for materials purchased by Compass from Bolivar. On December 8, 2009, Moser purchased materials from Lafarge despite having ceased operations two days earlier. Also on December 8, 2009, Bolivar commenced operations out of the same plant from which Moser had operated, Bolivar made its first delivery to Compass, the same customer who had pre-paid Bolivar, and Bolivar hired the Debtor as a driver. On December 10, 2009, a bill of sale was executed reflecting the sale of all of Moser’s concrete mixing vehicles to Bolivar. Without its vehicles, Moser no longer had the ability to produce or deliver concrete. Moser Farms, Inc. (owned by Poffenberger and his wife as tenants by the entirety) provided the financing to Bolivar that enabled Bolivar to acquire the Moser vehicles. The Debtor testified that Moser Farms, Inc. acquired the funds it loaned to Bolivar from the Debtor and his wife, who had borrowed the money from John and Nancy Hendricks (the “Hendricks Loan”). The Hendricks Loan was neither listed on the Debtor’s original bankruptcy schedules, nor on the Debtor’s amended bankruptcy schedules, as either an obligation of the Debtor’s or as a debt owed to the Debtor by Moser Farms, Inc. On December 10, [813]*8132009, Moser and Poffenberger’s counsel in the State Court Action (Leslie Powell, Esq.) moved to withdraw from her representation. On December 23, 2009, Poffen-berger filed his Chapter 7 Voluntary Petition (the “Petition Date”).

Prior to cessation of its business operations, Moser had operated on (and was obligated to pay rent for its use of) real property owned by an entity known as Moser, LLC, and utilized (and was obligated to pay rent for its use of) a concrete batching plant also owned by Moser, LLC. Moser, LLC was and still is owned by Poffenberger and his wife as tenants by the entirety. Beginning in December, 2009, and continuing since then, Bolivar has operated its ready-mix concrete business at the same location from which Mos-er had operated. Bolivar has also been utilizing the same trucks (which were purchased by Bolivar) and concrete batching plant (leased now by Bolivar) as was used by Moser in the operation of its business. Bolivar pays or is obligated to pay Moser, LLC for the use of the real property and concrete plant used by Bolivar.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
471 B.R. 807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lafarge-north-america-inc-v-poffenberger-in-re-poffenberger-mdb-2012.