Langenkamp v. Moore (In Re Republic Financial Corp.)

75 B.R. 840, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 1421
United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Oklahoma·Decided July 6, 1987·No. 19-10323·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

GLEN E. CLARK, Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter came on for trial before the Court on June 1, 1987. The plaintiff was represented by Sam G. Bratton, II, John J. Carwile, and Richard H. Foster, of Doer-ner, Stuart, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson, Tulsa, Oklahoma; the defendants were represented by William E. Rutledge and Tony W. Haynie, of Conner & Winters, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Hal F. Morris, of Chapel, Wilkinson, Riggs, Abney & Henson, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trial was concluded on June 5, 1987, at which time the Court took this matter under advisement.

The Court, now having duly considered the evidence presented to it, together with the memoranda and arguments of counsel, makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff is the successor trustee of the estate of Republic Financial Corporation (“RFC”), the debtor in the above-captioned bankruptcy proceeding.

2. This chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding was commenced on September 24,1984.

3. Jack D. Jones was appointed trustee in the case on October 31, 1984.

4. R. Dobie Langenkamp was appointed successor trustee in the case on May 9, 1986, effective May 16, 1986.

5. RFC was an uninsured financial institution, principally engaged in the business of issuing evidence of debt and the making of commercial and personal loans, both secured and unsecured.

6. On or about April 4, 1984, in exchange for cash or other valuable consideration from the defendants worth $91,-000.00, RFC issued to the defendants that certain thrift certificate number 1401423, dated April 4, 1984, in the principal amount of $91,000.00.

7. During the 90-day period immediately preceding the date of the filing of the bankruptcy petition herein, RFC made the following transfers of its property to or for the benefit of the defendants (hereinafter “the transfers”), to-wit:

*842 DATE AMOUNT
July 10, 1984 $91,000.00
August 29, 1984 2,187.17
September 18, 1984 2,027.11

8. The transfers of $2,187.17 and $2,027.11 on August 29 and September 18, 1984, respectively, were wire transfers to Republic Trust & Savings Company, an affiliate of RPC. The transfer on July 10, 1984 was made through RFC check number 45278, in the amount of $91,000.00, which the defendants received and defendant Kenneth D. Moore endorsed.

9. The principal asset of RFC was its loan portfolio.

10. The liabilities of RFC consisted primarily of its obligations to purchasers of its thrift certificates and passbook thrift certificates.

11. RFC was primarily a collateral lender.

12. Prior to September 24, 1984, RFC routinely engaged in unsafe and unsound lending practices. These practices included:

(a) RFC did not properly evaluate loan requests in terms of credit history, character, capacity to repay, collateral value, or adequacy of capital or net worth;
(b) RFC did not evaluate loan requests with respect to the effects of worsening economic conditions;
(c) RFC and its borrowers did not agree upon a loan repayment program at the time of loan origination;
(d) RFC made loans that did not provide for periodic payments;
(e) RFC made and reviewed loans without adequate collateral appraisals or title searches;
(f) RFC deferred and extended loans without full payment of interest and reduction of principal;
(g) RFC made an inordinate number of loans to officers and directors, their relatives and other corporations or entities controlled by them, wholly without adequate security for the loans or other reasonable prospects for repayment;
(h) RFC failed to recognize or establish adequate loan loss reserves against nonperforming or poor quality loans;
(i) RFC intentionally misrepresented the quality or character of nonperforming or low quality loans and took affirmative actions to disguise the true quality of such loans.

13. On June 29, 1984, through a corporate reorganization referred to as “the divestiture,” ownership of RFC was transferred from its parent corporation, Republic Bancorporation, Inc. (“Old RBI”) to a newly formed parent corporation, also known as Republic-bancorporation, Inc. (“New RBI”). Prior to the divestiture, Old RBI was indebted to RFC in the amount of $1.5 million. In the divestiture transaction, this debt was transferred to New RBI. As a result of the divestiture, RFC encountered significant and devastating liquidity problems, and the divestiture seriously impaired RFC’s ability to raise capital.

14. The general ledger balance sheets for RFC show a $1.5 million to either Old RBI or New RBI as an asset on every day from June 25, 1984 to September 24, 1984.

15. On the date of the transfers at issue herein and at all times during the 90-day period immediately preceding the filing of the bankruptcy petition New RBI was completely unable to repay the $1.5 million loan, and the fair value of this loan was zero.

16. The debtor’s schedules list property totaling $21,604,279.67 and debts of $25,-196,162.30, as of September 24, 1984, the date of the filing of RFC’s petition.

17. Harold J. Madigan, an independent loan portfolio expert, rendered an opinion that on June 25, 1984, 52 loans in RFC’s loan portfolio were overvalued in the amount of at least $11,914,917.00, and he further rendered an opinion that a write-down or reserve against these loans in this amount was appropriate. A write-down or reserve against these loans in the amount of the overvaluation would render RFC insolvent on June 25, 1984.

18. Touche, Ross & Co. was retained by the trustee to perform a comprehensive investigation and analysis of RFC’s affairs *843 and condition. Richard Spillers on behalf of Touche, Ross & Co. rendered an opinion that on June 25, 1984, RFC’s assets were overvalued in the amount of at least $8,001,000.00. Spillers further rendered an opinion that a write-down or reserve against the assets of RFC in the amount of the overvaluation would render RFC insolvent on June 25, 1984.

19. Harold J. Madigan, an independent loan portfolio expert, also rendered an opinion that on September 24, 1984, 30 loans in RFC’s loan portfolio were overvalued in the amount of at least $12,040,413.00, and he further rendered an opinion that a write-down or reserve against these loans in this amount was appropriate. A write-down or reserve against these loans in this amount would render RFC insolvent on September 24, 1984.

20. Touche, Ross & Co. reviewed the debtor’s financial statements for each of the 90 days next preceding the filing of the debtor’s petition and was of the opinion that RFC was insolvent on each such date.

21.

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Langenkamp v. Moore (In Re Republic Financial Corp.), 75 B.R. 840, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 1421 (Okla. 1987).

75 B.R. 840 (Langenkamp v. Moore (In Re Republic Financial Corp.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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