Leitch v. Marjorie M. Jelsema Ten Year Irrevocable Trust Dated January 2, 1982 (In re Square Real Estate, Inc.)

163 B.R. 108, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 25
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedJanuary 10, 1994
DocketBankruptcy No. HG 90-80909; Adv. Nos. 92-8442, 92-8443
StatusPublished

This text of 163 B.R. 108 (Leitch v. Marjorie M. Jelsema Ten Year Irrevocable Trust Dated January 2, 1982 (In re Square Real Estate, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leitch v. Marjorie M. Jelsema Ten Year Irrevocable Trust Dated January 2, 1982 (In re Square Real Estate, Inc.), 163 B.R. 108, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 25 (W.D. Mich. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

LAURENCE E. HOWARD, Chief Judge.

DOES THE ONE YEAR PREFERENCE PERIOD FOR A NON-INSIDER TRANSFEREE, WHEN THE BENEFIT RUNS TO AN INSIDER CREDITOR, APPLY TO THESE FACTS?

Facts.

The underlying facts are not disputed. On December 14, 1976 the “Melvin M. Jelsema Irrevocable Charitable Religious Trust” (Religious Trust) was established with Robert Steed (Steed) as one of its Trustees. At all relevant times, he was President of Debtor, Square Real Estate, Inc. The “Marjorie M. Jelsema Ten Year Irrevocable Trust Agreement” (Ten Year Trust) was entered into on January 2, 1982, and it also named Steed as one of its Trustees. Carl H. Smith (Smith) was a Co-Trustee on both of the trusts and worked at Square Real Estate Company.

On August 22, 1986 both Trusts entered into an “Agreement” with Square Real Estate, Inc. (Square) in which Square agreed to pay interest of 11.4% per annum for the funds it received. Steed signed the agreements on behalf of Square and Smith signed the agreements on behalf of the Trusts. The funds, $100,000 from the Religious Trust and $115,000 from the Ten Year Trust, could be used pursuant to the .Agreement in the Square investment group which consisted of various investment ventures. At the discretion of Square the investments could be transferred. The Trusts contend that additional monies were also taken from the Trusts for Square’s use.

In September of 1988 Steed was removed as Trustee of the Religious Trust and on October 1, 1988 Steed consented to his removal as Trustee for the Ten Year Trust. A demand was made upon Square for repayment of the principal and accrued interest to both Trusts, and Square paid to the Religious Trust $180,845.39 on June 26, 1989 and to the Ten Year Trust $243,628.09 on September 29, 1989. Square filed a chapter 11 on March 2, 1990 and voluntarily converted [110]*110to chapter 7 on September 7, 1990. In the Probate Court for Kent County, the Honorable Edward Skinner ordered on April 30, 1991 that, pursuant to a “Consent to Surcharge Judgment,” Steed and Co-Trustee Smith pay $30,000 each to the Trusts.

Procedural History.

The Plaintiff, the chapter 7 Trustee, filed complaints against the Trusts in an attempt to recover preferences from the Trusts as non-insider transferees in the extended one year preference period for insider creditors. The Plaintiff asserts that the payments made to the Trusts within one year of Square’s bankruptcy were preferences because Steed, an insider, was a creditor of Square for his contingent liability to the Trusts. The Defendants argue that the payments made were not preferences because only the 90 day preference period applies since insider Steed was not a creditor of Square for the debt to the Trusts. These adversary proceedings, which were consolidated in the pretrial orders, have come before the court on cross motions for summary judgment.

The Defendants submitted in support of their original brief accompanying their motion an affidavit of Jack Jelsema (successor Trustee of the Trusts); a copy of each Trust; a copy of a December 6, 1988, letter from Jack Jelsema and Donald Faber as Trustees of the Trusts to Steed as President of Square which called for repayment; and a copy of the Consent to Surcharge Judgment and Order entered by Kent County Probate Judge Edward Skinner. Square’s original brief in support of their motion contained a copy of the “Agreement” between Square and each of the Trusts; Plaintiffs Answers to Defendants’ Joint Interrogatories; each Defendant’s Answers to Plaintiffs Interrogatories; an August 18,1989, letter from Robert Brow-er of Miller, Johnson, Snell & Cummiskey to Thomas Schouten of Dunn, Schouten & Snoap and to William Azkoul, Sr. of Azkoul & Azkoul regarding settlement between Smith, Steed and the Trusts; the December 6,1988, letter to Steed from the Trustees; the Kent County Probate Court’s Order of Surcharge; and an Affidavit of Robert Molenbeek (accountant for the Debtor). The Plaintiffs Supplemental Brief did not refer to additional evidence, but the Defendants’ Supplemental Brief had an Affidavit of Marjorie Jelse-ma (a Settlor of the Trusts).

Law.

11 U.S.C. § 547(b) provides:

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the trustee may avoid any transfer of an interest of the debtor in property'—■
(1) to or for the benefit of a creditor;
(2) for or on account of an antecedent debt owed by the debtor before such transfer was made;
(3) made while the debtor was insolvent;
(4) made—
(A) on or within 90 days before the date of the filing of the petition; or
(B) between ninety days and one year before the date of the filing of the petition, if such creditor at the time of such transfer was an insider; and
(5) that enables such creditor to receive more than such creditor would receive if—
(A) the case were a case under chapter 7 of this title;
(B) the transfer had not been made; and
(C) such creditor received payment of such debt to the extent provided by the provisions of this title.

Various courts1 have looked at 11 U.S.C. § 547(b) in conjunction with 11 U.S.C. § 550(a)(1) which allows a trustee to recover from the initial transferee or the entity for whose benefit the transfer was made.

The Sixth Circuit held in Ray v. City Bank and Trust Co. (In re C-L Cartage Co., Inc.),

[?]*?899 F.2d 1490 (6th Cir.1990) that 11 U.S.C. § 560(a)(1), read together with sections 547(b)(1) and (b)(4)(B), allows a trustee in bankruptcy to recover avoidable payments from non-insiders made during the extended preference period when those payments benefited insider creditors or guarantors. The facts of that case differ from this case in that the insider actually obtained the loan personally and turned the money over to the corporate debtor for its use and to make payments on the loan. The circuit court concluded that the insider was either a creditor or guarantor of the debtor. The Sixth Circuit was relying on Levit v. Ingersoll Rand Fin. Corp. (In re V.N. Deprizio Constr. Co.), 874 F.2d 1186 (7th Cir.1989), the most renowned case on this subject. The Sixth Circuit’s intent to follow Deprizio was reaffirmed in Harrison v. Brent Towing Co., Inc. (In re H & S Transp. Co., Inc.), 939 F.2d 355 (6th Cir. 1991), a case in which there was no insider creditor.

The Deprizio court began by closely examining the terms used in 547(b), including “creditor” which is defined in 11 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
163 B.R. 108, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 25, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leitch-v-marjorie-m-jelsema-ten-year-irrevocable-trust-dated-january-2-miwd-1994.