Levin v. Ethan Allen, Inc.

823 So. 2d 132, 2002 WL 561378
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 17, 2002
Docket4D00-3942
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 823 So. 2d 132 (Levin v. Ethan Allen, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Levin v. Ethan Allen, Inc., 823 So. 2d 132, 2002 WL 561378 (Fla. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

823 So.2d 132 (2002)

George G. LEVIN, Gayla Sue Levin, individually, Georgetown Manor, Inc., and Furniture Industries of Florida, Inc., corporations, Appellants,
v.
ETHAN ALLEN, INC., Appellee.

No. 4D00-3942.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

April 17, 2002.
Rehearing Denied August 26, 2002.

*133 Woodrow M. Melvin, Jr. of Woodrow "Mac" Melvin, Jr., P.A., Miami, for appellants.

Jeffrey P. Shapiro of Jeffrey P. Shapiro, P.A., Miami, for appellee.

KLEIN, J.

This appeal and cross-appeal are from a judgment finding that one transaction was a fraudulent transfer and that another was not. We affirm the finding that there was a fraudulent transfer and reverse on the cross-appeal.

This case arises out of a prior business relationship between Ethan Allen, the furniture manufacturer, and the Levins, who operated several Ethan Allen furniture stores through Georgetown Manor, Inc. In January 1985, following a dispute between Georgetown and Ethan Allen, Georgetown informed Ethan Allen that it was converting its five Ethan Allen stores to Thomasville Furniture stores. Ethan Allen then placed an ad in several South Florida newspapers announcing the split, stating that Ethan Allen had discontinued distributing furniture to Georgetown because Georgetown was behind on its debts to Ethan Allen, and asking customers with unfilled orders for Ethan Allen furniture to contact new Ethan Allen stores.

Georgetown sued Ethan Allen in federal court for tortious interference with Georgetown's advantageous business relationships. One of the claims was for lost future business from customers who had shopped at Georgetown stores in the past and might shop there again in the future. Ethan Allen filed a counterclaim against Georgetown for furniture which it had delivered, but for which it had not been paid.

The case went to trial, and a jury awarded Georgetown $285,000 for lost profits on existing contracts and $7,380,000 for the loss of future business which included goodwill. The jury also awarded approximately $2,500,000 to Ethan Allen on its counterclaim. Ethan Allen appealed the judgment against it to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, but Georgetown did not appeal the judgment against it on the counterclaim. The judgments were stayed during the appeal.

The future damage award for tortious interference was not supported by precedent in Florida, which prompted the eleventh circuit to certify the question to the Florida Supreme Court. Georgetown Manor, Inc. v. Ethan Allen, Inc., 991 F.2d 1533 (11th Cir.1993). The Florida Supreme Court held that the damages were not recoverable under the theory of tortious interference. Ethan Allen, Inc. v. Georgetown Manor, Inc., 647 So.2d 812 *134 (Fla.1994). The eleventh circuit then reversed the judgment against Ethan Allen. Georgetown Manor, Inc. v. Ethan Allen, Inc., 47 F.3d 1099 (11th Cir.1995). This left Ethan Allen with a judgment against Georgetown, which had no assets.

When the judgments were entered in the federal district court, in 1992, Georgetown owned two pieces of real estate, one in Dania and the other in Pompano Beach. During the appeal process, the Levins, who owned Georgetown, gained ownership of these properties, leaving Georgetown judgment proof. Ethan Allen filed this case asserting that Georgetown had fraudulently transferred the two properties to the Levins.

In 1993 Georgetown conveyed the Dania property to another company of the Levins, and a mortgage was placed on the Dania property in favor of the Levins. The Levins ultimately received $425,000 when the Dania property was sold, and Georgetown received nothing. The trial court found that this was a fraudulent transfer under Chapter 726, Florida Statutes.

The Levins argue that Georgetown was the creditor, not Ethan Allen. We disagree. A creditor is a person who has a claim, and a claim is very liberally defined as "a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment ... contingent... unmatured, disputed ... or unsecured." § 726.102(3) and (4). Ethan Allen, by virtue of the judgment in its favor, met the statutory definition of creditor and could thus invoke Chapter 726.

The Levins also contend that at the time of the transfer Georgetown, having the larger judgment in its favor, was as a matter of law not insolvent as defined in section 726.103. This transfer could not, accordingly, have been fraudulent.

Section 726.103, Fla. Stat. (1993), however, defines insolvency as follows:

(1) A debtor is insolvent if the sum of the debtor's debts is greater than all of the debtor's assets at a fair valuation.
(2) A debtor who is generally not paying his debts as they become due is presumed to be insolvent.

What the Levins and the dissent overlook in arguing that Georgetown could not have been insolvent is that Georgetown was presumed insolvent under section 726.103(2), quoted above. The evidence was undisputed that Georgetown was not making the payments on the first mortgage on the Pompano property and had not paid the taxes on that property for several years at the time of the transfer. We therefore disagree that the judgment alone is sufficient to establish that they were not insolvent. It was for the trial court, as the finder-of-fact, to determine whether the judgment in favor of Georgetown, which was subject to reversal, was an asset having a sufficient value to rebut the statutory presumption, and the court found in favor of Ethan Allen.

A judgment on appeal may be presumed correct, but it does not follow that the judgment is, as the Levins argue, an asset worth the face amount. The significance of a pending appeal is recognized in numerous cases which hold that a judgment on appeal is recognized in numerous cases which hold that a judgment on appeal is not final until the appellate process is complete. GEICO Financial Services, Inc. v. Kramer, 575 So.2d 1345 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), and cases cited. The judgment in favor of Georgetown, based on a theory that past customers might purchase furniture in the future, was unsupported by any precedent. A unanimous Florida Supreme Court concluded that it was "clear that Georgetown's relationship with its past *135 customers was not one upon which a claim for tortious interference with a business relationship could be based." Ethan Allen, 647 So.2d at 815.

The Levins, who had the burden of rebutting the statutory presumption of insolvency, put on no evidence as to the value of the judgment while it was on appeal. They did attempt to elicit testimony about settlement offers from Georgetown during the appeal; however, the trial court excluded that evidence, and the Levins did not proffer the substance of the settlement offers.[1]

We cannot agree with the dissent that we should ignore the lack of a proffer because the appellee failed to assert it. Section 59.041, Florida Statutes (2002), our harmless error statute, provides that no judgment shall be reversed unless "after an examination of the entire case it shall appear that the error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice." We routinely ascertain, on our own, whether excluded evidence has been proffered because, if it has not, we cannot determine if there has been a miscarriage of justice.

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Bluebook (online)
823 So. 2d 132, 2002 WL 561378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/levin-v-ethan-allen-inc-fladistctapp-2002.