Lewis v. Maloon (In Re Lewis)

94 B.R. 789, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2180, 18 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 969, 1988 WL 139281
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedNovember 18, 1988
Docket19-10809
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 94 B.R. 789 (Lewis v. Maloon (In Re Lewis)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lewis v. Maloon (In Re Lewis), 94 B.R. 789, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2180, 18 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 969, 1988 WL 139281 (Mass. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

HAROLD LAVIEN, Bankruptcy Judge.

This twisted tale begins in 1987 when Mr. Burgess, an experienced real estate developer, found a piece of property on Pond Street in Attleboro, Massachusetts suitable for condominium development. Mr. Burgess approached Mr. Lewis, an experienced builder, with a deal, somewhat similar to other deals they had participated in. Burgess would buy the property and, in turn, sell it to Lewis for condominium development after Burgess had obtained town approval for 27 condominiums. The venality of both parties has turned these seemingly simple transactions — by privately incorporating a deal for Burgess to buy 14 units at a fixed price — into a tangled mess of knots which the Court, even now, can only partially unravel. Some of the snarls defy logic while some of the others, despite obscurant testimony, unfold because only one conclusion lends itself to an inescapable logical reasonableness.

The sale of the property on Pond Street, also known as Leedham Farms, from Mr. Burgess to Mr. Lewis was evidenced by three different signed purchase and sale agreements.

Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4 is the controlling purchase and sale agreement for the property in question. It is signed by the parties and was prepared for the express purpose of obtaining bank financing. The agreement called for a cash purchase price of the subject property of $609,500 on which the bank relied in granting a mortgage of $457,125 or 75% of value, as was its policy. An alleged $60,000 deposit and cash to be *791 paid by Lewis made up the balance of the purchase price. However, in fact, there was no deposit or any intention for Lewis to pay any balance. Of the $457,125, less $6,478.66 in legal and recording fees, Burgess paid $263,866.17 for the property he simultaneously sold to Lewis and pocketed $186,779.17. At this point, Burgess, for no investment, had made a profit of $186,-779.17 and Lewis had a parcel on which 27 condominiums could be built at what he considered a land cost of approximately $17,000 a lot all totally financed by the bank. The bank was also committed to a construction mortgage. Neither had any of their own money involved. The only purchase and sale agreement given to the bank made no mention, nor is there any indication that the bank was aware of the separate deal between Lewis and Burgess that appears in the other two purchase and sale agreements. The two other purchase and sale agreements, in somewhat ambiguous terms, Defendants Exhibits A and B, appear to complete the scheme. Neither of them were known to the bank and both of them provide that Burgess would get a right to buy at least 14 of the condominiums for $64,650 each which, at the time, was the amount necessary to get a partial release of the bank’s mortgage and was alleged to be the estimated cost of a unit. Since the units were selling for an average of $100,000 plus, this arrangement should have been mutually advantageous but Lewis was either too trusting or stupid, or both, and Burgess was too greedy. Together, they killed the goose that was laying the golden eggs. Reduced to its simplest terms, Burgess, instead of purchasing alternate units and contrary to their understanding or even the logic of the financial necessities for financing the project, made sure he not only got his 14 units first, thereby assuring that he would get his benefit first he also he took all of the additional deposits and other assets, while Lewis, who diverted some of the construction money for personal expenses, could not complete the project with what was left of the construction money and the inadequate amounts he was able to badger from Burgess and obtain from some of the final sales.

By use of a variety and imaginative legal theories, Lewis seeks to do today many of the things he should have done yesterday to prevent Burgess’ over reaching. Possibly the most creative was the filing of an involuntary proceeding for an imaginary partnership between himself and Burgess for which he even chooses a name, Leedham Farm Condominium Trust. The intent was to allow him to recover from Burgess on theories of breach of fiduciary obligations. The approach certainly has a basic appeal in that it would be the simplest way to provide, after the fact, equity. There was no partnership in fact or in either party’s contemplation although they certainly muddied the waters with a number of ambiguous incidents. There was no legal obligation to share losses or even any specific profits. There were no joint bank accounts or any joint bookkeeping. There was no sharing of the profit on the land purchase. Title was just in Lewis’ name and Burgess actually from the start was only concerned with himself. To the extent any third party may have been mislead, nothing in this opinion prevents any suit by that party in an appropriate court against Burgess, but an involuntary petition cannot be filed on the basis of a partnership by estoppel which is really the essence of Lewis’ argument. In re Kuntz, 33 F.2d 198 (M.D.Pa.1929); In re Ganaposki, 27 F.Supp. 41 (M.D.Pa.1939); In re Verses I, 15 B.R. 48, 51 (Bankr.W.D.Pa.1981). Counsel get A for ingenuity but, clearly, there was no partnership, real, or by estoppel, or such a joint venture, as would warrant this involuntary petition, and Burgess’ motion to dismiss must be allowed.

Lewis’ claims against Burgess are for the wrongfully withheld deposits, the receipts for alternate sale proceeds, and the obtaining of title to some of the units by fraud. Other claims are based on preference or fraudulent conveyance. These later two theories are also the basis of the attempts to invalidate the judicial lien of Gaston Snow, one of his former attorneys, *792 and McDonald’s mortgage by another former attorney.

The threshold issue on preference and fraudulent conveyance then is, was Lewis insolvent at the time of these challenged transactions or did he become insolvent as a result of such transfer or obligations or intend to incur, or believed that he would incur debts that would be beyond his ability to pay them as they matured.

To determine that issue as well as understand why this is one of those cases that goes beyond feeding an economic pig and calls for the curbing, if not the slaughtering, of a hog, an analysis of the sometimes convoluted facts is necessary. However, in order of the legal issues, the facts at this juncture will primarily be limited to the issue of insolvency.

The debtor seeks to establish that he was insolvent as of October 1, 1987 and then by projecting the results forward to May 18, 1988, the date of filing, establish insolvency for the entire period, all in contradiction of the schedules, which would appear to indicate solvency. During this period, October 1, 1987 through May 18, 1988, the debtor seeks to avoid various transactions as preferences and fraudulent conveyances.

The debtor has submitted an unverified balance sheet prepared by his accountant for the purposes of this proceeding reflecting his net worth as of October 1, 1987. The balance sheet claims the debtor had a negative net worth of $123,378 based on the debtor losing $209,978 in building the Leedham Farm project. Little weight can be given this statement. The balance sheet as of October 1,1987 was prepared without any reference to documentation or verification by the accountant and were based solely on what he was told by Lewis, a less than reliable source.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
94 B.R. 789, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2180, 18 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 969, 1988 WL 139281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-maloon-in-re-lewis-mab-1988.