Monzack v. A.D.B. Investors (In re Max Sugarman Funeral Home, Inc.)

149 B.R. 274, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 2074
District Court, D. Rhode Island·Decided December 30, 1992·No. Bankruptcy Nos. 82-00568, 82-00569; Adv. No. 82-0405·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER ON FIRST CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS’ REMAND

ARTHUR N. VOTOLATO, Bankruptcy Judge.

I. TRAVEL AND BACKGROUND

The travel of this aging adversary proceeding is lengthy and circuitous. On October 21, 1988, we issued our initial decision subordinating the “claim”1 of ADB [276] Investors (“ADB”) to the claims of debenture holders who invested or renewed after 1977. On appeal, that decision was remanded by the District Court for a determination of issues of preferential transfer and fraudulent conveyance raised by the Trustee but not previously decided. Accordingly, on May 26, 1989 we issued our second opinion, 100 B.R. 629, ruling that the 1982 transfers constituted both a preferential transfer and a fraudulent conveyance. On appeal again, the District Court reversed our finding of a preferential transfer, but affirmed our fraudulent conveyance ruling. In addition, the District Court affirmed our order to equitably subordinate the “claim” of ADB to the claims of post-1977 debenture holders. ADB appealed the District Court decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed our finding of fraudulent conveyance, but modified this ruling (and that of the District Court) to recognize the fraudulent conveyance as dating back to the 1981 transfers. The Court of Appeals went one step further, holding, pursuant to Bankruptcy Code § 550(b)(1), that the transferred assets were recoverable from ADB as the transferee of fraudulently conveyed property, which was taken neither in good faith, nor “without knowledge of the voida-bility of the transfer[s].” See Max Sugarman Funeral Home, Inc. v. A.D.B. Investors, 926 F.2d 1248, 1256, 1257 (1st Cir. 1991).

As the First Circuit found no evidence that ADB had ever filed a proof of claim in the bankruptcy case, it ruled that the equitable subordination issue was not properly before it, and remanded the matter to this Court to permit ADB to file such a claim. This Court was also instructed to consider again2 whether to apply the doctrine of equitable subordination to any such claim filed by ADB and deemed allowed.

On October 4, 1991, ADB accepted the Court of Appeals’ invitation and filed its Proof of Claim in the amount of $537,500, asserting it to be secured by (1) a mortgage on all the funeral home real estate; (2) a duly perfected security interest in all the personal property used in the funeral home operation; and (3) a pledge of all the debt- or’s3 stock. On March 19, 1992, the Trustee filed his objection to ADB’s claim on a number of grounds, including that the circumstances under which such security was obtained subjects it to subordination, as well as invalidation under §§ 547 and 548 of the Bankruptcy Code.

After considering and denying ADB’s motion to reopen the proceeding to present evidence of nonreliance by the debenture holders, and granting the parties an opportunity to submit further memoranda in light of the present posture of the litigation, the matter is now ripe for (^determination by this Court. Accordingly, our decision herein is based upon the entire record in these consolidated cases and in this adversary proceeding, including the original findings of this Court as stated in the decisions of October 21, 1988, and May 26, 1989; the District Court decision of October 4, 1989; the First Circuit Court of Appeals opinion dated February 28, 1991; [277] the October 4,1991 Proof of Claim of ADB; and the Trustee’s Objection thereto.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Allowance/Disallowance of the Claim

Our first task is to determine whether ADB’s claim should be allowed or disallowed in these consolidated bankruptcy cases. The parties chose not to present oral argument on this issue, so we will refer to the prior and present record to resolve this dispute. The Trustee’s written submission states five reasons in support of his objection to allowance of the claim under 11 U.S.C. § 502. However, the Trustee fails to articulate which provision^) of § 502 he relies upon. Subsection (a) of § 502 states in pertinent part:

(a) A claim or interest, proof of which is filed under section 501 of this title, is deemed allowed, unless a party in interest ... objects.

11 U.S.C. § 502(a) (emphasis added).

11 U.S.C. § 502(b) provides that:
Except as provided in subsection (e)(2), (f), (g), (h) and (i) of this section, if such objection to a claim is made, the court, after notice and a hearing, shall determine the amount of such claim in lawful currency of the United States as of the date of the filing of the petition, and shall allow such claim in such amount....

11 U.S.C. § 502(b).

Our review of the numbered paragraphs coming after this subsection do not reveal any provision in support of the Trustee’s objection. Of the five grounds presented by the Trustee, only three seem to address the merits of the allowance of the claim. These are: (1) that “[t]he Debtor is not indebted to the Claimant;” (2) that “[t]he claimant collected rents on the property of the Trustee and has not accounted for the same in its Proof of Claim and therefore the claimant has failed to show the proper amount due as is required;” and (3) that “[t]he Proof of Claim was not timely filed.”

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Monzack v. A.D.B. Investors (In re Max Sugarman Funeral Home, Inc.), 149 B.R. 274, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 2074 (D.R.I. 1992).

149 B.R. 274 (Monzack v. A.D.B. Investors (In re Max Sugarman Funeral Home, Inc.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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