Moore Properties of Person County, LLC

CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 28, 2020
Docket20-80081
StatusUnknown

This text of Moore Properties of Person County, LLC (Moore Properties of Person County, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore Properties of Person County, LLC, (N.C. 2020).

Opinion

ELEN [= YS SIGNED this 28th day of February, 2020. 4 LL Qe LS

BRNJAMIN A. KAHN UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA DURHAM DIVISION In re: ) ) Moore Properties of Person ) Case No. 20-80081 County, LLC, } ) Chapter 11 Debtor. MEMORANDUM ORDER OVERRULING OBJECTION OF BANKRUPTCY ADMINISTRATOR TO DEBTOR’S SMALL BUSINESS DESIGNATION UNDER RULE 1020 This case came before the Court for hearing on February 25, 2020, on the Objection of Bankruptcy Administrator to Debtor’s Designation as Small Business Debtor (the “Objection”), ECF No. 14. At the hearing, James White appeared on behalf of Moore Properties of Person County, LLC (“Debtor”), and William P. Miller appeared as the Bankruptcy Administrator (“BA”).! ECF No. 31. For the reasons set forth herein, the Court will overrule the Objection.

1 After the hearing, the BA filed a Notice of Appointment of Subchapter V Trustee, ECF No. 30, appointing Richard M. Hutson, II as the Subchapter V Trustee in this case. Mr. Hutson attended the hearing on February 25, 2020, telephonically.

Jurisdiction The Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334. Under 28 U.S.C. § 157(a), the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has referred this case and this proceeding to this Court

by its Local Rule 83.11. This is a statutorily core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(1), (b)(2)(A), and (b)(2)(O). The Court has constitutional authority to enter this Order. Findings of Fact On February 10, 2020, Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11. Debtor owns three separate parcels of real property, which it leases to third parties who engage in farming operations.2 ECF No. 1 at 9. Debtor has no business operations outside of its leasing of the real properties and matters incidental thereto.3 ECF Nos. 27 and 31. The petition was precipitated by two pending foreclosure actions, one against each of Debtor’s properties. ECF No. 1 at

23, Official Form 207 Statement of Financial Affairs for Non-

2 At the Hearing, the BA and Debtor’s counsel stated that at least two of the parcels are not continuous, and secure separate obligations owed by Debtor to Carolina Farm Credit, ACA. 3 In the petition, Debtor described its business under the North American Industry Classification System four digit code, 5311, which is classified as “Lessors of Real Estate.” According to the schedules, Debtor owns three plots of land valued at a total of $292,394, but owns no other assets, such as machinery, inventory, or investments, to indicate any other operations aside from real estate. Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy. In its statement filed with the petition under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1020(a), Debtor stated that it is a small business debtor as defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(51D).4 Local Rule 3003-1(a) provides that proofs of claims for non- governmental units in a chapter 11 case shall be filed within 90

days of the first date set for the meeting of creditors under 11 U.S.C. § 341(a). On February 11, 2020, the Clerk of Court issued a notice (the “Claims Notice”) consistent with this rule, directing non-governmental creditors to file proofs of claims on or before June 11, 2020. ECF No. 10. The Bankruptcy Noticing Center served the Claims Notice on all creditors on February 13, 2020. ECF No. 16.5 On February 13, 2020, the BA objected under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1020(b) and 11 U.S.C. § 101(51D) to Debtor’s designation of itself as a small business debtor on its petition. ECF No. 14. In the Objection, the BA asserted that Debtor failed to meet the

4 The Bankruptcy Administrator filed a memo on the docket stating that no unsecured creditors committee would be formed due to the insufficient number of creditors who had filed claims. ECF No. 9. Debtor has remained a debtor in possession throughout the case. 5 The proof of claim deadline in cases under subchapter V of chapter 11 is different. Local Rule 3003-1(b) provides, “except as otherwise specified by order of the court,” the bar date for non-governmental proofs of claim in a case under subchapter V case is 70 days after the order for relief. Because the Clerk has issued a notice in this case setting the proof of claim deadline consistent with Local Rule 3003-1(a), the Court finds that there is cause to issue an order setting the deadline as noticed, and will enter a separate order to that effect. definition of a small business debtor on the petition date because it primarily owned and managed real property. On August 23, 2019, the President signed the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (the “SBRA” or the “Act”), thereby effectuating its enactment. Pub. L. No. 116-54, 133 Stat. 1079

(2019). Section 5 of the SBRA provides in full: “This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.” § 5, 133 Stat. 1079, 1087. Therefore, the SBRA became effective on February 19, 2020. In its central purpose, the SBRA added a new subchapter V to chapter 11 as an elective chapter for small business debtors for whom the existing provisions of chapter 11 were not providing effective relief.6 Five days after the SBRA became effective, Debtor filed an amended petition (the “Amended Petition”) under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1009(a), ECF No. 24, amending its statement under Fed. R. of Bankr. P. 1020(a), still designating itself as a small business, but

electing to proceed under the newly effective subchapter V of chapter 11. Id. at 2. At the hearing on February 25, 2020, no

6 See Oversight of Bankruptcy Law and Legislative Proposals: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Antitrust, Commercial, & Admin. Law of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 116th Cong. (2019) (Revised Testimony of A. Thomas Small on Behalf of the National Bankruptcy Conference in support of H.R. 3311); American Bankruptcy Institute Commission To Study the Reform Of Chapter 11, 2012-2014 Final Report And Recommendations 275–78 (2014); Could Bankruptcy Reform Help Preserve Small Business Jobs: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Admin. Oversight and the Courts of the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 108th Cong. (2010) (Testimony of A. Thomas Small on behalf of the National Bankruptcy Conference). party objected to Debtor’s amended election to proceed under subchapter V, and according to the BA, Debtor’s only secured creditor, Carolina Farm Credit, does not object either to Debtor’s designation as a small business or to Debtor’s election to proceed under subchapter V. With the exception of the Claims Notice, no

procedural or substantive rights have vested in this nascent case in a manner that will prejudice any party in interest, and no creditor will be prejudiced by the application of the provisions of the SBRA to this case or by the change in Debtor’s statement electing to proceed under subchapter V.

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