Morin v. Galan (In re Lanzatella)

254 B.R. 84, 42 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1156, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 1208
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. New York
DecidedOctober 19, 2000
DocketBankruptcy No. 00-20865; Adversary No. 00-2141
StatusPublished

This text of 254 B.R. 84 (Morin v. Galan (In re Lanzatella)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morin v. Galan (In re Lanzatella), 254 B.R. 84, 42 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1156, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 1208 (N.Y. 2000).

Opinion

DECISION & ORDER

JOHN C. NINFO, II, Chief Judge.

BACKGROUND

On April 7, 1999, David Lanzatella (the “Debtor”) filed a petition initiating a Chapter 7 case. On the Schedules and Statements required to be filed by Section 521 and Rule 1007, the Debtor indicated that he: (1) was the owner of a 1997 Audi (the “Audi”), which had a value of $18,000.00 and was subject to a $15,000.00 lien in favor of Eduardo Galan (“Galan”); (2) had unsecured indebtedness in excess of $65,-375.00; and (3) was claiming the permissible $2,400.00 exemption in the Audi.

On June 8, 2000, the Debtor’s Trustee (the “Trustee”) commenced an Adversary Proceeding which requested that the Court determine that the lien Galan claimed on the Audi could be avoided pursuant to Section 544.1 The Trustee’s Com[86]*86plaint in the Adversary Proceeding alleged that: (1) on March 15, 2000, the Debtor borrowed $15,000.00 from Galan to purchase the Audi, at which time he executed a promissory note in favor of Galan (the “Galan Note”); (2) the Galan Note did not include a provision which granted Galan a security interest in the Audi or even mentioned it; (3) on March 15, 2000, the Debt- or signed a New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Notice of Lien, Form MV-900, (the “Notice of Lien”), which also did not include any provision specifically granting Galan a security interest in the Audi; (4) to further support his position that he had a lien on the Audi which had priority over the interest of the Trustee, Galan had provided the Trustee with a copy of a Certificate of Insurance, dated March 15, 2000 from Allstate Insurance Company, which indicated that the Debtor had obtained insurance on the Audi that named Galan as a lienholder/loss payee (the “Certificate of Insurance”); (5) neither the Galan Note, the Notice of Lien nor the Certificate of Insurance, when viewed individually or together, constituted the written security agreement signed by the Debtor, required by Section 9-203(l)(a) of the New York Uniform Commercial Code (the “UCC”)2, nor the written agreement which reserves or creates a security interest, required by Sections 2101(j) and (k) of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (the “Vehicle Law”)3; and (6) since a security interest was never properly reserved, granted or created in a writing signed by the Debtor, as required by the UCC and Vehicle Law, the Trustee, pursuant to Section 544, could avoid any lien Galan claimed on the Audi.

On August 16, 2000, after the Debtor had interposed an Answer to the Trustee’s Complaint in the Adversary Proceeding, the Trustee filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and a Memorandum of Law, in which he asserted that: (1) Galan’s Answer in the Adversary Proceeding did not raise a material issue of fact; (2) Section 9-203(l)(a) of the UCC required that for a security interest to be enforceable against a debtor or a third party, including a trustee in bankruptcy, the debtor must have signed a security agreement which describes the collateral; (3) Sections 2101(j) and (k) of the Vehicle Law required that in order to have a security interest, there must be a written agreement which reserves or creates such a security interest; (4) the documents which Galan had provid[87]*87ed to the Trustee to support his claim that he had a valid and superior lien on the Audi, when read individually or together, did not satisfy the requirement that there be a specific grant of a security interest by a debtor in writing; and (5) pursuant to Section 544, any lien Galan claimed on the Audi could be avoided for the benefit of the unsecured creditors of the Debtor’s estate.

On September 18, 2000, Galan filed a Response to the Motion for Summary Judgment and a Cross Motion for Summary Judgment (the “Cross Motion”). In the Response and Cross Motion, and at oral argument, the attorney for Galan asserted that: (1) in the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York, Rochester Division, former Bankruptcy Judge Edward D. Hayes had held in a non-motor vehicle case, In re Baker, 48 B.R. 932 (Bankr.W.D.N.Y.1985) (“Bafcer”), that a bare promissory note and a UCC-1 financing statement were not sufficient in and of themselves to constitute the security agreement signed by the debtor which contained a description of the collateral, as required by Section 9-203(1) of the UCC; (2) unlike a UCC-1 Financing Statement, however, the Notice of Lien signed by the Debtor: (a) was also signed by Galan, as the lienholder; and (b) in the blank which asked for the “Date of Security Agreement,” the parties had filled in the date March 15, 2000; (3) because the Notice of Lien was signed by both parties and made reference to the date of their security agreement, it evidenced the intent of the parties that Galan had been granted a security interest by the Debtor; (4) the Debtor’s intent to grant Galan a security interest was further evidenced by an August 24, 2000 affidavit (the “Post-Petition Affidavit”), sworn to by the Debt- or, which stated that he had intended the Galan Note to be a security agreement; (5) as stated by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in the Matter of Numeric Corp., 485 F.2d 1328 (1st Cir.1973) {“Numeric”), the requirement in the UCC that there be a security agreement signed by the debtor was to satisfy the Statute of Frauds and insure the adequate identification of the collateral; (6) the Court in Numeric held that, although a UCC-1 Financing Statement alone was not sufficient, a writing or writings, regardless of label, which adequately described the collateral, carried the signature of the debtor, and established that in fact a security interest was agreed upon, satisfied both the formal requirements of the statute and the policies behind it; (7) at least one state court had found that the application to place a creditor’s name as a lienholder on a certificate of title for a motor vehicle, since it: (a) was signed by the debtor; (b) named the lienholder; and (e) described the collateral, was sufficient to create a security interest under that state’s version of UCC Section 9-203(1), and, therefore, was enforceable against a debtor and third parties, See Kreiger v. Hartig, 11 Wash.App. 898, 527 P.2d 483 (1974); and (8) the Ga-lan Note, Notice of Lien and Certificate of Insurance, when read together constituted sufficient documentation to evidence the Debtor’s intent to grant Galan a security interest in the Audi, and, therefore, satisfied the requirements of the UCC that there be a written security agreement and the Vehicle Law that there be an interest in a vehicle reserved or created by a written agreement.

On September 14, 2000, the Trustee filed a Reply to Galan’s Response and Cross Motion, which alleged that: (1) the Notice of Lien is a simple administrative document which, because it requests that the parties set forth the date of their security agreement, cannot also serve as the security agreement it inquires about; (2) the Certificate of Insurance is not signed by the Debtor; and (3) the Galan Note does not describe the collateral or otherwise include language granting Galan a security interest in the Audi.

On the Hearing on the Motion for Summary Judgment and the Cross Motion, the Motion for Summary Judgment was grant[88]*88ed, the Cross Motion was denied and the Court indicated that it would issue a written Decision & Order.

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Related

Kreiger v. Hartig
527 P.2d 483 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1974)
Reiber v. Baker (In Re Baker)
48 B.R. 932 (W.D. New York, 1985)
In Re Modafferi
45 B.R. 370 (S.D. New York, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
254 B.R. 84, 42 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1156, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 1208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morin-v-galan-in-re-lanzatella-nywb-2000.