Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cox & Schepp, Inc. v. Palmer Electric Co. (In re Cox & Schepp, Inc.)

523 B.R. 511, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 5765
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedDecember 8, 2014
DocketBankruptcy No. 12-30019; Adversary No. 14-03023
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 523 B.R. 511 (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cox & Schepp, Inc. v. Palmer Electric Co. (In re Cox & Schepp, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cox & Schepp, Inc. v. Palmer Electric Co. (In re Cox & Schepp, Inc.), 523 B.R. 511, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 5765 (N.C. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING IN PART AND GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

J. CRAIG WHITLEY, Bankruptcy Judge.

This action to avoid and recover two payments as preferences under 11 U.S.C. § 547 and § 550 is currently before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment by plaintiff, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cox & Schepp, Inc. (the Committee), and defendant, Palmer Electric Company (Palmer). As a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157, this Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 151 and 1334. No issues of material fact remain as to the Committee’s claim under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b); therefore, the Committee’s motion as to the prima facie case of a preference claim is granted and Palmer’s is denied. But, because significant factual disputes remain unresolved as to the defenses available to Palmer under 11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(1) and (2), both parties’ motions for summary judgment as to those issues are denied.

The Debtor, Cox & Schepp, Inc. (Cox & Schepp), was a large general contractor primarily involved in commercial construction. Relevant to this matter, Cox & Schepp contracted with Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Inc. (Quest) to complete a number of projects throughout Florida (the Quest Projects). In turn, Cox & Schepp contracted with Palmer to complete electrical work on three of the buildings part of the Quest Projects. Of those three, two required Cox & Schepp to pay Palmer within seven days of receipt of payment by Quest. The third required Cox & Schepp to pay Palmer within twenty-five days of invoice by Cox & Schepp to Quest. Palmer prospectively executed waivers surrendering any right to file liens against the improved properties in exchange for payment.

Cox & Schepp made the following payments to Palmer:

Invoice Date Check Date Amount
February 16, 2011 August 16, 2011 $9067.00
May 25, 2011 July 12, 2011 $574.00
June 8, 2011 July 29, 2011 $11,115.00
June 25, 2011 October 25, 2011 $17,685.00
June 25, 2011 October 25, 2011 $19,001.96

The record is not entirely clear as to when Quest made payments to Cox & Schepp to trigger the payment terms under the subcontracts with Palmer.1 At the very least, it appears that the July 11 payment was made within the terms of the contract, the July 29 payment was made within three weeks after Quest paid Cox & Schepp, and the August 16 payment was made two weeks after Quest paid Cox & Schepp. The fourth and fifth payments made on October 25 were made forty-four days after Quest paid Cox & Schepp.

The Committee filed the current adversary proceeding to recover the latter [516]*516two payments, totaling $36,686.96, as they were made within ninety days of Cox & Schepp filing bankruptcy on January 5, 2012. After engaging in limited discovery, both parties moved for summary judgment. When confronted with cross motions for summary judgment, the Court “review[s] each motion separately on its own merits ‘to determine whether either of the parties deserves judgment as a matter of law.’ ” Rossignol v. Voorhaar, 316 F.3d 516, 523 (4th Cir.2003) (citation omitted). On each motion, the Court will “ ‘resolve all factual disputes and any competing, rational inferences in the light most favorable’ to the party opposing that motion.” Id. (citation omitted).

“The preference statute implements the prime bankruptcy policy of equality of distribution among creditors. Any creditor that received a greater payment than others of his class is required to disgorge so that all may share equally.” In re J.A. Jones, Inc., 361 B.R. 94, 99 (Bankr.W.D.N.C.2007) (citations and quotation marks omitted). Under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b), a transfer of an interest of the debtor in property may be avoided if made:

(1) to or for the benefit of a creditor;
(2) for or on account of an antecedent debt owed by the debtor before such transfer was made;
(3) made while the debtor was insolvent;
(4) made ... on or within 90 days before the date of the filing of the petition;
(5) that enables such creditor to receive more than such creditor would receive if ... the transfer had not been made.

In re ESA Envtl. Specialists, Inc., 709 F.3d 388, 394 (4th Cir.2013) (alterations in original), cert. denied sub nom. Campbell v. Hanover Ins. Co., — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 221, 187 L.Ed.2d 144 (2013). However, transfers made in a contemporaneous exchange for new value or those made in the ordinary course of business are not avoidable. 11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(1), (2).

Palmer asserts varying arguments as to why the transfers are not recoverable under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b), including that the Committee lacks standing to pursue this action, Cox & Schepp was not insolvent at the time of the transfers, the transfers did not enable Palmer to receive more that it would as a unsecured creditor in the bankruptcy case, and the funds transferred were not the property of Cox & Schepp. The parties’ central dispute relates to whether the release of Palmer’s lien rights constitutes a contemporaneous exchange of new value. Alternatively, Palmer argues that the transfers were made in the ordinary course of business between the parties.

I. Whether the Commit tee has standing to bring an action under 11 U.S.C. 547

As an initial matter, Palmer challenges the Committee’s standing, asserting that only a trustee or debtor in possession may bring a preference action. According to Palmer, for the Committee to pursue this claim, it must first be appointed to do so under 11 U.S.C. 1123(b)(3)(B).

Under Chapter 11, a debtor in possession “occupies the shoes of a trustee in every way.” Yellowhouse Mach. Co. v. Mack (In re Hughes), 704 F.2d 820, 822 (5th Cir.1983) (citing,

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523 B.R. 511, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 5765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/official-committee-of-unsecured-creditors-of-cox-schepp-inc-v-palmer-ncwb-2014.