Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.)

556 B.R. 285, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 2871
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.). Read the opinion of the Court — 555 B.R. 579
United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas·Decided August 8, 2016·No. Case No.: 11-10353-RLJ-7; Adversary No. 14-01000; Civil Action No. 1:14-CV-095-C·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Robert L. Jones, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Defendants, Mary Ardinger and the Horace T. Ardinger, Jr. Estate (through Mary Ardinger as Executrix), move for summary judgment on the affirmative causes of usury, fraudulent transfers, and common law fraud brought here by plaintiff Kent Ries, trustee of the Adkins Supply, Inc. estate (Trustee). The motion does not attack Trustee’s objection to the Horace Ardinger Estate’s proof of claim that is also a part of this adversary proceeding. Trustee filed his response opposing the motion.

By order of the District Court of January 7, 2015, on the Court’s Report and Recommendation, the District Court directed the Court to retain all pretrial matters and, as to dispositive motions, to either decide the issues raised or hear the issues and submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to the District Court. The Court, upon consideration of the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Trustee’s response, the briefs of the parties, and the supporting materials, denies the motion.1

I.

The affirmative claims here are as follows:

(a) statutory usury claim against Mary Ardinger;
[287]*287(b) common law usury claims against both Mary Ardinger and the Horace Ardinger Estate;
(c) fraudulent transfer claims against Mary Ardinger and the Horace Ar-dinger Estate; and
(d) common law fraud claims against Mary Ardinger and the Horace Ar-dinger Estate.

Mary Ardinger submits that she is entitled to summary judgment on the claims made-against her, particularly the statutory usury claim, because she was not in any way involved in the transactions — she did not wire the funds to Adkins Supply, she did not receive the payments, and she made no material misrepresentations. As for the common law .usury claims against both Mary Ardinger and the Horace Ar-dinger Estate, they both contend that they have not received “written notice stating in reasonable detail the nature and amount of the violation and an opportunity to cure the violation before filing suit.” Defendants’ Brief in Support of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. No. 95] ¶ 11. As a result, they argue that there is no usury violation and that Trustee has no standing to assert the usury claims. They also submit that this deprives the Court of jurisdiction.

Defendants next argue that the common law usury claims, along with the common law fraud claims and fraudulent transfer claims, are preempted by the Texas Finance Code § 305.007. Though this provision specifically addresses usury claims, the common law fraud and the fraudulent transfer claims are, according to defendants, “disguised usury causes of action” that relate “to the recovery of the usurious portion of the commissions paid to Horace Ardinger.” Id. ¶ 19.

Mary Ardinger and the Horace Ardinger Estate submit that the wire advances were part of a “qualified commercial loan” under the Texas Finance Code that thereby allows “commissions” as “permitted, no-nusurious additional charges.” Id. ¶20. -Related to this, they submit, is their ability to “spread” the interest payments so that they are “no longer usurious.” Id. ¶21. How the concept of spreading is related to the characterization of the' advances as part of a qualified commercial loan is unclear. They state as follows: “if the Trustee is alleging that the $4,242,554.00 was usurious, then those amounts should be first applied and spread against the ‘principal’ amount of $4,440,000 which was never repaid in whole or in part. Even after such spreading, Mr. Ardinger’s estate would still be entitled to recovery of $197,446.00.” Id. .

Invoking the claim of Horace Ardinger (now the Horace Ardinger Estate) against Adkins Supply, as evidenced by the proof of claim filed in the Adkins Supply bankruptcy case, defendants submit that by setoff, offset, and recoupment they defeat Trustee’s affirmative claims against them. Id. ¶ 22. The alleged claim of $4.4 million is greater than Trustee’s alleged claim here of $4,242,554.00. Applying the theories of setoff and/or recoupment satisfiés any amount that is arguably usurious. Similarly, both recoupment and setoff can be invoked to defeat the fraudulent transfer and common law fraud claims.

In a separate charge regarding the Trustee’s fraudulent transfer claims, defendants reiterate that they are entitled to summary judgment as any charges were allowable commissions; are nonusurious after “spreading,” and thus cannot be fraudulent transfers; are subject to setoff and recoupment; and, as to' Mary Ardinger, she was not a “transferee.” Id. ¶30. They then raise defenses,that Adkins Supply received reasonably equivalent value for the transfers, that Horace Ardinger gave new value after the transfers were [288]*288made, and that the transfers were made in the ordinary course of business. Id.

As for the common law fraud claims, defendants submit that Adkins Supply did not justifiably rely on any misrepresentations because any alleged actionable misrepresentations concern a “point of law” upon which reliance can never be justified. Id. 33, 35.

II.

Defendants did not submit summary judgment evidence in support of their motion. Despite this, their brief states, and correctly so, that

[ sjummary judgment is proper if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, and other matters presented to the court show there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

Id. ¶ 8. They then note that a motion for summary judgment that depends on the pleadings and the exhibits serves as a Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings.2 Id. ¶ 9.

A.

Defendants are entitled to summary judgment if they either negate an essential element of each of Trustee’s claims, which they do with summary judgment evidence, or by alleging and establishing that Trustee has no evidence to support his claims. Foster v. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co., No. 4:14-CV-436-Y, 2016 WL 695658, at *1 (N.D.Tex. Feb. 22, 2016). Defendants’ motion is not cognizable under the first method as they have not offered any summary judgment evidence. And they have not asserted summary judgment under the second method. Defendants’ brief simply alleges facts that are different from Trustee’s alleged facts. Defendants have wholly failed to show that there are no genuine issues of material fact, including the following that are alleged by Trustee:

• Defendants advanced funds several hundred times to Adkins Supply over the four years prior to the petition date. The advances totaled over $44,500,000; in return, Adkins Supply paid defendants $45,600,000, plus over $4,200,000 in “commissions.” Dkt. No. 43 ¶ 4.01.
• Horace and Mary Ardinger were married for seventeen years prior to Horace’s death in 2012. Id. ¶ 5.03. The couple had been doing business with Robert L. Adkins, principal of Adkins Supply, since 2003. Id. ¶ 5.01.

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Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.), 556 B.R. 285, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 2871 (Tex. 2016).

556 B.R. 285 (Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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