Robinson v. Howard Bank (In re Kors, Inc.)

104 B.R. 648, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10337
CourtDistrict Court, D. Vermont
DecidedJuly 17, 1989
DocketCiv. A. No. 89-52
StatusPublished

This text of 104 B.R. 648 (Robinson v. Howard Bank (In re Kors, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Vermont primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. Howard Bank (In re Kors, Inc.), 104 B.R. 648, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10337 (D. Vt. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

(Kors II)

HOLDEN, Senior District Judge.

This appeal by The Howard Bank (the Bank) is from an order entered November 4, 1988 by the bankruptcy court which denied the appellant’s motion to revise the Judgment Order entered on June 21, 1985 by Bankruptcy Judge Charles J. Marro. Robinson v. Howard Bank (In re Kors, Inc.), 50 B.R. 874 (Bankr.D.Vt.1985), aff'd in part, rev’d in part, 64 B.R. 163 (D.Vt.1986), aff'd, 819 F.2d 19 (2d Cir.1987) [hereinafter Kors I]. Since this is a second appeal, it will be referred to as Kors II.

After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the bankruptcy judge filed a memorandum opinion that set forth findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52, made applicable to adversary proceedings by Bankr.Rule 7052.

It was further ordered that the appellant pay the appellee, Small Business Investment Corporation of Vermont (SBIC), the sum of $184,000, with interest, for the total amount of $346,060.00; thereafter interest of $68.06 until date of payment was ordered. The antecedent substantive and procedural facts are fully set forth in the reported cases in Kors I. They will not be repeated here except where relevant to the questions sought to be reviewed in the present appeal. The additional facts found in Judge Marro’s opinion of November 1988 are not disputed; only the legal conclusions and consequences are challenged.

Since the appeal in Kors I, the ownership interests of the appellees, Small Business Investment Corporation of Vermont, Inc. (SBIC) and Rutland Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC), the local development corporations, have been acquired by the United States Small Business Administration. Apparently, consistent with an arrangement between these lenders, their interests are represented by SBIC in this appeal and will be so indicated.

The additional findings by the bankruptcy judge report that the proceeds of the trustee’s sale of the debtor’s property on April 11, 1982, in the total amount of $1,100,000, have been deposited in The Howard Bank by the trustee. The sale was made by the trustee with the consent of the parties and pursuant to a court order. Kors I, 819 F.2d at 22. The purchase by Hilinex-Himolene was financed by The Howard Bank since the parties further agreed “that the Bank could, as part of the sale to Hilinex retire $1,000,000.00 of RIDC’s indebtedness.” Kors I, 50 B.R. at 884; see also Memorandum Opinion on Motion to Revise Judgment Order Dated June 21, 1985, at 2, No. 80-00255 (Bankr.D.Vt. Nov. 4, 1988). As a consequence of this arrangement, the bankruptcy court further determined that “The Howard Bank shall not be chargeable with interest.” Id. 50 B.R. at 884. In keeping with this undertaking, the third paragraph of the court’s order of June 21st directed the Bank to pay [650]*650to the trustee “the sum of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) ... less such amounts as are paid to Small Business Investment Corporation of Vermont, Inc., as hereinabove shown.”1

The memorandum opinion entered November 4, 1988 by the bankruptcy judge concluded:

SBIC and Howard did reach an agreement as to the fair market value of items of personal property which was to be deducted from the sums of $210,000.00 and $3,324.00 Ordered [sic] paid by Howard to SBIC under paragraph “2”, sub-paragraphs “A” and “B”, as well as the fair market value of the “miscellaneous items conveyed” under sub-paragraph “C”. As a result, they have stipulated that the total principal sum payable from
Howard to SBIC is $184,000.00. By virtue of this agreement, the Judgment of June 21, 1985, as it relates to Howard and SBIC, has been translated, in simple terms, into a mandate requiring Howard to pay SBIC the sum of $184,000.00 plus interest at the rate of 13.5% per annum from April 22, 1982 until the date of payment.

Memorandum Opinion on Motion to Revise Judgment Order Dated June 21, 1985 at 5, Kors II, No. 80-00255 (Bankr.D.Vt. Nov. 4, 1988).

The correctness of this conclusion of the bankruptcy judge is the centerpiece of this appeal. It appears in the first question presented in the appellant’s statement of issues to be presented, required by Bankruptcy Rule 8006.2 As shown in the mar[651]*651gin, the Bank’s statement of issues seeks to engraft additional equitable considerations. The thrust of the remaining questions urged by the Bank seems to be that the interest rate of 13.5%, computed and imposed in the second provision of the June 21, 1985 order (in Kors I), results in an unjust apportionment of the proceeds of the sale “unless both can receive 13.5% on their respective shares of the asset pool.”

The bankruptcy court’s opinion correctly points out that on July 1, 1985 the Bank filed a motion to amend the findings and judgment that was entered on June 21, 1985 “to eliminate the provision of interest at 13.5% per annum to SBIC_” Motion to Amend Findings and to Amend Judgment, at 6, Kors I (Bankr.D.Vt. July 1, 1985). The motion was heard on notice to all interested parties. After written and oral arguments, the motion was denied on July 24, 1985. The Bank’s timely appeal was filed on August 2, 1985; it was directed only to paragraph one of the order of June 21, 1985, as amended. No appeal was undertaken to challenge that part of the judgment which obligated the appellant “Howard to make sundry payments to SBIC which now have, by agreement, been reduced to one payment of $184,000.00 plus interest at 13.5% from April 22, 1982 to date of payment.”3 Memorandum Opinion on Motion to Revise Judgment Order Dated June 21, 1985, at 6, Kors II (Bankr.D.Vt. Nov. 4, 1988).

The bankruptcy court’s opinion concluded that the Bank’s first motion to amend the judgment of June 21, 1985 prior to its notice of appeal in Kors I, was decided with finality by the amending order of July 24, 1985.

In this second effort to amend the same provision, the bankruptcy court determined that the instant motion for revision does not satisfy the time constraints of rules 59 and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as applied to cases under the Bankruptcy Code by Bankr.Rules 9023 and 9024. The court refused to revise that part of the order which established SBIC’s entitlement to principal and interest due from the Bank, as directed in the second paragraph to the judgment order. The bankruptcy court concluded that the present motion for revision is without merit and directed the entry of an appropriate order for payment by the Bank to SBIC the sum of $184,000 plus interest at 13.5% from April 22, 1982 to date of payment. In this appeal which followed, the Bank does not question the amount of $184,000 now due; only the interest at 13.5% that has accrued since the trustee’s sale is challenged.

Discussion

The Bank makes no argument or justification for its failure to comply with the time constraints imposed by rules 59 and 60 as applied in bankruptcy proceedings by rules 9023 and 9024 of the Bankruptcy Rules.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In The Matter Of Andrew H. Kilgus
811 F.2d 1112 (Seventh Circuit, 1987)
In Re Kors, Inc.
819 F.2d 19 (Second Circuit, 1987)
In Re Johns-Manville Corporation
824 F.2d 176 (Second Circuit, 1987)
Robinson v. Howard Bank (In Re Kors, Inc.)
50 B.R. 874 (D. Vermont, 1985)
Robinson v. Howard Bank (In Re Kors, Inc.)
64 B.R. 163 (D. Vermont, 1986)
In re Saco Local Development Corp.
711 F.2d 441 (First Circuit, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
104 B.R. 648, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-howard-bank-in-re-kors-inc-vtd-1989.