RREF SNV-FL SSL, LLC v. Shamrock Storage, LLC

250 So. 3d 788
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided June 28, 2018·No. No. 1D16–2045·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Per Curiam.

*789RREF SNV-FL SSL, LLC, appeals an order denying its motion to avoid a fraudulent transfer brought pursuant to section 56.29, Florida Statutes (2013). We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

This case comes to us for a second time. See RREF SNV-FL SSL, LLC v. Shamrock Storage, LLC , 178 So.3d 90 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). We detailed the parties' dispute and the procedural background in our earlier decision, id. at 90-91, so we offer only the abridged version here: Richard McAlpin owned a company that owned a Travelodge motel, and he owned a second company (appellee Shamrock Storage) that operated storage units. Shamrock Storage got a bank loan that McAlpin personally guaranteed, and the company defaulted. A few months before the loan was set to mature, McAlpin gave his wife his motel-company stock, then receiving nothing in return. Id. Ultimately the bank got a judgment against McAlpin on the Shamrock loan, and it assigned that judgment to RREF SNV-FL SSL, LLC (RREF, for short), the appellant here.

RREF sought to avoid McAlpin's transfer of the stock. RREF contended this was a fraudulent transfer, and that the motel-company stock should be available to help satisfy its judgment against McAlpin. RREF alleged that the transfer was fraudulent both because there was an actual intent to defraud, and separately because there was constructive fraud. The trial court denied relief, concluding that it was "not satisfied that the transfer of Mr. McAlpin's [stock] was made to hinder creditors." Id. (quoting order).

RREF appealed, and we reversed. Id. We concluded that the trial court wrongly placed the burden of proof on RREF. Id. at 91. We explained that it was the appellees' burden to demonstrate the transfer was not fraudulent. Id. ("In situations like this one, the presumption in § 56.29(6) is that a spousal transfer should be voided unless the defendant can prove that it did not make the transfer to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors ...."); see also § 56.29(6)(a), Fla. Stat. (2013) ;

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RREF SNV-FL SSL, LLC v. Shamrock Storage, LLC, 250 So. 3d 788 (Fla. Ct. App. 2018).

250 So. 3d 788 (RREF SNV-FL SSL, LLC v. Shamrock Storage, LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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