Rupp v. Posso (In re Castillo)

549 B.R. 916
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Utah
DecidedApril 14, 2016
DocketBankruptcy Case No. 12-34389; Adversary Proceeding No. 13-2176
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 549 B.R. 916 (Rupp v. Posso (In re Castillo)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rupp v. Posso (In re Castillo), 549 B.R. 916 (Utah 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

JOEL T. MARKER, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

A chapter 7 trustee is charged with collecting property of the estate, reducing it to 'money, and distributing funds to creditors as expeditiously as possible.1 Among the tools that the trustee may use to collect property of the estate are Bankruptcy Code §§ 544 and 548, which allow the trustee to pursue property that the debtor transferred pre-petition to another person for no consideration or with actual fraudulent intent. Broadly speaking, the purpose of these fraudulent transfer provisions is to prevent an asset that was owned by the debtor from being transferred away to the detriment of her creditors.

In an effort to fulfill his statutory duties, the trustee in this case, Stephen Rupp (“Trustee”), brought the present adversary proceeding against Martin Posso, the brother of Venus Castillo, the debtor in the underlying chapter 7 case. The Trustee seeks to recover the value of a 2004 Ford F-150 truck based on an alleged fraudulent transfer of the truck from Castillo to Posso. In response to the Trustee’s claims, Posso asserts that his sister did not, in fact, own the truck at the time of the transfer. Instead, Posso says that Osvelia Pratt — Castillo and Posso’s mother — owned the truck and transferred it to him.

The Court conducted a trial on March 24, 2016, at which it heard the testimonies of Posso, Pratt, and Castillo.2 After considering the evidence properly before the .Court, assessing the credibility of the relevant witnesses, weighing the parties’ arguments, and conducting an independent review of applicable law, the Court issues the following Memorandum Decision to explain why the Trustee’s claims under §§ 544(b)(1) and 548(a)(1) must fail.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On April 15, 2006, Pratt and Castillo entered into a Motor Vehicle Contract of Sale with Willey Ford Bountiful to pur[918]*918chase the truck for $24,993.3 Pratt and Castillo agreed that Castillo and her then-husband, Luis Castillo Ramos, could use the truck for Castillo Ramos’s business, Curb Appeal — at which Castillo also worked — in exchange for giving Pratt rides to and from work and for any other transportation she needed.4 Though Pratt obtained the financing necessary to purchase the truck, Castillo and Castillo Ramos agreed to make the payments on the loan and pay for maintenance and necessary repairs.5 The record is not entirely clear, but the truck’s certificate of title initially showed both Castillo and Pratt, or possibly just Pratt, as owners.6

Unfortunately for Pratt, Castillo and Castillo Ramos stopped making payments shortly after the truck was purchased.7 Worried about the possible impact on her credit, Pratt withdrew money from her retirement account, and on February 5, 2007, she paid Wells Fargo $24,805.84 in full satisfaction of the truck loan.8

On December 16, 2008, Castillo and Castillo Ramos divorced. The Decree of Divorce awarded Castillo ownership of the truck, at least as between her and Castillo Ramos.9 In the Statement of Income, Expenses, Assets & Liabilities attached to the Decree of Divorce, Castillo stated that she owed Pratt $30,000 for “bill consolidation,” which included the amount Pratt paid for the truck.10 Despite the Decree of Divorce, Castillo Ramos continued to use the truck, and Castillo drove a Mazda 3 that the Decree of Divorce awarded to Castillo Ramos.11 Castillo still drove the Mazda at the time of her § 341 meeting of creditors, and she had not driven or possessed the truck for “several years” prior to filing her bankruptcy petition.12

After the divorce, Castillo wanted to use the truck as- collateral to help Curb Appeal obtain a loan.13 To that end, Pratt allowed Castillo to remove Pratt’s name from the certificate of title, and Utah’s Division of Motor Vehicles issued a corrected certificate of title in Castillo’s name on May 11, 2011.14

Castillo Ramos drove the truck until late 2011, when he dropped it off in Pratt’s front yard.15 The truck was not in good [919]*919shape. According to Posso, the truck needed new tires, engine coils, and spark plugs, and the engine was difficult or impossible to start.16 In September of 2012, Posso approached his mother about the truck and asked her what she intended to do with it, since it had sat in her yard for several months.17 Pratt told Posso that he could have the truck if he could repair it and remove it from her yard.18 After discussing it with his wife, Posso decided to take the truck. Pratt told Castillo about the arrangement and requested that Castillo transfer the title to Posso.19 Castillo agreed to do so, and she transferred the title to Posso’s wife, Lynnie Posso.20 The DMV issued a new certificate of title to Mrs. Posso on October 4,2012.21

Castillo filed her chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on November 14, 2012, and Rupp was appointed as the chapter 7 trustee. Castillo failed to disclose the truck or the transfer of title in her bankruptcy statements and . schedules.22 At her § 341 meeting of creditors, held on December 12, 2012, the Trustee asked Castillo about the vehicles she owned, at which time she mentioned the truck. Initially, Castillo told the Trustee that her ex-husband was using the truck,23 but later in the meeting she explained that “[i]t actually transferred to my brother”24 and that she “just gave it to [her] brother.”25 Acting on the information he obtained at the meeting of creditors, the Trustee filed this adversary proceeding on May 24, 2013, seeking to recover the value of the truck from Posso.

II. DISCUSSION

The threshold issue in any fraudulent transfer action, whether brought under § 548 or a state statute incorporated by § 544, is whether the debtor had an interest in the property that was transferred.26 “For the purposes of most bankruptcy proceedings, property interests are created and defined by state law. Once that state law determination is made, however, [the Court] must still look to federal bankruptcy law to resolve the extent to which that interest is property of the estate.” 27

There is no dispute that Castillo transferred legal title to the truck to Mrs. Posso. In Utah, however, the fact that the registration and title of a vehicle are in an individual’s name “establishes only a presumption of ownership, rebutted by legally relevant evidence presented at trial and deemed credible by the court.”28 Accordingly, Posso must rebut the presumption that Castillo owned the truck, and the Trustee must rebut the presumption that [920]*920the truck was transferred to Mrs. Posso, as opposed to Posso.

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Related

Brandon Hardman
D. Utah, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
549 B.R. 916, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rupp-v-posso-in-re-castillo-utb-2016.