Rushton v. E & S International Enterprises, Inc. (In Re Eleva, Inc.)

235 B.R. 486, 42 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 512, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 746, 1999 WL 435120
CourtBankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 29, 1999
DocketBAP No. UT-98-091. Bankruptcy No. 97-22299. Adversary No. 98-2179
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 235 B.R. 486 (Rushton v. E & S International Enterprises, Inc. (In Re Eleva, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rushton v. E & S International Enterprises, Inc. (In Re Eleva, Inc.), 235 B.R. 486, 42 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 512, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 746, 1999 WL 435120 (bap10 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

CORNISH, Bankruptcy Judge.

The court has before it for review an order granting partial summary judgment in favor of the trustee. After the bankruptcy court entered the order, the parties agreed that judgment should be entered for the trustee. For the reasons set forth below, the bankruptcy court’s decision should be affirmed.

BACKGROUND

The parties submitted this matter to the bankruptcy court on a Stipulation of Undisputed Facts. On December 20, 1996, E & S International Enterprises, Inc. (“E & S”) shipped product valued at $31,200.00 to Freecom Communications, Inc., which is the parent company of the debtor. On December 27, 1996, E & S shipped additional product valued at $39,502.50 to Freecom Communications, Inc. On January 3,1997, the debtor delivered a check in the amount of $49,161.00 to E & S for payment of invoices. The check was honored by the drawee bank on January 6, 1997. The first shipment was delivered to Freecom Communications, Inc. on January 6, 1997, and a second shipment was delivered to Freecom Communications, Inc. on January 9, 1997. The parties have stipulated that a prima facie avoidable preference exists. The issue before this court is whether E & S has a defense to the preference as set forth within 11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(4).

JURISDICTION

This court, with the consent of the parties, has jurisdiction to hear appeals from “final judgments, orders, and decrees” of bankruptcy courts within the Tenth Circuit. 28 U.S.C. § 158; Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8001; 10th Cir. BAP L.R. 8001-l(a). The bankruptcy court’s order is a final order. Neither party has opted to have this appeal heard by the United States District Court. 28 U.S.C. § 158; Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8001; 10th Cir. BAP L.R. 8001-l(a) and (d). As a result this Court has jurisdiction to hear this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“For purposes of standard of review, decisions by judges are traditionally divided into three categories, denominated questions of law (reviewable de novo), questions of fact (reviewable for clear error), and matters of discretion (reviewable for ‘abuse of discretion’).” Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 558, 108 S.Ct. 2541, 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988); Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8013; Fowler Bros. v. Young (In re Young), 91 F.3d 1367, 1370 (10th Cir.1996). The parties submitted this matter to the bankruptcy court on Stipulation of Facts; the only issue is a question of law. Therefore, the bankruptcy court’s decision will be reviewed de novo.

DISCUSSION

An avoidable preference is set forth in 11 U.S.C. § 547(b), which provides:

*488 (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the trustee may avoid any transfer of an interest of the debtor in property—
(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—
(A) on or within 90 days before the date of the filing of the petition; or
(B) between ninety days and one year before the date of the filing of the petition, if such creditor at the time of such transfer was an insider; and
(5) that enables such creditor to receive more than such creditor would receive if—
(A) the case were a case under chapter 7 of this title;
(B) the transfer had not been made; and
(C) such creditor received payment of such debt to the extent provided by the provisions of this title.

Once a trustee has established that a transfer is a preference, a creditor may assert a defense as provided in 11 U.S.C. § 547(c). E & S asserts that it is entitled to the subsequent advance exception, which provides:

(c) The trustee may not avoid under this section a transfer—
(4) to or for the benefit of a creditor, to the extent that, after such transfer, such creditor gave new value to or for the benefit of the debtor—
(A) not secured by an otherwise unavoidable security interest; and
(B) on account of which new value the debtor did not make an otherwise unavoidable transfer to or for the benefit of such creditor.

11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(4) (emphasis added). The United States Supreme Court held that under § 547(b), a transfer is deemed to occur on the date the check is honored. Barnhill v. Johnson, 503 U.S. 393, 401, 112 S.Ct. 1386, 118 L.Ed.2d 39 (1992). The Supreme Court acknowledged that the legislative history for § 547(c) stated a payment was to be considered made when the check was delivered. The Supreme Court noted:

These sections are designed to encourage creditors to continue to deal with troubled debtors on normal business terms by obviating any worry that a subsequent bankruptcy filing might require the creditor to disgorge as a preference an earlier received payment. But given this specialized purpose, we see no basis for concluding that the legislative history, particularly legislative history explicitly confined by its own terms to § 547(c), should cause us to adopt a ‘date of delivery’ rule for purposes of § 547(b).

Barnhill, 503 U.S. at 402, 112 S.Ct. 1386. Another court noted: “[w]hile the courts are not unanimous on this issue, by far the majority hold that, for purposes of section 547(c)(4), the transfer occurs when the check is delivered.” Kroh Bros. Dev. Co. v. Continental Constr. Engineers, Inc. (In re Kroh Bros. Dev. Co.), 930 F.2d 648, 650 (8th Cir.1991) (footnote omitted). Other courts have also determined that the date of delivery of the check is the date of the preference for § 547(c)(4) purposes. See Chaitman v. Paisano Automotive Liquids, Inc. (In re Almarc Mfg., Inc.), 62 B.R.

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235 B.R. 486, 42 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 512, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 746, 1999 WL 435120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rushton-v-e-s-international-enterprises-inc-in-re-eleva-inc-bap10-1999.