Schaefer v. Ballantyne (In Re Ballantyne)

166 B.R. 681, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 509, 1994 WL 143180
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedMarch 16, 1994
Docket19-21364
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 166 B.R. 681 (Schaefer v. Ballantyne (In Re Ballantyne)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schaefer v. Ballantyne (In Re Ballantyne), 166 B.R. 681, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 509, 1994 WL 143180 (Wis. 1994).

Opinion

DECISION

DALE E. IHLENFELDT, Bankruptcy Judge.

In this adversary proceeding, the plaintiff, Ronald A. Schaefer, seeks a determination that the debtor, Tad M. Ballantyne, is indebted to him in the amount of $527,577 and that, pursuant to §§ 523(a)(2), (4) and (6) of the Bankruptcy Code, such debt is nondisehargeable. In addition, Schaefer asks that Ballan-tyne be denied a discharge, pursuant to §§ 727(a)(2)(A) and (B) and §§ 727(a)(3) and (4)(A). The defendant, Ballantyne, has filed a motion for summary judgment asking that the proceeding be dismissed with prejudice. This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(b); this is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I) and (J).

The § 727 provisions cited by Schaefer are contained in Subchapter II of chapter 7, and pursuant to § 103(b) of the Code, Subchapter II of chapter 7 is only applicable to a case under chapter 7. Since this is a case under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, plain *683 tiffs allegations regarding § 727 will be dismissed.

For an understanding of this adversary proceeding’s status within the context of the chapter 11 case and its impact upon the chapter 11 process, some knowledge of the history of the chapter 11 ease is needed. An involuntary case was commenced against Ballantyne on May 15, 1992. The proceedings were delayed for some time by agreement between Ballantyne and the petitioning creditors, but on November 17, 1992, an order for relief was entered.

Ballantyne faced a number of problems, first and foremost among them a state court fraud action wherein the plaintiffs were seeking $2 million in actual damages and $3 million in punitive damages. The automatic stay was lifted, and the case was tried before a state court jury in January 1993. Ballan-tyne was successful in his defense against the law suit, the end result being that the action was dismissed on the merits with costs. This result enabled Ballantyne to enter into serious negotiations, and to obtain agreement, with various secured and unsecured creditors regarding the treatment to be accorded their claims in a plan of arrangement. A major exception to this was the claim asserted by Schaefer.

While it was not disputed that Schaefer had a claim against Ballantyne, the amount of such claim was very much in dispute. Having in mind § 502(c)(1) 1 of the Code, and in order to move the chapter 11 proceedings along, the court scheduled a hearing for the purpose of estimating the amount of Schae-fer’s claim. Schaefer had not yet filed a proof of claim (and to this date has not done so), but no bar date for filing claims had been set, and the court ruled that it would treat the complaint in this adversary proceeding as an informal proof of claim. A hearing was held on October 13, 1993, and on October 28, 1993, the court filed its memorandum decision and order, wherein it estimated Schae-fer’s unliquidated and contingent claim to be in the amount of $123,000. Ballantyne has since filed a motion asking the court to reconsider its decision.

Upon reflection, the court realized Schae-fer’s nondischargeability proceeding would have to be decided before there could be any meaningful vote on Ballantyne’s plan. In this individual chapter 11 case, in order for creditors to fairly evaluate Ballantyne’s future chances to successfully complete his plan and accordingly for them to vote intelligently on the plan, they would need to know not only the amount of the debt owed to Schaefer but also whether or not the debt would survive confirmation of the plan as a nondisehargeable claim against Ballantyne. § 1141(d)(2). The court notified the parties that it would reconsider its order estimating the amount of Schaefer’s claim and in addition would proceed to a disposition of Schae-fer’s adversary proceeding. At this juncture, Ballantyne filed his motion for summary judgment asking that Schaefer’s complaint be dismissed with prejudice.

Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute and the moving party should prevail as a matter of law. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) (Rule 7056 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure), summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for the motion, and must identify those portions of “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any”, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. This burden “may be discharged by ‘showing’ — that is, pointing out to the district court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, *684 323, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

The primary purpose for granting summary judgment motions is to avoid unnecessary trials when there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute. Wainwright Bank v. Railroadmens Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 806 F.2d 146, 149 (7th Cir.1986). Once a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as described above, Rule 56(e) provides that a party opposing the motion may not rest upon mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. The plaintiff must present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment. All inferences are taken in favor of the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255-57, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513-15, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Price v. Rockford, 947 F.2d 829, 832 (7th Cir.1991).

Ballantyne and Schaefer were involved in a number of so-called “Centsible” corporations. The first such venture, organized on June 1, 1988, was Centsible Enterprises, Inc. Schae-fer invested $25,000 in Centsible Enterprises, Inc., and Ballantyne was to invest the same amount. Other corporations organized by Ballantyne followed, among them, Centsible Travel, Inc. and Centsible Limousine, Inc. Centsible Enterprises was the majority stockholder in Centsible Travel and Centsi-ble Limousine. It was Centsible Travel, a travel agency, incorporated on January 5, 1989, that accumulated most of the debts for which Schaefer seeks to hold Ballantyne responsible.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 B.R. 681, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 509, 1994 WL 143180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schaefer-v-ballantyne-in-re-ballantyne-wieb-1994.