Schreiber v. Cereola (In re Jodoin)

185 B.R. 98, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1494
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedJune 9, 1995
DocketBankruptcy No. 94-11803-JE; Adv. No. 94-1135-JEY
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 185 B.R. 98 (Schreiber v. Cereola (In re Jodoin)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schreiber v. Cereola (In re Jodoin), 185 B.R. 98, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1494 (N.H. 1995).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES E. YACOS, Chief Judge.

This matter came before the Court on June 6, 1995 on a Motion to Dismiss filed by Patrick Houghton and PPH Corporation and the trustee’s objection thereto as well as a Motion for Summary Judgement filed by the trustee and the defendant’s objection thereto. This is an action brought pursuant to New Hampshire state fraudulent transfer law made applicable under § 544(b) of the Bankruptcy Code.

Motion to Dismiss

At the onset of the hearing the Court denied the motion to dismiss based on the record and the memos filed and without further oral argument. The statute of limitations for the cause of action asserted, which is dictated by New Hampshire law, is four years after the transfer was made or obligation was incurred. N.H.Rev.StAnn. § 545-A:9. The assignment which the trustee is seeking to avoid occurred on September 23, 1992. This case was filed on November 11, 1994 which is undeniably within the limitations period. For these reasons the motion to dismiss is denied.

Motion for Summary Judgment

A summary judgment motion should be granted only when “the pleadings, deposition, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled judgment as a matter of law.” A “material” fact is one which has “the potential to affect the outcome of the suit under applicable law.” F.D.I.C. v. Anchor Properties, 13 F.3d 27, 30 (1st Cir.1994) (quoting Nereida-Gonzalez v. Tirado-Delgado, 990 F.2d 701, 702 (1st Cir.1993)). When deciding a motion for summary judgment, the Court must read the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party making all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. Levy v. F.D.I.C., 7 F.3d 1054, 1056 (1st Cir.1993).

Once the movant establishes the absence of evidence as to an essential factual element upon which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, the non-movant must respond with specific facts demonstrating a genuine issue for trial. In re Menna, 16 F.3d 7, 8 (1st Cir.1994). A “genuine issue” exists when the evidence is such that the finder of fact may reasonably resolve the point in favor of the nonmoving party. NASCO, Inc. v. Pub. Storage, Inc., 29 F.3d 28, 31 (1st Cir.1994). Once the movant avers an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s ease, the nonmoving party may not rest on the averments and denials of its pleadings but “must establish the existence of at least one fact issue that is both ‘genuine’ and ‘material.’” Local No. 48, United Broth. of Carpenters and Joiners of Am. v. United Broth. of Carpenters and Joiners of Am., 920 F.2d 1047, 1050 (1st Cir.1990); see also In re Ralar Distrib., Inc., 4 F.3d 62, 67 (1st Cir.1993).

The undisputed facts follow. On September 21, 1992, the debtor, George Jodoin signed a purchase and sale agreement for property located on Hayward Street in Manchester, New Hampshire in the name of a corporation to be formed named Hayward Street Realty Corporation. (Plaintiff Exhibit 1). On September 23, 1992, George Jodoin assigned his rights in the deposit receipt for the Hayward Street property to defendant Patrick Houghton “for consideration paid”1. The defendant contends that the “consideration paid” was forgiveness of a $7,500 antecedent debt although there is no documentary proof of this assertion.

[101]*101On October 9, 1992, the Hayward Street Realty Corporation received its Certificate of Incorporation from the Secretary of State and the corporation came into existence. George Jodoin and Harvey Dupreis were named 50% stock holders in the corporation. On November 25,1992, a Quitclaim Deed was issued to the Hayward Street Realty Corporation for the Hayward Street property. (Plaintiff Exhibit 2).

Meanwhile, on January 19, 1993, Gail Coutinho, another creditor of George Jodoin filed a petition for an ex-parte, pre-judgment attachment on the real estate and bank accounts of George Jodoin for an antecedent debt. See Motion for Summary Judgment, Exhibit F (Adv.Doc. No. 19). On April 22, 1993, judgment was entered in favor of Gail Coutinho in the amount of $33,700 plus interest and costs. See Motion for Summary Judgment, Exhibit G (Adv.Doc. No. 19). On August 23, 1993, the Hillsborough County sheriff executed the writ of attachment upon Jodoin’s stock certificate representing his 50% interest in the Hayward Realty Corporation.

The defendants Houghton and PPH Corporation never openly asserted their purported ownership interest in the corporate stock of Haywood Street Realty Corporation to any third party until after Coutinho had received judgment on her claim against Jodoin and was pursuing attachment of the corporate stock. See letter of August 15, 1993, Motion for Summary Judgment, Exhibit L (Adv.Doc. No. 19).

On September 1,1993 the Hayward Street property was sold with a profit of approximately $72,000. The parties, by then aware of the looming lawsuit between Patrick Houghton and Gail Coutinho over the ownership rights to George Jodoin’s portion of the proceeds of the sale, agreed to place Jodoin’s 50% share of the proceeds of the sale in the custody of Attorney Ronald Cereola, pending resolution of the dispute. A civil action was then filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court to determine the rights of the parties. George Jodoin is a named defendant in that action which was stayed when he filed a petition for bankruptcy protection on July 27, 1994.

On November 9,1994, the trustee filed the present action to avoid the fraudulent transfer of assets of the estate to Patrick Hough-ton by virtue of the September 23, 1993 assignment and to avoid the fraudulent transfer of assets of the estate to Gail Cout-inho by virtue of the August 23, 1993 sheriff levy on the shares of the corporation. On March 30, 1995, the Court approved a settlement of the claims against Gail Coutinho. (Adv.Doe. No. 9). The motion for summary judgement deals exclusively with the action against Patrick Houghton.

The trustee is seeking to set aside the assignment to Patrick Houghton pursuant to New Hampshire state fraudulent transfer law. Under New Hampshire law, a fraudulent transfer occurs if either (a) the transfer is made with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor of the debtor2; or (b) the transfer is made without receiving reasonably equivalent value and the debtor either was engaged in a business or transaction which would leave the debtor with unreasonably small capital or the debtor believed or reasonably should believe he would incur debts beyond his ability to pay as they became due. N.H.Rev.StAnn. § 545-A:4I.

The Court however, need not get too far into the analysis of whether or not this was a fraudulent

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Bluebook (online)
185 B.R. 98, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schreiber-v-cereola-in-re-jodoin-nhb-1995.