Slobodian v. United States

533 B.R. 126, 2015 WL 3953056, 115 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2302, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83787
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 29, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 1:13-CV-2677
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 533 B.R. 126 (Slobodian v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Slobodian v. United States, 533 B.R. 126, 2015 WL 3953056, 115 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2302, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83787 (M.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

CHRISTOPHER C. CONNER, Chief Judge.

Presently before the court is an adversarial proceeding withdrawn from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, wherein debtor Net Pay Solutions, Inc., d/b/a Net Pay Payroll Services, (“Net Pay”), through its bankruptcy trustee (“trustee”), seeks to avoid certain purportedly preferential transfers made to the United States of America, specifically the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), during the prepetition preference period. The United States and the trustee both moved for summary judgment. (Docs. 24, 29). For the reasons that follow, the court will grant the United States’ motion (Doc. 24), deny the trustee’s motion (Doc. 29), and enter summary judgment in favor of the United States.

I. Factual Background 1and Procedural History

The facts undergirding the parties’ opposing motions are largely undisputed. On August 2, 2011, Ney Pay filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. (Doc. 25 ¶ 1; Doc. 30 ¶ 1). Prior to declaring bankruptcy, Net Pay operated as a payroll service [128]*128provider. (Doc. 25 ¶ 2; Doc. 80 ¶ 2). In that role, Net Pay obtained funds from its customers’ bank accounts and turned those funds over to customers’ employees as well as the IRS and other taxing authorities. (Doc. 25 ¶ 2; Doc. 30 ¶2). Net Pay’s relationship with each customer was governed by a payroll services agreement. (Doc. 25 ¶ 3; Doc. 30 ¶ 3). The agreement identifies Net Pay and its customers as “independent contractors” and expressly disclaims “any relationship of employment, agency, joint venture, partnership, or- any other fiduciary relationship of any kind.” (Doc. 30 ¶ 3; Doc. 35 ¶ 3). The agreement obligated Net Pay to determine taxes and wages owed by each customer, transfer the necessary funds into Net Pay’s operating account, and remit those funds to customers’ employees, the United States, and other taxing authorities. (Doc. 25 ¶4; Doc. 30 ¶ 4). Net Pay maintained a bank account with Sovereign Bank, N.A., for purposes of making requisite payments. (See Doc. 30 ¶ 5; Doc. 35 ¶ 5).

On May 5, 2011, Net' Pay made five electronic transfers to the United States in the amounts of $32,297, $5,338, $1,143, $353, and $281 on behalf of customers. (Doc. 25 ¶ 10; Doc. 30 ¶8).2 Net Pay transferred the amounts as follows: $32,297 on behalf of Altus Capital Partner, Inc. (“Altus”); $5,338 on behalf of Healthcare Systems Connections, Inc.; and $1,143 on behalf of Project Services, LLC. (Doc. 30 ¶¶ 9, 12, 15; Doc. 35 ¶¶ 9, 12, 153 ). Neither party’s statement of facts attributes the $353 and $281 transfers to a customer of Net Pay, nor does either party’s brief explain for whose benefit these transfers were made. (See generally Docs. 25, 30).

IRS Revenue Office Advisor Michael Connelly explained that, per agency policy, payments made to the IRS are applied first to non-trust fund tax obligations. (Connelly Decl. ¶ 8 (Oct. 29, 2014), ECF. No. 24-2). According to the United States, Altus satisfied its non-trust fund obligations before May 5, 2011; thus, the entire $32,297 transferred to the United States on May 5, 2011, was applied to the trust fund portion of Altus’s tax obligations.4 (See Doc. 25 ¶ 13). The record [129]*129is silent with regard to which portion of the customers’ employment tax liabilities were satisfied by the four (4) remaining transfers. (See generally Docs. 25, 30). At the time the challenged transfers were made, Net Pay’s obligations substantially exceeded its assets. (See Doc. 30 ¶ 18; Doc. 35 ¶ 18). Neither party disputes that the value of the transfers to the United States substantially exceeds any distribution Net Pay’s customers could receive through their respective bankruptcy claims. (Doc. 30 ¶ 24; Doc. 35 ¶ 24). These five transfers are the subject of the trustee’s preferential transfer claim.

On June 24, 2013, Net Pay, through its bankruptcy trustee, commenced the above-captioned adversary proceeding against the United States, through the IRS, seeking recovery of preferential transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 547 (Count I) and fraudulent transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 548 (Count II) and various provisions of Pennsylvania law (Count III). See In re Net Pay, No. 1:13-AP-163, Doc. 1 (June 24, 2013). The bankruptcy court thereafter issued an opinion holding that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, — U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 2594, 180 L.Ed.2d 475 (2011) divested bankruptcy courts of authority to enter final judgments on the trustee’s fraudulent transfer claims. In re Net Pay Solutions, Inc., No. 1:13-AP-163, 2013 WL 5550207, at *3 (Bankr.M.D.Pa. Oct. 7, 2013). The bankruptcy court also determined that the trustee’s preferential transfer claim could not survive Rule 12(b)(6) scrutiny and dismissed Count I with leave to amend. See id. at *2.

The trustee thereafter filed an amended complaint contemporaneously with a motion to withdraw the reference of the adversary proceeding. See In re Net Pay, No. 1:13-AP-0163, Docs. 17-18. The bankruptcy court transmitted the motion to withdraw to this court, (Doc. 1), and on November 7, 2013, the trustee filed a certificate of concurrence, (Doc. 3), indicating that the United States agreed to withdrawal of the reference. On November 8, 2013, the undersigned issued an order (Doc. 4) granting the trustee’s motion and withdrawing the reference of the above-captioned adversary proceeding to the bankruptcy court.

The United States thereafter moved to dismiss the amended adversary complaint, testing the sufficiency of each of the trustee’s claims. (See Doc. 5). On May 12, 2014, the court issued an opinion and order granting in part and denying in part the United States’ motion. See Slobodian, 2014 WL 2041815. The court first dismissed the trustee’s fraudulent transfer claims in Counts II and III, observing that the amended complaint offered nothing more than a “formulaic recitation of the elements” of those claims. See id. at *5. Regarding the trustee’s preference claim, the court acknowledged the timeliness concerns raised by the United States with regard to the bulk of the contested transactions, but ultimately declined to parse the various transfers. The court concluded instead that the appropriate course was to allow the trustee to develop the record with respect to transfer dates. Id. at *4. Following a period of discovery, the parties filed the instant cross-motions (Docs. 24, 29) for summary judgment. Both motions are fully and timely briefed5 and ripe for disposition.

[130]*130II. Standard of Review

Through summary adjudication, the court may dispose of those claims that do not present a “genuine dispute as to any material fact” and for which a jury trial would be an empty and unnecessary formality. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The burden of proof tasks the non-moving party to come forth with “affirmative evidence, beyond the allegations of the pleadings,” in support of its right to relief. Pappas v. City of Lebanon,

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533 B.R. 126, 2015 WL 3953056, 115 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2302, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slobodian-v-united-states-pamd-2015.