Southwest State Bank v. Ellis (In Re Ellis)

310 B.R. 762, 2004 WL 1375401
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 8, 2004
Docket19-10396
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 310 B.R. 762 (Southwest State Bank v. Ellis (In Re Ellis)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southwest State Bank v. Ellis (In Re Ellis), 310 B.R. 762, 2004 WL 1375401 (Okla. 2004).

Opinion

*764 MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

RICHARD L. BOHANON, Bankruptcy Judge.

Background

This adversary proceeding arises out of a series of loans made by the Plaintiff (“Bank”) to the Defendants. Many of these loans are cross-collateralized with others. The Bank seeks an exception to the Defendants’ discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), (a)(4), and (a)(6).

The Defendants filed separate motions for summary judgment, and because different issues are involved for each, they will be discussed separately.

The parties agree that the applicable law is the repealed Article 9 of the Oklahoma Uniform Commercial Code, rather than the Revised Article 9.

For reasons explained below, the Court grants in part and denies in part the Defendants’ motions for summary judgment. 1

I. Mr. Ellis’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

Don Ellis moves for partial summary judgment on claims brought under § 523(a)(4) and § 523(a)(6). 2 He contends that he had no fiduciary duty to the Bank that would give rise to a claim of defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity and that he did not grant the Bank a security interest in certain collateral that the Bank asserts he sold without its consent.

A. Claim Under § 523(a)(4): “Fiduciary Capacity”

Mr. Ellis contends that he is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law on the § 523(a)(4) claim because he did not owe the Bank a fiduciary duty for purposes of that section. The Bank, on the other hand, asserts that virtually every security agreement signed by Mr. Ellis contained language that created a fiduciary relationship. The language quoted by the Bank reads as follows:

Unless waived by Lender, all proceeds from any disposition of the Collateral (for whatever reason) shall be held in trust for Lender and shall not be commingled with any other funds; provided however, this requirement shall not constitute consent by Lender to any sale or other disposition. Upon receipt, Grant- or shall immediately deliver any such proceeds to Lender.

Even though this provision appears in several security agreements signed by Mr. Ellis 3 and even though it uses the phrase “in trust,” it is insufficient as a matter of law to create a fiduciary relationship for purposes of § 523(a)(4). For purposes of § 523(a)(4), “fiduciary capacity” is limited to express or technical trusts; it *765 does not include ex maleficio trusts, which are imposed due to the very act of wrongdoing out of which the debt arises. See Tway v. Tway (In re Tway), 161 B.R. 274 (Bankr.W.D.Okla.1993).

“Fiduciary capacity” in § 523(a)(4) is intentionally narrow so that it does not apply to ordinary commercial relationships such as a debtor-creditor relationship. Use of terms such as “trust” or “in trust” are insufficient by themselves to create an express or technical trust. See American Honda Fin. Corp. v. Tester (In re Tester), 62 B.R. 486, 491 (Bankr.W.D.Va.1986). Rather, the Court must look at the substance of the agreement to determine if it fits the narrow confines of § 523(a)(4). See Davis v. Aetna Acceptance Co., 293 U.S. 328, 334, 55 S.Ct. 151, 79 L.Ed. 393 (1934) (“The substance of the transaction is this, and nothing more, that the mortgagor, a debtor, has bound himself by covenant not to sell the mortgaged chattel without the mortgagee’s approval. The resulting obligation is not turned into one arising from a trust because the parties to one of the documents have chosen to speak of it as a trust.”).

Here, this provision does not impose a fiduciary duty; it simply creates a debtor-creditor relationship. Indeed, a majority of courts hold that a security agreement such as the instant one does not create an express or technical trust required to except a debt from discharge under § 523(a)(4). See Bombardier Credit, Inc. v. Theis (In re Theis), 109 B.R. 474, 475 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1989). This provision is the only mention of a trust relationship and is boilerplate language contained in a multi-page document. See Barclays American/Business Credit, Inc. v. Long (In re Long), 44 B.R. 300, 305 (Bankr.D.Minn.l983)(holding that a security agreement that contained trust-like language did not create a fiduciary duty under § 523(a)(4) where that language was the only mention of a trust relationship and where it was boilerplate language in a security agreement). Even the name of the documents here indicates that the parties had no intent to create anything more than an ordinary commercial relationship of debtor and creditor. The documents are entitled “Commercial Security Agreement.” Considering the substance of the security agreements, the Court holds that they did not impose a fiduciary duty as required by § 523(a)(4).

Thus, the Court must grant summary judgment on the claim under § 523(a)(4) in favor of Mr. Ellis since, as a matter of law, he was not acting in a fiduciary capacity.

B. Claim Under § 523(a)(6): Crops and Crop ProceedsIPayments

The next issue is whether the Bank holds a security interest in the crops and crop proceeds/payments of Mr. Ellis. 4 Mr. Ellis contends that the Bank has no security interest in crops and crop proceeds/payments because it failed to adequately describe the crops, and the Bank disagrees. If the Bank has no security interest in the crops and crop proceeds/payments, then Mr. Ellis could not have caused it an injury when he allegedly sold them without its permission.

Mr. Ellis contends that the Bank has no security interest in the crops or crop proceeds/payments because the security agreement that purports to grant the Bank an interest in crops is technically defective for it does not reasonably describe the land upon which the crops were grown. See 12A O.S. § 9-203(1) (repealed and superseded by Revised Article 9, ef *766 fective July 1, 2001). 5 In support of this argument, Mr. Ellis points to security agreement dated January 9, 1998, for a loan in the amount $15,199.05 (“Exhibit 9”).

Exhibit 9 contains a section that defines “Collateral,” and the relevant portions of that section include the following language:

Collateral. The word “Collateral” means the following described property of Grantor, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, whether now existing or hereafter arising, and wherever located:
All general intangibles and crops

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
310 B.R. 762, 2004 WL 1375401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southwest-state-bank-v-ellis-in-re-ellis-okwb-2004.