State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Arrow Communications, Inc.

833 F. Supp. 41, 21 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1159, 74 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 166, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14219, 1993 WL 375346
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedApril 29, 1993
DocketCiv. A. 92-11436-WD
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 833 F. Supp. 41 (State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Arrow Communications, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Arrow Communications, Inc., 833 F. Supp. 41, 21 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1159, 74 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 166, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14219, 1993 WL 375346 (D. Mass. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WOODLOCK, District Judge.

The issue before me is whether, and if so, to what degree, a lien on a broadcast license may be recognized in a receivership proceeding involving the assets of the license holder. In this case, I find that such a lien may be recognized in the proceeds of the sale of a radio station, at least so long as the Federal Communications Commission, after being apprised of the lien, interposes no objection.

On June 19, 1992, I appointed a receiver for the assets of Arrow Communications, Inc., and its affiliated companies (“Arrow”). On January 25, 1993,1 authorized the receiver to sell radio station KMJC-FM, one of Arrow’s assets, but required him to retain the proceeds of the sale pending resolution of claims by various parties asserting themselves to be Arrow’s creditors. The State Street Bank and Trust Company and Bay Bank Boston, N.A. (“Banks”), assert that they are secured creditors of Arrow in the sum of more than $9,000,000. David Dulany asserts he is an unsecured creditor of Arrow in the sum of approximately $260,000; and *42 that the Banks have no lien interest in so much of Arrow’s assets as are reflected in the broadcast license.

I

Arrow owns several radio stations, and operates them under license from the FCC. In September, 1989, Arrow entered into a Revolving Credit and Loan Term Agreement with the Banks, by which the Banks gave Arrow a $9 million line of credit, secured by a lien on Arrow’s tangible and intangible property, among other security interests. Section 1 of the Security Agreement provides the Banks a first lien on Arrow’s rights under various licenses:

[Debtor grants lien on] [a]ll fixtures and all tangible and intangible personal property of each Debtor ... including, without limitation ... general intangibles ... including, without limitation, all of such Debtor’s rights under all present and future authorizations, permits, licenses and franchises heretofore or hereafter granted to such Debtor for the operation and ownership of radio stations (except for licenses and permits issued by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to the extent it is unlawful to grant a security interest in such licenses and permits)- [Complaint, Exhibit D at 1-2 (Security Agreement).]

Should Arrow default on its obligations under the Agreement, the Agreement gives the Banks the right to proceed against collateral or proceeds from the sale thereof; and to maintain a senior security interest, all subject to applicable law, including the Uniform Commercial Code and the regulations of the FCC. Id. at 6-8 (Security Agreement, ¶¶ 10-13). In September, 1989, the Banks filed UCC financing statements in Iowa (and other states) which set forth the Banks’ liens on Arrow’s FCC radio station licenses. 1

Dulany is the successor in interest to Gateway Broadcasting Company, which sold two radio stations to a buyer in March, 1985. The purchase price was allocated in part to cash, in part to a $675,000 promissory note (“Gateway Note”). In May, 1986, the buyer assigned her rights and obligations in the radio stations to Marcom of Quad Cities (“Marcom”), an assignment approved by Du-lany, as President of Gateway. In September, 1986, Marcom executed two promissory notes in favor of Gateway, in the sum total of $675,000. The notes were signed by Mar-com’s general partner, Altcom of Quad Cities (“Altcom”), and were guaranteed by Donald Alt, Kerby Confer, and Paul Rothfuss, the principal officers of Altcom and Marcom.

In 1988, Alt and Target Communications of Ohio, Inc., and its affiliated companies (“Target”) sold Target’s radio stations to Rothfuss (and companies to be incorporated by him, namely Arrow). 2 The station at present known as KMJC-FM was included in the sale. The total purchase price was a sum in cash, and a note to Alt and Target signed and personally guaranteed by Rothfuss for $2,500,000.

In 1989, Arrow began making quarterly payments to Dulany on the Gateway Note, even though no assignment of the Gateway Note appears in the purchase agreement between Alt and Target and Rothfuss (and Arrow). In this connection, it bears noting that the named obligors on the Gateway Note were also the three principals of Arrow. Arrow continued its quarterly payments on the Note until March, 1992. After the obli-gors’ default on the Note, Dulany filed suit in an Iowa state court against Alt, Jerry Cedar, Confer, Rothfuss, Altcom, and Marcom; subsequently, he added to his complaint the original buyer of the radio stations; still later, he named Arrow and the receiver. The receiver removed the case from Clinton County District Court to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, which dismissed the receiver as a defendant. The receiver seeks an injunction in this court against Dulany’s pursuit of his claims against Arrow in Iowa, and an order requiring those claims to be adjudicated in this court. My resolution of Dulany’s con *43 tentions in connection with his claim against the receivership estate will stand as the adjudication the receiver seeks.

The parties dispute no material facts. Instead, they contest two questions of law: whether a creditor can perfect a security interest in a broadcast license or in proceeds from its sale; and whether the Statute of Frauds operates to bar Dulany’s claim. Because of my resolution of the first question, I need not consider the parties’ arguments about the Statute of Frauds.

II

In a recent notice of a proposed rulemak-ing, the FCC has itself summarized its views on security and reversionary interests in broadcast licenses. That summary serves as a useful framework for the issues in this litigation.

We historically have taken the view that our rule prohibiting sellers from retaining a reversionary interest 3 and our policy prohibiting third party security interests 4 were based upon statutory provisions prohibiting the grant of ownership interests in the spectrum 5 and the assignment by licensees of their interests in a license without prior Commission approval. 6 In a recent case, however, we found that there were no statutory bars in a related context — the sale of a “bare” construction permit for a cellular authorization. Bill Welch, 3 FCC Red 6502, 6503 (1988). Although we limited Welch to the cellular industry, the statutory analysis in that case raises questions as to whether our reverter and security interest policies concerning the broadcast industry are statutorily mandated. 7 According to petitioners and supporting commenters, reversionary and security interests could be viewed merely as rights between private parties that can be exercised only upon Commission approval 8 and, therefore, would be fully consistent with the provisions of the Communications Act. In light of the analysis in Welch,

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833 F. Supp. 41, 21 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1159, 74 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 166, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14219, 1993 WL 375346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-street-bank-trust-co-v-arrow-communications-inc-mad-1993.