StellarOne Bank v. Lakewatch LLC (In Re Park)

436 B.R. 811, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 3079, 2010 WL 3785610
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedAugust 31, 2010
Docket19-60435
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 436 B.R. 811 (StellarOne Bank v. Lakewatch LLC (In Re Park)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
StellarOne Bank v. Lakewatch LLC (In Re Park), 436 B.R. 811, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 3079, 2010 WL 3785610 (Va. 2010).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

ROSS W. KRUMM, Bankruptcy Judge.

A hearing was held on August 10, 2010, to consider StellarOne Bank’s (hereafter “StellarOne”) Motion to Dismiss or Convert Case 1 (hereafter the “Motion to Dismiss”) and Lakewatch LLC’s objection to the Motion to Dismiss 2 . Additionally, the Court considered StellarOne’s Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay 3 (hereafter the “Motion for Relief’) and Lake-watch LLC’s objection to the Motion for Relief 4 . After considering the evidence and the arguments of the parties the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Findings of Fact

A. Case Administration and Security Agreements

On August 11, 2009, Edward C. Park III filed his Chapter 11 petition. On September 22, 2009, Lakewatch LLC (hereafter “Lakewatch”) filed its Chapter 11 petition. *814 Mr. Park is the principal of Lakewatch. On October 30, 2009, an Order was entered directing that the cases of Mr. Park and Lakewatch be jointly administered for noticing purposes only. Thus, although jointly administered, the cases of Mr. Park and Lakewatch remain substantively distinct and separate. The Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Relief address Lakewatch and not the bankruptcy case of Mr. Park.

As of the petition date, Lakewatch owned various residential and commercial lots, as well as undeveloped acreage, in developments at Smith Mountain Lake known as LakeWatch Plantation (hereafter the “Lakewatch Properties”), and Waterside (hereafter the “Waterside Properties”) (collectively, the Lake Watch Properties and the Waterside Properties are hereafter the “Properties”).

Lakewatch executed various promissory notes with StellarOne which were secured by the Properties. As of August 10, 2010, the indebtedness owed by Lakewatch to StellarOne was $13,477,530.63, inclusive of interest, late fees, release fees and attorney’s fees.

On February 5, 2010, StellarOne filed a Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay (hereafter the “Motion for Relief’). On March 23, 2010, an Order was entered that temporarily resolved the Motion for Relief (hereafter the “March 23 Order”). In the March 23 Order the Court found that the value of the Properties was $15,790,000.00 as of March 9, 2010 and that StellarOne’s interest in the Properties was not adequately protected by a significant equity cushion. The Court continued the Motion for Relief until August 10, 2010, and provided that the automatic stay would continue to that date provided that Lakewatch met the following conditions: (1) make monthly adequate protection payments to StellarOne, in the amount of $25,000.00, for the months of March, April, May, June and July 2010; (2) by not later than July 31, 2010, Lakewatch shall have closed sales, or entered into written contracts of sale with all contingencies removed, for lots in the Properties that total at least $1,500,000.00; and (3) Lakewatch shall maintain appropriate insurance on the Properties that names StellarOne as a loss payee. If Lakewatch defaulted on any of these conditions and could not cure the default within ten days of notice of the default StellarOne would automatically be granted relief from the automatic stay. By July 31, 2010, Lakewatch sold lots located in the Properties with an aggregate value of $1,522,500.00 and fully complied with the remaining conditions set forth in the March 23 Order. Therefore, the automatic stay remained in effect until August 10, 2010.

As of August 10, 2010, the delinquent real estate taxes that are due and owing on the Properties is $302,580.41. When the amount of delinquent taxes is deducted from the value of the Properties, the net worth of the Properties is $15,487,419.59. When the $1,522,500.00 in sales made by Lakewatch prior to the July 31, 2010 deadline is deducted from the net worth of the Properties, the worth of the remaining Properties is $13,964,919.59.

Discussion

Motion to Dismiss

I. 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)

11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(1) provides that “the court shall convert a case under this chapter to a case under chapter 7 or dismiss a case under this chapter, whichever is in the best interests of creditors and the estate, if the movant establishes cause.” 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(1) (West, 2010). 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(4) provides a non-exhaustive list of events which may establish cause for dismissal under § 1112(b)(1). Included in this list is § 1112(b)(4)(A) *815 which is a “substantial or continuing loss to or diminution of the estate and the absence of a reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation,” and § 1112(b)(4)(I) which is a “failure timely to pay taxes owed after the date of the order for relief or to file tax returns due after the date of the order for relief.” 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(4)(A) and (I) (West, 2010).

However, there are two instances in which a court may not dismiss or convert a case. The first instance is found in § 1112(b)(1) and occurs if the debtor can demonstrate unusual circumstances that would establish that a dismissal or conversion is not in the best interest of the creditors or the estate. The second is found in § 1112(b)(2) which provides that a request for dismissal or conversion under § 1112(b)(1) may not be granted, even though unusual circumstances have not been established by the debtor, if the debt- or or another party in interest objects to dismissal or conversion and establishes that

(A) there is a reasonable likelihood that a plan will be confirmed within the time-frames established in sections 1121(e) and 1129(e) of this title, or if such sections do not apply, within a reasonable period of time; and
(B) the grounds for granting such relief include an act or omission of the debtor other than under paragraph (4)(A)—
(i) for which there exists a reasonable justification for the act or omission; and
(ii) that will be cured within a reasonable period of time fixed by the court.

11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(2) (West, 2010) (emphasis added). See In re Orbit Petroleum Inc., 395 B.R. 145, 147 (Bankr.D.N.M.2008). See also, Colliers on Bankruptcy ¶ 1112.02[2] (Alan Resnick & Henry Somers, 16th ed. 2009).

a. Burden of Proof and Standard of Proof

The moving party bears the initial burden of establishing a

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
436 B.R. 811, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 3079, 2010 WL 3785610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stellarone-bank-v-lakewatch-llc-in-re-park-vawb-2010.