Tavormina v. Brummer (In re Centre De Tricots De Gaspe Ltee)

24 B.R. 93, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 3166
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida.
DecidedOctober 4, 1982
DocketBankruptcy No. 79-01491-BKC-SMW; Adv. No. 81-0557-BKC-SMW-A
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 24 B.R. 93 (Tavormina v. Brummer (In re Centre De Tricots De Gaspe Ltee)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tavormina v. Brummer (In re Centre De Tricots De Gaspe Ltee), 24 B.R. 93, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 3166 (Fla. 1982).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

SIDNEY M. WEAVER, Bankruptcy Judge.

THIS CAUSE coming on to be heard upon a Complaint filed herein and the Court, having heard the testimony and examined the evidence presented; observed the candor and demeanor of the witnesses; considered the arguments of counsel and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, does hereby make the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

This Court has jurisdiction of the parties hereto and the subject matter hereof.

Harry Brummer became a debtor pursuant to an involuntary proceeding brought against him on January 4, 1980. Jeanette Tavormina, the plaintiff herein, was appointed interim trustee and subsequent to the entry of the Order for Relief she became the permanent trustee. After re[94]*94peated efforts by the trustee and creditors, the debtor filed schedules which did not indicate any interest whatsoever in the property which is the subject matter of this lawsuit. Furthermore, the debtor has offered no valid explanation why this property or an .interest in same was not listed as his property. Accordingly, the Court finds that the property that is the subject matter of this lawsuit was fraudulently concealed from the debtor’s pre-petition creditors. During an earlier proceeding, the debtor waived the right to a discharge from his debts, rather than disclose certain material evidence.

This adversary proceeding concerns the avoidability of certain post-petition transfers. The trustee commenced this proceeding by filing a complaint seeking injunctive relief and a separate motion seeking a temporary restraining order.

In support of her motion for a temporary restraining order, the trustee offered a contract between Brummer and the Three Island Corporation which called for a sale of the property to the Three Island Corporation for Two Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,800,000.00). The contract stated that Brummer was the beneficial owner of a parcel of real property located at 6400 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida.

The Court entered a temporary restraining order restraining Brummer, Sylvia Sie-gal Inc., Sylvia Siegal individually, and Harry Smith, (a land trustee) from transferring any interest in the real property and certain personal property. Subsequently, the temporary restraining .order was merged into a preliminary injunction which remains in full force and effect to this date. To preserve the status quo, the preliminary injunction tolled the expiration of an option to purchase the land in favor of Sylvia Siegal, Inc. An express condition of the injunction was that the trustee should file an Amended Complaint which would state with particularity her claim for relief concerning the subject property.

The trustee filed an Amended Complaint which joined the additional named defendants, Samuel Friedman Management Company Inc. and Acofin Investment, Inc. The Amended Complaint sought relief on two grounds:

A. Against the defendants Sylvia Sie-gal, Inc., Samuel Friedman Management Company Inc. and Acofin Investment, Inc., as partners in the joint venture, (Buckingham Place) for a post-petition transfer of property valued in excess of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00).

B. Against Sylvia Siegal, Inc., Sylvia Sie-gal individually and Harry Brummer for recovery of a sum in excess of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) representing proceeds from the allegedly concealed property to which the debtor obtained access.

For the purpose of clarity, the foregoing theories for the trustee’s recovery will be discussed in separate portions of this Order and will be referred to hereinafter as the (a) “liability of Buckingham Place” and (b) “liability of Sylvia Siegal and Sylvia Siegal, Inc.” The rights, duties and liabilities of the land trustee, Smith, will also be discussed separately.

The remaining pleadings framing the issues are the answers of the various named defendants and a crossclaim filed by the debtor against Samuel Friedman Management Company, Inc., and Acofin Investments, Inc. and a separate counterclaim against the trustee which was severed.

The facts which are common to the liability of all parties are set forth as follows:

At the commencement of the involuntary proceedings, the debtor was the purchaser of certain real estate under three executory deposit receipt contracts which are described as follows:

A. A contract with Frank and Jean May, dated August 4, 1979, concerning the following described real property:

Lots 58 and 59 of Block 7 and Second Oceanfront amended plan, Plat Book 28, Page 28, Miami Beach, Florida.

B. A contract with Herbert Rockwell, dated October 13, 1979, concerning:

[95]*95Lot 9 jn Block 7 of Second Oceanfront Subdivision, according to the Plat thereof as recorded in Plat Book 28, Page 28 of the Public Records of Dade County, Florida.

C. Agreement to acquire the stock of Sixty-Fifth Street Corporation which owned:

Lots 8, 56, and 57 in Block 7 of the amended Plat, of Second Oceanfront Subdivision as recorded in Plat Book 28, Page 28 of the Public Records of Dade County, Florida.

Collectively these lands are the properties that are set forth in the contract for sale to the Three Island Corporation, and in totality constitute the real property which is the subject matter of the preliminary injunction. This land was to be the underlying real estate for a project which the debtor had been developing for several years called “Buckingham Place”.

On March 13, 1980, while the involuntary petition was pending, a joint venture agreement was signed by and between the defendants Sylvia Siegal, Inc., Acofin Investment, Inc. and Samuel Friedman Management Company, Inc. Pursuant to this agreement, but without transfer of legal title, the aforestated land become the property of the joint venture. The evidence reflects and the Court finds that Sylvia Siegal, Inc., paid no money for the deeds and was acting solely as the agent for Brummer in accepting the title to these lands. At trial the remaining joint venture partners denied liability on two grounds:

A. They had no knowledge that Sylvia Siegal, Inc. was acting for Brummer.

B. They had no knowledge that Brum-mer was engaged in Bankruptcy proceedings.

Concerning the defendants first contention, the Court finds that all of the joint venture partners knew or should have known that Sylvia Siegal, Inc., was acting for Harry Brummer. This is clear from the evidence presented which is summarized as follows:

1. The initial discussion concerning the Buckingham Place “project” was conducted by Samuel Friedman, principal of Samuel Friedman Management Company, Inc. and an authorized agent of Acofin Investment, Inc., and Harry Brummer. Many of these discussions took place in the fall of 1979, prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy proceedings.

2. The negotiations which resulted in the Agreement of March 13, 1980, were principally conducted between Brummer and Friedman, and Brummer was the indispensable party to said negotiations. This fact is supported by the following evidence:

a. The negotiations were suspended while Brummer made a trip to Canada.

b.

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Related

Gaspe v. Brummer
782 F.2d 905 (Eleventh Circuit, 1986)
In Re Centre De Tricots De Gaspe
782 F.2d 905 (Eleventh Circuit, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
24 B.R. 93, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 3166, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tavormina-v-brummer-in-re-centre-de-tricots-de-gaspe-ltee-flsb-1982.