Tybee v. Coker (In re Coker)

569 B.R. 521, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 865
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 28, 2017
DocketNumber 15-40215-EJC; Adversary Number 15-04040-EJC
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 569 B.R. 521 (Tybee v. Coker (In re Coker)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tybee v. Coker (In re Coker), 569 B.R. 521, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 865 (Ga. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION ON DEBTOR’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Edward J. Coleman, III, Judge

In 2009, the plaintiffs Gray Tybee II, LLC (“Tybee IP), Gray Tybee III, LLC (“Gray Tybee III”), Pannell Properties II, LLC (“Pannell II”), and Pannell Properties III, LLC (“Pannell III”) (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”) entered into a real estate transaction with the Debtor1 which included a “buy-back” provision that allowed Plaintiffs, at their option, to sell the purchased real estate back to the Debtor2 after three years. The Plaintiffs exercised their option under the “buy-back” provision in 2012, but the Debtor defaulted on his obligation to purchase the property. As a result of this default, the Debtor and Plaintiffs entered into a settlement agreement, which required the Debtor to execute a promissory note in favor of the Plaintiffs. After the Debtor defaulted on the promissory note, Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit to recover on the note and obtained a $4,393,294.00 judgment against the Debtor on December 3,2014.

The Debtor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief on February 11, 2015. On August 10, 2015, the Plaintiffs filed the instant adversary proceeding seeking a determination from this Court that their judgment against the Debtor is non-dis-chargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B). The Plaintiffs allege that the Debtor deliberately provided false personal financial statements to the Plaintiffs for the purpose of inducing them to enter into the real estate transaction in 2009 and the subsequent settlement agreement in 2012.

Pending before the Court is the Debt- or’s Motion for Summary Judgment (adv. dckt. 22) filed on April 11, 2016. First, the Debtor asserts that summary judgment is appropriate because the Settlement Agreement’s merger clause bars the Plaintiffs from bringing this adversary proceeding based on § 523(a)(2)(B). In addition, the Debtor argues that he is entitled to summary judgment because the evidence in this case demonstrates as a matter of law that the Plaintiffs did not actually rely on the Debtor’s personal financial statements, and to the extent that there was any reliance, it was not reasonable. As will be explained, the Court finds that the merger clause does not preclude the Plaintiffs from bringing this adversary proceeding and that genuine issues of material fact exist as to the Plaintiffs’ reliance on the Debtor’s financial statements. Accordingly, the Court will deny the Debtor’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

1. JURISDICTION

The Court has subject-matter jurisdiction over this proceeding pursuant to 28 [524]*524U.S.C. § 1334(a), 28 U.S.C. § 157(a), and the Standing Order of Reference signed by then Chief Judge Anthony A. Alaimo on •July 13, 1984. This is a “core proceeding” under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I) (providing that core proceedings include “determinations as to the dischargeability of particular debts”),

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Real Estate Transaction

In the fall of 2008, James Pannell and Thomas Gray, the sole members of the Plaintiffs3, began to make plans to sell their interest in a building located at 218 West State Street in Savannah, Georgia. (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 1). In order to defer the taxes owed on the gains from the sale of this building, Pannell and Gray decided to pursue a “like-kind” exchange under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code (a “1031 Exchange”). Id, In basic terms, a 1031 Exchange allows a taxpayer to defer the payment of taxes on any gain realized from the sale of property (the “underlying property”) by reinvesting the proceeds from the sale into another similar property or properties (the “replacement property”). See 28 U.S.C. § 1031. However, to qualify for a 1031 Exchange, the taxpayer must identify and designate the replacement property within forty-five (45) days from the sale of the underlying property. 28 U.S.C. § 1031(a)(3)(A). The taxpayer must also close on the replacement property within 180 days of selling the underlying property. 28 U.S.C. § 1031(a)(3)(B). In order to confirm that the requirements of a 1031 Exchange have been met, the IRS requires that the taxpayer complete a Form 8824 and file it with his or her tax return.

On November 25, 2008, Pannell and Gray sold their interest in the 218 West State Street property. (Adv. Dckt. 23, ¶ 7). Thus, to qualify for a 1031 Exchange, they were required to designate a replacement property by January 9, 2009. Ultimately, Pannell and Gray, through Plaintiffs, designated the following three tracts of land in Hinesville, Georgia as their replacement properties:

1) Pannell, through Pannell II, would purchase a 5.4 acre tract of land known as Tract F-1B2;
2) Gray, through Tybee II, would purchase a 5.4 acre tract of land known as F-1B1; and
3) Pannell and Gray, through Pannell III and Tybee III, would jointly purchase a 7.6 acre tract of land known as F1-A1A.

(collectively, the “Independence Tracts4”) (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 5). According to the 8824 Forms filed by Pannell and Gray, they identified and designated the Independence Tracts as their replacement property on November 25, 2008. (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 6). However, Pannell and Gray claim that the designation did not actually occur until January 9, 2009, the last day required to make their replacement property designation.

On March 23, 2009, the Plaintiffs purchased the Independence Tracts from Quinnco for a total of $2,434,527.00. Id. As part of this transaction, Quinnco and its two primary members, Debtor and Malo-ney, executed separate buy-back agreements for each tract (the “Buy-Back Agreements”). These Buy-Back Agreements gave the Plaintiffs the option, after three years, of selling the Independence [525]*525Tracts back to Quinnco, the Debtor and Maloney at a combined price of $2,975,384.00. (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 8).

At the end of the three-year period, the Plaintiffs exercised their option under the Buy-Back Agreements, (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 1). However, the Debtor and Maloney were unable to purchase the Independence Tracts and defaulted on their obligations under the Buy-Back Agreements. Id. In early April 2012, the parties began settlement discussions regarding the Debtor’s default of the Buy-Back Agreements. On April 5, 2012, Pannell sent an email to the Debtor outlining a proposed settlement agreement in which Plaintiffs would accept promissory notes from Quinnco, the Debt- or and Maloney totaling $2,052,190.23 (the “Settlement Agreement”). (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 9). On May 7, 2012, the parties entered into the Settlement Agreement and attached the promissory notes as exhibits. (Adv. Dckt. 23, Ex. 11). Among other provisions, the Settlement Agreement extended the closing date on the buy backs to December 17, 2012. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
569 B.R. 521, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tybee-v-coker-in-re-coker-gasb-2017.