United States v. The First National Bank of Memphis

458 F.2d 560, 29 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 933, 1972 U.S. App. LEXIS 10052
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedApril 17, 1972
Docket71-1699
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 458 F.2d 560 (United States v. The First National Bank of Memphis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. The First National Bank of Memphis, 458 F.2d 560, 29 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 933, 1972 U.S. App. LEXIS 10052 (1st Cir. 1972).

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by the First National Bank of Memphis from a judgment enforcing a federal tax lien. We affirm.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. In 1962, Thomas W. Shipp borrowed $10,000 from the Bank, securing the loan by a pledge of certain insurance policies on his life. In February 1963, involuntary bankruptcy proceedings were instituted against Shipp. Under authority of an order of the Referee in Bankruptcy the bank cashed the policies, retaining $3,560.76 after satisfying Shipp’s indebtedness to it. This sum represented the remaining proceeds from the cash surrender value of the insurance policies.

Notice of a federal tax lien against Shipp in excess of $200,000 was filed in the Register’s Office of Shelby County, Tennessee, on October 23,1963.

On December 9, 1963, Shipp executed the following document:

“First National Bank of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
“RE: Thomas W. Shipp loan
“Gentlemen:
“I am advised that you have on deposit to my credit, the approximate amount of $3,560.00, representing funds realized from the sale, disposition and transaction with certain policies of insurance which secured my loan from the First National Bank of Memphis.
“This will authorize you to pay such funds directly to E. J. Phelan for my account.
“This the 9th day of December, 1963.
“Yours very truly,
s/Thomas W. Shipp
THOMAS W. SHIPP”

The purpose of this transaction was to secure payment to Phelan and another attorney for legal services rendered and to be rendered in the bankruptcy proceedings and in a criminal prosecution brought against Shipp by the United States. The document was delivered to the Bank either on the day it is dated or on the following business day.

The Treasury Department served a levy on the Bank on April 6, 1964, to enforce the lien on Shipp’s funds. The Bank had possession of these funds at the time the levy was served. The funds were not paid to Phelan until September 1964, following approval of the trustee’s report holding that the remaining proceeds of the insurance policies were exempt from claims of the creditors of Shipp under Tennessee law. See T.C.A. § 56-1110; Lunsford v. Nashville Savings & Loan Corp., 162 Tenn. 179, 35 S.W.2d 395 (1931).

The United States filed this action to execute on the levy. The Bank defended on the ground that Phelan’s interest in the fund was superior to the tax lien. District Judge Robert M. McRae, Jr. ruled that the tax lien had priority and entered judgment for the United States.

Because of the unique character of the statutory tax lien, a review of the legislative history is set forth as an Appendix to this opinion. Stated briefly, protection given to the United States has expanded from simple priority in the distribution of the assets of an insolvent person or estate owing import duties to a comprehensive lien on all property owned by a delinquent taxpayer. Following ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, limitations on the scope of *562 the lien were enacted in the interest of furthering ordinary commercial transactions.

The United States acquires a lien on all property and property rights of any person having an outstanding tax liability. § 6321, Int.Rev.Code of 1954. 1 This lien arises at the time the tax assessment is made and continues until the tax is paid or becomes uncollectible by reason of lapse of time. § 6322. With certain exceptions, this lien takes priority over all subsequently perfected liens.

This appeal involves the applicability of two such exceptions, in the class known as superpriorities. The Bank claims superpriority status under § 6323(b) (1) (A), (b) (8). 2

1) Security Superpriority

The statutory definitions of “security” and “purchaser” provided in § 6323(h) are set forth in the margin. 3 We hold that the Bank has failed to establish that Phelan was the “purchaser of [a] security,” within the statutory definitions.

A distinction must be drawn between the funds held by the Bank and Phelan’s interest in those funds. The Bank argues that following the cashing of the insurance policies, it held money belonging to Shipp and that the December 9 document divested Shipp of any interest in the funds. The net result, it is urged, is that after delivery of this document to the Bank, it held the money *563 for Phelan, the document being evidence of Phelan’s property interest in the funds. Although this argument has some appeal, the unambiguous statutory language mandates its rejection.

For purposes of this appeal, we assume that the December 9 document was an assignment to Phelan by Shipp of the funds held by the Bank. 4 Treating the instrument as an assignment, it is nothing more than a non-negotiable instrument evidencing money held by a third party for the holder of the instrument. Congress carefully has limited the definition of a security to negotiable instruments or money. We decline to ignore this limitation by ruling that the document in question was a “security” entitled to superpriority status. To define “money” as “money or any evidence of a right to receive money” would open the door “beyond any reasonable width that Congress could have had in mind.” See Worley v. United States, 340 F.2d 500, 502 (9th Cir. 1965).

Even if it be assumed that the document was a “security,” we note that it did not order the Bank to pay Phelan or explicitly assign the funds to Phelan; it merely “authorized” the Bank to pay Phelan. Further, it does not appear that the document was ever in Phelan’s possession or that its existence was known to Phelan prior to the levy. At best the evidence shows that Shipp promised to pay Phelan out of the insurance proceeds and took it upon himself to make arrangements with the Bank. It thus is clear that Phelan could not be the “purchaser” of the money held by the Bank since he did not have “an interest (other than a lien or security interest) in [the money] which is valid under local law against subsequent purchasers without actual notice,” as required by § 6323(h) (6).

2) Attorney’s Lien Superpriority

The Bank asserts that Phelan obtained an attorney’s lien on the policy proceeds through his efforts in obtaining an exemption for them under state law. We hold that the Bank has failed to establish superpriority on this theory.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hussain v. Boston Old Colony Insurance
170 F. Supp. 2d 663 (E.D. Louisiana, 2001)
In Re LDM Development Corp.
211 B.R. 348 (D. Minnesota, 1997)
Montavon v. United States
864 F. Supp. 519 (E.D. Virginia, 1994)
Znider v. United States (In Re Znider)
150 B.R. 239 (C.D. California, 1993)
Christison v. United States
960 F.2d 613 (Seventh Circuit, 1992)
Rushmore State Bank v. Kurylas, Inc.
424 N.W.2d 649 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1988)
United States v. Central Bank of Denver
843 F.2d 1300 (Tenth Circuit, 1988)
Peoples Nat. Bank of Washington v. United States
608 F. Supp. 672 (W.D. Washington, 1984)
People v. Vermouth
42 Cal. App. 3d 353 (California Court of Appeal, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
458 F.2d 560, 29 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 933, 1972 U.S. App. LEXIS 10052, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-the-first-national-bank-of-memphis-ca1-1972.