Van Balen v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

626 S.W.2d 205, 3 Ark. App. 243, 33 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1046, 1981 Ark. App. LEXIS 817
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 9, 1981
DocketCA 81-162
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 626 S.W.2d 205 (Van Balen v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Van Balen v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co., 626 S.W.2d 205, 3 Ark. App. 243, 33 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1046, 1981 Ark. App. LEXIS 817 (Ark. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinions

George K. Cracraft, Judge.

Appellants, Frank G. Van Balen and Betty A. Van Balen, appeal from a decree of the Chancery Court of Johnson County in which judgment was entered against them as guarantors of defaulted notes executed by Virginia Fiberglass Products, Inc., a bankrupt third party, to the appellee, Peoples Bank & Trust Company, in which proceeding Virginia Fiberglass Products, Inc. was not a party and no relief was prayed or granted against it.

Appellants maintain that the chancellor erred in three respects: 1) That the proceedings against them as guarantors in the Chancery Court were automatically stayed and the state court’s jurisdiction was ousted by virtue of bankruptcy proceedings as to the principal debtor; 2) that appellants were discharged from their guaranty agreement by an unjustifiable impairment of the collateral securing the guaranteed notes; and, 3) that the chancellor erred in not enjoining the order for sale and foreclosure because Virginia Fiberglass, as lessee of the property sought to be foreclosed, was a necessary and indispensable party to the action. We do not agree.

FACTS

In February 1979 Virginia Fiberglass Products, Inc. entered into an arrangement with appellee, Peoples Bank & Trust Company, under which the appellee made loans in substantial amounts to it, secured by security agreements on its furniture, fixtures, equipment and inventory. As part of the arrangement appellants Van Balen, principal stockholders of Virginia Fiberglass Products, Inc., personally guaranteed those notes and further secured the repayment of the guaranteed notes by a real estate mortgage on property owned by appellants.

Although the appellee filed financing statements on all of the collateral pledged by Virginia Fiberglass Products, its filing as to the furniture, fixtures and equipment was defective, and ony the lien on inventory was perfected.Virginia Fiberglass Products subsequently filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy under Title XI in the State of Virginia and placed itself under the protection of that bankruptcy court in an effort to reorganize and effect a plan for the discharge of the indebtedness. The guaranteed notes were in default and the appellee brought this action in the Chancery Court against the appellants, the Van Balens, seeking judgment upon their guaranty of the notes and sale of the mortgaged real estate if the judgment be not paid. Virginia Fiberglass Products was not made a party to the action and no relief was prayed against it.

The appellants answered asserting that Virginia Fiberglass Products had entered Title XI bankruptcy proceedings and appelleee was enjoined from attempting to collect any money from the appellants “due to the fact that Virginia Fiberglass Products, Inc. is not a party to this suit, but to the above mentioned bankruptcy proceedings and is solvent and fully able to pay this plaintiff, pursuant to orders of the bankruptcy court but may not pay this plaintiff except under those orders.” They answered further that as appellants were only guarantors, appellee could not foreclose the second mortgage until the principal maker was shown to be unable to pay. By subsequent amendment it further answered by affirmatively pleading that appellants had been released from the guaranty because of the failure of appellee, the holder of said notes, to properly perfect a security interest in the assets of the bankrupt.

No assertion of any interest of Virginia Fiberglass Products in the real estate sought to be foreclosed was ever made in the pleadings nor was proof of that interest tendered in the evidence presented at the subsequent, hearing of January 27, 1980. No documents or orders purporting to have been issued from the bankruptcy court in Virginia or any other place was introduced. At the conclusion of the hearing the court entered a decree granting judgment in favor of the appellee against the appellants in the sum of $59,884.36 plus fees and costs and ordering the mortgaged real estate sold.

Appellants appeal from that decree, advancing those three points of error set out in the opening paragraphs of this opinion. We will decide those points in the order in which they were so listed and in our discussion of each point make reference to such other facts as are deemed necessary to an understanding of our decision related thereto.

THE JURISDICTION OF THE CHANCERY COURT

The appellants first contend that the Chancery Court had no jurisdiction in these proceedings because, as a result of the filing of the petition in bankruptcy by Virginia Fiberglass Products, all action against them as co-debtors of the bankrupt were automatically stayed and exclusive jurisdiction of the claim vested in the Bankruptcy Court. Appellants maintain that 28 U.S.C. § 1471 has so expanded the provisions of the automatic stay provision of 11 U.S.C. § 362 as to have that effect. It is their contention that these two sections give the Bankruptcy Court original and exclusive jurisdiction of all matters relating to the bankruptcy, and specifically to the obligation of a co-maker or guarantor of the bankrupt’s notes. We do not agree.

11 U.S.C. § 362 is the only pertinent section involving the “automatic stay” of bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter XI. It provides that the filing of a voluntary petition in bankruptcy effects an automatic stay as to the commencement or continuance of any claim against the debtor or his property. It extends no further and stays no proceeding other than those “against the debtor or his property.” Its purpose is to give the bankrupt a breathing spell from its creditors, give it an opportunity to reorganize itself and prevent creditors from defeating these purposes by pursuing the bankrupt in another forum. It was enacted to protect the debtor and his estate, not for the benefit of other parties. In re Larmar Estates, Inc., 5 BR 328 (1980); In re Cloud Nine, Ltd., 3 BR 202 (1980). The automatic stay of that section does not protect the guarantors of a loan made to the debtor or other persons or parties who have not filed proceedings in bankruptcy. In re Larmar Estates, Inc., supra; In re Cloud Nine, Ltd., supra.

This is not to say, however, that the bankruptcy courts may not under the recent enactment of 28 U.S.C. § 1471 et seq. stay such proceedings or assume jurisdiction over them when it appears necessary and appropriate for the orderly administration of the bankrupt’s estate, or where it appears that the action in the state court might impair its ability to effect the purposes of the bankruptcy proceeding, but only that we do not agree with appellants’ contention that these enactments vest exclusive and automatic j urisdiction of suits against guarantors or other matters “related to” or arising out of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The enactment of 28 U.S.C. § 1471 et seq. did substantially expand the powers of the bankruptcy courts and their jurisdiction.

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Van Balen v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co.
626 S.W.2d 205 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
626 S.W.2d 205, 3 Ark. App. 243, 33 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1046, 1981 Ark. App. LEXIS 817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-balen-v-peoples-bank-trust-co-arkctapp-1981.