Wade, Inc. v. Ellington (In re Ellington)

276 B.R. 470, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 1940
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 12, 2000
DocketBankruptcy No. 99-10599; Adversary No. 99-1081
StatusPublished

This text of 276 B.R. 470 (Wade, Inc. v. Ellington (In re Ellington)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wade, Inc. v. Ellington (In re Ellington), 276 B.R. 470, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 1940 (Miss. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVID W. HOUSTON, III, Bankruptcy Judge.

On consideration before the court are the following:

1. Motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant, David W. Ellington, referred to in this opinion as “debtor.”
2. A motion to strike, or, in the alternative, a response to the motion for summary judgment filed by the plaintiff, Wade, Inc., referred to in this opinion as “Wade.”
3. Rejoinder to the motion to strike, etc., filed by the debtor.

The court, having considered the aforesaid pleadings and the memoranda of law submitted by the parties, hereby finds as follows, to-wit:

[472]*472I.

The court has jurisdiction of the parties to and the subject matter of this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and 28 U.S.C. § 157. This is a core proceeding as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I).

II.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The debtor purchased three items of farm equipment from Wade pursuant to the following contracts:

1. 4-row cotton picker, contract # 492422917-01, executed on February 7,1995.
2. 5-row cotton picker, contract #492422914-02, executed on April 19,1996.
3. 8-row cultivator, contract #492422917, executed on June 27, 1996.

The three contracts were assigned to John Deere Company, the financial division of Deere & Company, referred to in this opinion as “Deere Credit.” Pursuant to the terms of a John Deere Agricultural Dealer Finance Agreement, the assignment of the three contracts was with full recourse against Wade. When the debtor defaulted in the payment of his contractual obligations, the contracts were reassigned by Deere Credit to Wade on April 6, 1999.

Prior to the reassignment to Wade, an employee of Deere Credit, Larry Long, contacted the debtor to discuss the payment of delinquencies that had arisen under the contracts. In an effort to avoid the immediate repossession of the equipment, the debtor, on October 2,1998, delivered two postdated checks to Long. According to Wade’s responses to requests for admissions, the checks were made payable to Deere Credit and were dated respectively, October 15, 1998, and October 20, 1998. According to Long’s deposition testimony, the debtor represented that he would honor the checks through proceeds that he anticipated realizing from future crop sales. The checks were not honored. The debtor, however, retained possession of the equipment and used the two cotton pickers in harvesting his 1998 crop. The items of equipment were thereafter returned to Wade in early December, 1998.

Shortly after the debtor filed a voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, Wade filed its complaint, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), asserting that the debt, which had then been reassigned to Wade, should be excepted from discharge. Wade contends that it has sustained damages, totaling approximately $35,000.00, resulting from the depreciation to the two cotton pickers which were used by the debtor between October 2, 1998, and early December, 1998. No damages are claimed because of the retention of the cultivator which was not utilized during the harvest. Wade alleges that the damages were principally caused by the debtor’s misrepresentations that he would honor the two postdated checks in consideration for the continued retention of the equipment.

In his motion for summary judgment, the debtor makes the following arguments:

1. That he made no representations which could legally be considered as fraudulent, including the delivery of the two postdated checks which were subsequently not honored, because the representations were promissory in nature and were based on events to be performed in the future.
2. That any representations that he made were to Larry Long, an employee of Deere Credit, and not to the plaintiff, Wade. As such, the debtor contends that his representations are not “imputable” as if they were made directly to Wade, nor could Wade have relied to its detriment on the representations.

[473]*473The court will address each of these issues hereinbelow.

III.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARDS

Summary judgment is properly granted when pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Bankruptcy Rule 7056; Uniform Local Bankruptcy Rule 18. The court must examine each issue in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Phillips v. OKC Corp., 812 F.2d 265 (5th Cir.1987); Putman v. Insurance Co. of North America, 673 F.Supp. 171 (N.D.Miss.1987). The moving party must demonstrate to the court the basis on which it believes that summary judgment is justified. The non-moving party must then show that a genuine issue of material fact arises as to that issue. Celotex Corporation v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Leonard v. Dixie Well Service & Supply, Inc., 828 F.2d 291 (5th Cir.1987), Putman v. Insurance Co. of North America, 673 F.Supp. 171 (N.D.Miss.1987). An issue is genuine if “there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a fact finder to find for that party.” Phillips, 812 F.2d at 273. A fact is material if it would “affect the outcome of the lawsuit under the governing substantive law.” Phillips, 812 F.2d at 272.

IV.

DISCUSSION

ISSUE NO. 1

In order to establish that the obligation, owed by the debtor, should be excepted from discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), Wade must prove the following elements:

1. The debtor made a representation.
2. The representation was false.
3. The representation was made with the intention of deceiving Wade.
4. Wade justifiably relied on the representation.
5. Wade sustained damages as a result of the representation.

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276 B.R. 470, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 1940, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wade-inc-v-ellington-in-re-ellington-msnb-2000.