Wallach ex rel. Bankruptcy for Northstar Development Corp. v. Buchheit (In re Northstar Development Corp.)

465 B.R. 6
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 10, 2012
DocketNos. 08-10689 B, AP 08-1074 B
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 465 B.R. 6 (Wallach ex rel. Bankruptcy for Northstar Development Corp. v. Buchheit (In re Northstar Development Corp.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallach ex rel. Bankruptcy for Northstar Development Corp. v. Buchheit (In re Northstar Development Corp.), 465 B.R. 6 (N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

CARL L. BUCKI, Chief Judge.

In this adversary proceeding, the Chapter 7 trustee seeks two forms of relief: first, the avoidance of transfers to the principal of the debtor; and second, the subordination of his claims to the claims of other unsecured creditors. The demand for avoidance speaks to the fine distinctions between a fraudulent conveyance under section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code and a similar cause of action under New York’s version of the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act. The central issues include whether a fraudulent conveyance can arise from payments made on account of secured indebtedness. With regard to the demand for equitable subordination, the parties contest both the basis for relief and the scope of an appropriate remedy.

Northstar Development Corp. is a former owner of the Statler Towers, an architecturally significant landmark in the City of Buffalo, New York. While managing this building, Northstar retained Contract Specialists International, Inc., to provide janitorial services. Northstar owed $88,839.67 to Contract Specialists on August 18, 2006, when Northstar sold the Statler Towers to BSC Development BUF, LLC. Never receiving payment for its outstanding balance, Contract Specialists commenced an action against Northstar in the New York State Supreme Court for Erie County. This action resulted in the entry of judgment on June 29, 2007, for the total sum of $42,288.36, including interest and costs. When Contract Specialists received no satisfaction of the judgment, it commenced a second action against Northstar and its sole shareholder, Gerald A. Buchheit, Jr., to recover the outstanding judgment through the avoidance of allegedly fraudulent transfers to the corporation’s principal. However, on February 21, 2008, before the state court could reach a decision on the fraudulent transfer complaint, Northstar Development Corp. filed a petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

On March 26, 2008, the Chapter 7 trustee removed the fraudulent conveyance action to Bankruptcy Court. The trustee has twice amended the complaint, which now seeks to recover the transferred funds for the benefit of all creditors. In its answer, the defendant has asserted a counterclaim seeking the allowance of his claim in the amount of $3,301,989.77. The trustee then filed a reply in which he requests that the defendant’s claim be equitably subordinated to the claims of all other creditors.

The parties stipulated to many of the essential facts, and a trial on the remaining factual disputes was held on May 24 and 25 of 2011. At the conclusion of testimony, the court granted permission to the parties to submit post-trial briefs. Having carefully considered the arguments of counsel, this court now makes the findings of fact and conclusions of law that are incorporated into this opinion.

In its complaint, the trustee seeks to recover distributions totaling $1,001,337.02, together with interest and legal costs. This sum incorporates three categories of payment from the debtor to Gerald A. Buchheit, Jr. The first occurred on August 18, 2006, when Northstar sold the Statler Towers for a stated consideration of $3,500,000. As part of these proceeds, two [11]*11checks totaling $809,419.76 were delivered to Buchheit. The closing statement lists both checks with the notation: “Gerald A. Buchheit — Mtg. Sat.” Consistent with this statement, Buchheit executed two instruments entitled “Discharge of Mortgage.” The first purported to discharge a mortgage given to Buchheit on November 22, 1993, to secure a principal obligation of $1,000,000, together with interest. The second instrument purported to discharge a mortgage that secured an obligation, in the original amount of $1,200,000, that Buchheit had acquired by assignment in 2006.

The second form of disbursement involved the release of $89,401.31 to Gerald A. Buchheit, Jr. on August 23, 2006, from an escrow account holding a deposit that BSC Development BUF, LLC., had paid when it executed the contract to purchase the Statler Towers. At closing, the purchaser received appropriate credit for the full deposit in the amount of $300,000. The transfer of title satisfied the conditions for its release from escrow. Pursuant to Northstar’s instructions, the escrow agent then delivered a portion of this fund to Buchheit.

Thirdly, between March 7, 2006, and February 16, 2007, Buchheit received seven payments totaling $102,515.95, on account of outstanding unsecured obligations. The majority of these funds derived from a refund of real property taxes that the debtor had paid prior to the sale of the Statler Towers. At the start of the trial of the present case, Buch-heit’s counsel reported that his client had agreed to repay this $102,515.95 into the bankruptcy estate. However, he did not concede liability for either interest or legal fees.

The parties have stipulated that North-star was insolvent on the day prior to the closing of its sale of the Statler Towers and at all times thereafter. Gerald Buch-heit was at all relevant times an insider of the debtor. The trustee contends that as an insider, Buchheit cannot qualify as a good-faith recipient of payment. Consequently, in the trustee’s view, all of the transfers were fraudulent and avoidable under the Bankruptcy Code and various provisions of the Debtor and Creditor Law of New York. Buchheit responds that except with respect to funds that he has voluntarily returned to the debtor, the disputed transfers represented payment on account of secured obligations. In as much as the underlying secured obligations were valid, Buchheit believes that the payments represent not a fraudulent conveyance but the satisfaction of an unavoidable obligation.

Discussion

Fraudulent Conveyance Claims

Chapter 5 of the Bankruptcy Code establishes the avoidance powers of a trustee. Chief among these are the power under 11 U.S.C. § 547 to avoid preferences and the power under 11 U.S.C. § 548 to avoid fraudulent conveyances. But when the particular requirements of these sections preclude recovery, trustees may turn to the alternative provision of 11 U.S.C. § 544(b)(1), which permits the advancement of claims that an unsecured creditor could have asserted under applicable state, law.

In the present instance, the trustee possesses no valid claim under either section 547 or section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code. Section 547 allows a trustee to avoid preferential payments made to insiders within one year of the bankruptcy filing. Here, the most recent payment to Buchheit occurred on February 16, 2007, a date that preceded, by more than one year, the bankruptcy filing on February 21, 2008. With respect to an allegedly fraudulent [12]*12conveyance, section 548 allows a trustee to avoid transfers made within two years of bankruptcy and that are either actually or constructively fraudulent. As defined by section 548(a)(1)(B), constructive fraud can arise in any of four circumstances. For example, a constructively fraudulent transfer may occur when, as stipulated in the present instance, a debtor “was insolvent on the date that such transfer was made or such obligation was incurred.” 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(l)(B)(ii)(I).

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

Related

SSC NY Corp. v. Computershare Inc.
2024 NY Slip Op 00991 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2024)
Fort, Trustee v. Daileader
D. South Carolina, 2022
Mantle v. N. Star Energy & Constr. LLC
437 P.3d 758 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2019)
Brick v. Conti (In re Conti)
572 B.R. 73 (W.D. New York, 2017)
In re Eddy
572 B.R. 774 (M.D. Florida, 2017)
Al-Naji v. Al-Naji (In re Al-Naji)
521 B.R. 65 (W.D. New York, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
465 B.R. 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallach-ex-rel-bankruptcy-for-northstar-development-corp-v-buchheit-in-nywb-2012.