Walsh v. Westmoreland Human Opportunities, Inc. (In Re Life Service Systems, Inc.)

279 B.R. 504, 48 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 624, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 625, 39 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 217, 2002 WL 1362106
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 20, 2002
Docket09-27985
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 279 B.R. 504 (Walsh v. Westmoreland Human Opportunities, Inc. (In Re Life Service Systems, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walsh v. Westmoreland Human Opportunities, Inc. (In Re Life Service Systems, Inc.), 279 B.R. 504, 48 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 624, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 625, 39 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 217, 2002 WL 1362106 (Pa. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BERNARD MARKOVITZ, Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter is on remand for determination of two issues. We first must determine whether defendant Westmoreland Human Opportunities (hereinafter “WHO”), which at one time was a member of the Official Committee Of Unsecured Creditors, owed a fiduciary duty to fellow general unsecured creditors with respect to a transaction involving an asset that does not qualify as property of the debt- or’s bankruptcy estate. If it does owe a fiduciary duty, we also must determine whether WHO breached that duty when it engaged in the transaction, wherein its actions benefitted itself and inured to the detriment of the other unsecured creditors.

We conclude for reasons set forth below that a fiduciary duty can arise in such a situation and that, under the facts of this case, WHO in fact breached its fiduciary duty. We accordingly will enter a judgment in the amount of $135,653 in favor of the chapter 11 trustee and against WHO.

—FACTS—

Debtor Life Service Systems, Inc. and defendant WHO are non-profit corporations which operate various community and social services programs for residents of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

Debtor endeavored in 1995 to provide transitional housing for homeless families residing in Westmoreland County while they sought permanent housing and learned necessary skills for living.

In April of 1995, debtor submitted a request to United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) for a grant under the federal Supportive Housing Program. Recipients of such grants are selected through a time-consuming nationwide competitive process. See 42 U.S.C. § 11386(b). As part of the process, debtor was required to submit an application and project proposal providing detailed information concerning the proposed housing project, debtor’s past experience in providing housing assistance, and a budget for the project. While there is an obvious cost to this submittal, no party has offered the details of same.

In its application, debtor requested funding in the amount of $1,326,925 to cover the cost of acquiring, rehabilitating, and operating two apartment buildings. The cost of providing supportive services offered at these sites and a five percent fee to cover debtor’s administrative overhead were also included.

HUD advised debtor in August of 1995 that it had preliminarily approved debtor’s request for funding in the exact amount requested. Final approval was contingent upon completion of an acceptable technical submission. Debtor did as required and in the process expended additional blocks of time and resources putting together a final submission that was acceptable to HUD.

On February 6, 1996, HUD gave final approval for a transitional housing project to be located at 49 Division Street in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Several days later, debtor and HUD executed a formal grant agreement which obligated HUD to provide $1,326,925 for the Division Street *507 property and which obligated debtor to administer the project at that site. The grant was for a term of three years and was subject to renewal.

Debtor purchased the Division Street property shortly after executing the agreement and began renovating it. The purchase price was $295,000.

As a precondition to receiving funds under the grant, debtor was required to obtain matching funds from others sources totaling $295,000. In addition to pledging $20,000 of its own money, debtor obtained pledges from Westmoreland Housing Authority ($25,000), United Way ($100,000) and Richard K. Mellon Foundation ($150,-000). Debtor used these matching funds to complete renovations.

Only a few months after entering into the above agreement with HUD, debtor began experiencing what has been termed “financial and administrative problems”. Little or no detail was offered as to the nature of these “problems”. In an effort to overcome these “problems”, debtor entered into an agreement with WHO in September of 1996 whereby WHO was to provide management assistance to debtor. While serving in this capacity, WHO learned the intimate details of debtor’s operations, including the specifics of the above grant agreement with HUD.

The relationship between debtor and WHO was short-lived. WHO abruptly terminated it in October of 1996, for reasons that are not clear.

After WHO pulled out, debtor retained Adelphoi, Inc., another non-profit organization operating in Westmoreland County, to manage debtor and to conduct its day-to-day operations. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, all of debtor’s board members resigned and were replaced by directors selected by Adelphoi.

On January 14, 1997, approximately two months after Adelphoi had taken over managing debtor’s affairs, debtor filed a voluntary chapter 11 petition. The decision to do so was made by the newly-appointed board of directors Adelphoi had selected.

WHO was listed on the accompanying schedules as having a general unsecured claim for management services it had provided in September and October of 1996. Also listed as creditors were matching fund grantors Westmoreland County Housing Authority ($3,798), United Way ($57,631), and Richard K. Mellon Foundation ($22,825). It is the custom of debtors filing under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in this district to schedule assets that it considers are not assets of the bankruptcy estate for the purpose of completeness and for informational purposes. The theory behind this practice stems from the fact that the bankruptcy petition is executed under penalty of perjury and Rule 9011 and the Bankruptcy Bar is sensitive to the charge of impropriety. Debtor’s interest in the supportive housing program grant was not listed on its schedules.

By the time of the bankruptcy filing, debtor had drawn down approximately $288,000 in grant funds.

An official committee of unsecured creditors was constituted shortly after the bankruptcy filing. A representative of WHO served on the committee until September of 1997, when it withdrew amid accusations of a conflict of interest. WHO apparently was sharing confidential information with third parties having an interest adverse to debtor’s other unsecured creditors.

At the time of or shortly after debtor filed its bankruptcy petition, WHO and Adelphoi devised a scheme whereby they would divide the spoils of the supportive housing grant. Adelphoi would purchase *508 the property located at 49 Division Street at a future sale to take place in this court. WHO would replace debtor as the supportive housing grantee and would house program participants at 49 Division Street.

The parties acted as if they could merely direct the actions of HUD and HUD would strictly' follow those directions. As future events showed, in this instance they were correct.

Two weeks after debtor filed its bankruptcy petition, HUD declared debtor to be in default of the provisions of the supportive housing grant. HUD informed debtor by letter dated January 28, 1997, that it was in default as a result of the bankruptcy filing.

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Related

In Re Nutritional Sourcing Corp.
398 B.R. 816 (D. Delaware, 2008)
Westmoreland Human Opportunities, Inc. v. Walsh
327 B.R. 561 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
279 B.R. 504, 48 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 624, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 625, 39 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 217, 2002 WL 1362106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walsh-v-westmoreland-human-opportunities-inc-in-re-life-service-pawb-2002.