Wayne Lumber Co. v. Peternel (In Re Peternel)

220 B.R. 923, 1998 WL 289280
United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio·Decided April 7, 1998·No. 19-60423·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND DECISION

RICHARD L. SPEER, Chief Judge.

This cause comes before the Court after Trial on Complaint to Determine the Dis-chargeability of Debt. At the Trial, the Court provided the parties the opportunity to file Post-Trial Briefs, which the parties have done. This Court has reviewed the arguments of counsel, exhibits, and the entire record in the case. Based upon that review, and for the following reasons, the Court finds that the debt at issue is dischargeable.

FACTS

This case concerns certain alleged representations made by Defendant on behalf of Petemel Construction Company, Inc. (hereafter “Petemel Construction”), a closely held corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio, whose primary business was the construction of residential houses. Defendant was the president and, along with his wife, one of the two shareholders of Petemel Construction. Defendant maintained control of nearly all functions of the business including sales, marketing, checking on the progress of the work of the construction crews, and general management. Over time Petemel Construction built nearly two hundred fifty homes.

Plaintiff and Petemel Construction began doing business in the mid 1980’s. Plaintiff supplied lumber for Petemel Construction’s projects, and usually allowed Petemel Construction to purchase the lumber on credit, to be repaid as the project progressed. Gross sales from Plaintiff to Petemel Construction were approximately One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00) annually in the mid 1980’s, and grew to Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) in 1993, Six Hundred Thousand Dollars ($600,000.00) in 1994, and again Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) in 1995. At the same time, the credit balance outstanding to Plaintiff grew over time. At the beginning of 1995 it was approximately Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00). At the conclusion of the year it grew to over Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($450,000.00).

According to Defendant, in 1995 Petemel Construction suffered significant losses due to an embezzlement by an employee entrusted with financial responsibilities. Defendant claims he was never able to determine how much money was stolen. Because of this, and a variety of other problems which appear to have stemmed in large part from a disregard for any accounting or financial discipline, Peternel Construction began suffering cash flow problems in 1995. By late 1995 numerous checks written on the Petemel Construction account were being returned due to insufficient funds, including checks Defendant wrote to himself. The record reveals that between December of 1995 and June of 1996 over eighty checks were returned due to insufficient funds. On July, 1, 1996, Defendant filed bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

In late 1995, Dale Harms, President and owner of Plaintiff, contacted Defendant concerning the growing credit balance of the Petemel Construction account. Mr. Harms *926 indicated that unless immediate arrangements were made to lower the balance, no further materials would be delivered to Pet-ernel Construction. As a result of the communication, Mr. Harms was invited to meet with Defendant at the Peternel Construction office. Mr. Harms also testified that when he came to the meeting, he had expected that if he did not get paid, he would file mechanic’s .liens on the Peternel Construction job sites.

The meeting convened on December 12, 1995. Defendant told Mr. Harms that there were projects coming or underway from which he would be able to generate enough cash to reduce the balance of the debt, but that this could only happen if Mr. Harms did not cause the supply of materials to be cut off. That is, if Wayne did not supply materials to Peternel Construction, Peternel Construction would go out of business and not be able to pay the balance of its account. Defendant showed Mr. Harms specific cash projections, and Mr. Harms agreed to allow Peternel Construction the further use of material on credit. However, Mr. Harms did request and receive the names and phone numbers of specific bank employees who monitored the draws on the loans which would be used to fund the Peternel Construction projects.

Mr. Harms also claims that at the meeting Defendant told him that he had nothing to worry about because Defendant’s mother-in-law was rich, and that if he needed to he could get money from her. Mr. Harms claims that he gave this promise particular credence because he understood that she was very rich. In August of 1995, she had pledged a One Hundred Thousand Dollar ($100,000.00) certificate of deposit to guarantee a loan for Peternel Construction.

On the same day as the meeting, Defendant sent Mr. Harms a letter memorializing the cash flow projections he expected to receive in the following thirty to forty days, and the payments he expected to make to Plaintiff thereirom. The letter details the cash Peternel Construction expected to receive from eleven projects, totaling Three Hundred Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($375,000.00). It also states that of these receipts, at least One Hundred Thousand to One Hundred Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00 to $125,000.00) would go to Plaintiff by January 15th. The letter further states that there could be additional cash flow from the sale of “spec homes,” which Peternel Construction owned. Finally, the letter states that rough draws on two specific projects will be paid to Plaintiff by December 29th, and that these draws would total Fifty-seven Thousand Three Hundred Eighty-three and 93/100 Dollars ($57,383.93).

Though Mr. Harms claims that he was adamant that he expected Peternel Construction to comply with these promises, when no payment was made by December 29th and January 15th as promised in the letter, Mr. Harms took no immediate action. Rather, Plaintiff continued to supply materials to Peternel Construction well past this deadline.

By early March of 1996, Mr. Harms complained to Defendant that he had not been paid on certain projects as promised. In response, Mr. Harms claims that Defendant delivered certain checks to him which he expressly said were written on sufficient funds. Two of these checks were dated March 22, 1996, in the amounts of Twenty-eight Thousand Forty and 70/100 Dollars ($28,040.70) and Twenty-two Thousand Fifty-three and 83/100 Dollars ($22,053.83). Defendant’s testimony and a review of the Pet-ernel Construction check register reveal that the checks were written on March 8th, and were post-dated. The other cheek, in the amount of Twenty-three Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-six and 45/100 Dollars ($23,-456.45), appears to have been written and dated April 12,1996.

Mr. Harms never attempted to cash these cheeks. He testified that he personally called the bank on which these checks were drawn on five or six occasions in an attempt to find a time when he could cash the checks on sufficient funds. Even if he had found such a time, it appears that his attempts still would have been in vain. A review of Peter-nel Construction’s check register reveals that Defendant stopped payment on the checks dated March 22nd on or about March 27th. Defendant voided the check dated April 12th on or about May 15th.

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Wayne Lumber Co. v. Peternel (In Re Peternel), 220 B.R. 923, 1998 WL 289280 (Ohio 1998).

220 B.R. 923 (Wayne Lumber Co. v. Peternel (In Re Peternel)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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