Welther v. Donell (In re Oakmore Ranch Management)

337 B.R. 222, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 114, 45 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 268
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 20, 2006
DocketBAP No. CC-05-1168-BKPA; Bankruptcy No. LA 94-16755-ER; Adversary No. LA 96-01580-ER
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 337 B.R. 222 (Welther v. Donell (In re Oakmore Ranch Management)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welther v. Donell (In re Oakmore Ranch Management), 337 B.R. 222, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 114, 45 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 268 (bap9 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

BRANDT, Bankruptcy Judge.

After David Seror, the trustee in the chapter 71 bankruptcy of Oakmore Ranch Management, obtained a judgment against appellant Michael J. Welther, III, on behalf of the bankruptcy estate, he executed on funds owed to appellant by a third party. Because the promissory note evidencing the obligation was in his children’s names, appellant contended he had no interest in the note, and thus it could not be levied upon; the bankruptcy court apparently found otherwise, and ordered the funds released to the trustee. This appeal ensued.

Appellant expressly waived any procedural error in the bankruptcy court, and did not provide an adequate record on appeal. But we AFFIRM because appellant has not shown that the bankruptcy court clearly erred in making the crucial factual finding which we discern in the incomplete record we do have.

We publish to highlight again — see In re Gertsch, 237 B.R. 160, 169 (9th Cir. BAP 1999) — the difficulties created when necessary findings are contained in tentative rulings which are neither designated for the record on appeal nor included in the excerpts. The problem is here exacerbated by the fact that the tentative ruling is neither docketed nor oral and thus available via transcript. But for the unique simplicity of this appeal, we (and any appellate court) would have no choice but to remand for findings or affirm because error cannot be shown from the record. The former would inflict considerable costs on all concerned, and the latter would be of no benefit to appellant.

I. FACTS

The trustee obtained a $2.1 million judgment on behalf of the Oakmore Ranch Management bankruptcy estate against Welther on 31 March 1997. In 2004, while attempting to execute on the judgment, the trustee discovered Lillian Russell owed a debt to Welther. The debt was evidenced by a promissory note naming Welther’s three minor children as payees, signed by Ms. Russell on 14 May 1999 for $111,000. Exhibit A to Opposition to Release Funds ... (“Note”).

The trustee served a writ of execution on Ms. Russell in June 2004, providing a copy to Welther’s counsel. Thereafter Ms. [225]*225Russell and the trustee reached an agreement whereby Ms. Russell would make payments on the $87,650 balance of the Note directly to the trustee. Previously she had paid by offset against condominium rent owed to her by Welther. Ms. Russell’s attorney sent a letter outlining this agreement to Welther’s counsel on 27 August 2004.

Ms. Russell made payments under the agreement until December 2004, when she informed the trustee that Welther was asserting that the funds were owed to his children. She paid the remaining balance of $47,650 to the trustee in trust, pending a court order authorizing disposition of the funds.

On 11 February 2005 the trustee wrote Welther’s counsel requesting that Welther stipulate to release of the funds; neither Welther nor his counsel responded. Shortly thereafter, the trustee moved for release of the funds. His motion erroneously alleged that the debt was evidenced by a promissory note dated 10 July 1991 for $110,000 in favor of Welther. Welther’s response pointed out the error, which the trustee later conceded, and Welther, as proposed guardian ad litem for his children, opposed the motion, asserting that he had no interest in the Note. Welther asserted that the loan that gave rise to the note was funded with money from his children’s trust fund, which was why the children were the payees. In reply, the trustee argued that, notwithstanding that the children were the named payees, the funds actually came from Welther and the beneficial interest in the Note was his.

The bankruptcy court promulgated a tentative ruling, apparently agreeing with the trustee’s position, and entered an order authorizing release of the funds to the trustee. Welther timely appealed.

II.JURISDICTION

The bankruptcy court had jurisdiction via 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and § 157(b)(1) and (B)(2)(A) and (O), and we do under 28 U.S.C. § 158(c).

III.ISSUES2

A. Whether we should dismiss or affirm for Welther’s failure to provide an adequate record; and

B. Whether the bankruptcy court clearly erred in concluding that Welther owned the beneficial interest in the Note.

IV.STANDARDS OF REVIEW

We review the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact for clear error. Rule 8013. A factual finding is clearly erroneous if the appellate court, after reviewing the record, has a firm and definite conviction that a mistake has been committed. Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). If two views of the evidence are possible, the trial judge’s choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous. Id. at 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504.

V.DISCUSSION

A. Record on Appeal

Rule 8009(b)(5) requires that an appellant designate and provide a record that includes “the opinion, findings of fact, and conclusions of law filed or delivered orally .... ” See also Rule 8006. Welther included a copy of the hearing transcript in the excerpts of record; that transcript suggests the court’s findings were in its tenta[226]*226tive ruling and counsel so indicated at argument. Welther did not provide that ruling in his excerpts. He bears the burden of presenting a complete record, In re Kritt, 190 B.R. 382, 387 (9th Cir. BAP 1995), and we need not look beyond the excerpts provided. In re Kyle, 317 B.R. 390, 394 (9th Cir. BAP 2004).

If a tentative decision is necessary to understanding the court’s ruling, it must be included in the designation and the excerpts of the record. Gertsch, 237 B.R. at 169. Moreover, this appeal arises from a contested matter, and: “the court shall find the facts specially and state separately its conclusions of law thereon .... ” FRCP 52(a), applicable via Rules 7052 and 9014.

We may remand when the absence of findings of fact and conclusions of law hinder our review. In re Pham, 250 B.R. 93, 99 (9th Cir. BAP 2000) (citing In re Hotel Hollywood, 95 B.R. 130, 133-34 (9th Cir. BAP 1988)). Or we could take judicial notice of the tentative ruling, which presumably explicates the court’s findings, if it were in the docket, In re E.R. Fegert, Inc., 887 F.2d 955, 957-58 (9th Cir.1989), but it is not.

Further, as we said in Kyle, 317 B.R. at 393:

The settled rule on appellate records in general is that failure to provide a sufficient record to support informed review of trial-court determinations may, but need not, lead either to dismissal of the appeal or to affirmance for inability to demonstrate error.

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337 B.R. 222, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 114, 45 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welther-v-donell-in-re-oakmore-ranch-management-bap9-2006.