J. RICH LEONARD, Bankruptcy Judge.
This matter came before the court on Endcom, Inc.'s ("defendant") motion to dismiss this adversary proceeding for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, to which James B. Angell ("trustee") has objected. A hearing on the matter was held on January 10, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court took the matter under advisement and allowed the parties ten days to file supplemental briefs.
Tanglewood Farms, Inc. of Elizabeth City ("debtor") filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on August 20, 2010, which was subsequently converted to one under chapter 7 on July 12, 2011. On August 23, 2010, James H. Winslow ("Mr. Winslow") and his wife, Billie Winslow ("Mrs. Winslow") (collectively "Winslows") filed a joint voluntary petition under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Prior to and at the time of both filings, Mr. Winslow was the president and sole shareholder of the debtor. In that capacity, he oversaw the debtor's granary operations in Pasquotank County, North Carolina and made decisions concerning the assets, liabilities and relationship between the debtor and his personal farming operation, Winslow Farms. See In re Tanglewood Farms, Inc. of Elizabeth City, No. 10-06719, 2011 WL 672060, at *1-2 (Bankr.E.D.N.C. Feb. 18, 2011) (denying motion to substantively consolidate the two chapter 11 cases although testimony revealed "that the creditors identified the debtors as one entity... and the general impression from the community led [the appointed chief restructuring officer] to believe that Mr. Winslow administered the two farms under one identity.").
On September 15, 2008, the debtor and Mr. and Mrs. Winslow individually executed a promissory note in favor of the defendant in the original principal amount of $600,000.00 ("promissory note"). The promissory note was a demand note, which became due and payable on or before December
The trustee filed a complaint initiating this adversary proceeding on August 19, 2012, asserting two separate causes of action to avoid and recover three alleged constructively fraudulent transfers pursuant to §§ 544, 548, 550 and 551 of the Bankruptcy Code and N.C. Gen.Stat. § 39-23.1 et seq. On September 9, 2012, the defendant filed the motion to dismiss currently before the court. The defendant submitted a brief in support of its motion to dismiss on November 27, 2012. On January 9, 2013, the trustee filed a memorandum of law in opposition to the defendant's motion to dismiss and in accordance with the court's oral ruling at the conclusion of the hearing held on January 10, 2013, the trustee filed a supplemental memorandum of law on January 22, 2013.
Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires every pleading to contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief...." Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2); Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7008. A party may move, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7012(b). To demonstrate entitlement to relief and survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (emphasizing that a pleading providing "labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." (citing Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986))).
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677-78, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal citations, quotation marks and brackets omitted). The veracity of well-pleaded allegations in the complaint will be assumed
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012, the defendant alleges that the trustee's causes of action must be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
Section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code permits the trustee to avoid, based on a theory of constructive fraud, "any transfer ... of an interest of the debtor in property, or any obligation ... incurred by the debtor, that was made or incurred ... within two years before the date of the fling of the petition," provided the debtor "received less than a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for such transfer or obligation[]" and either
11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1)(B); BER Care, Inc., 409 B.R. at 754. To avoid payments as constructively fraudulent, the trustee must prove by a preponderance of the evidence, that the challenged payments were not made in exchange for reasonably equivalent value. 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1)(B). Value, as defined in § 548(d)(2)(A), includes the "satisfaction or securing of a present or antecedent debt of the debtor...."
Section 544 of the Bankruptcy Code allows the trustee to avoid any transfer of the debtor's property or obligation incurred by the debtor under the North Carolina Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act, N.C. Gen.Stat. § 39-21.1, provided an unsecured creditor existed at the time of the transfer. 11 U.S.C. § 544(a). Under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 39-23.4, "a transfer is fraudulent if made without receiving reasonably equivalent value; and, the debtor was either engaged in a business transaction for which the remaining assets of the debtor were unreasonably small in relation to the transaction, or the debtor knew debt incurred was beyond the debtor's ability to pay." Beaman v. Barth (In re AmerLink, Ltd.), No. 10-00164, 2011 WL 1048848, at *3-4 (Bankr.E.D.N.C. Mar. 18, 2011) (citing N.C. Gen.Stat. § 39-23.4).
The Fourth Circuit has emphasized that when evaluating reasonably equivalent value "[t]he focus is on the consideration received by the debtor, not on the value given by the transferee. The purpose of fraudulent transfer law is the preservation of the debtor's estate for the benefit of its unsecured creditors." Harman v. First Am. Bank (In re Jeffrey Bigelow Design Grp., Inc.), 956 F.2d 479 (4th Cir.1992) (holding that "what constitutes reasonably equivalent value must be determined from the standpoint of the debtor's creditors...."); accord Barber v. Golden Seed Co., 129 F.3d 382, 387 (7th Cir.1997) ("The test used to determine reasonably equivalent value in the context of a fraudulent conveyance requires the court to determine the value of what was transferred and to compare it to what was received." (citation omitted)). A large or significant disparity between what the debtor gave and what it received in exchange typically precludes a finding that the debtor received reasonably equivalent value. 5 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 548.05[2][a] (Alan N. Resnick & Henry J. Sommer eds., 16th ed. rev. 2012). "Courts generally find a lack of reasonably equivalent value when the transfer or obligations benefits a third party.... hold[ing] that such transfers provide no value to the debtor." Id. ¶ 548.05[2][b]. Although reasonably equivalent value may be the satisfaction of the antecedent debt or obligation of the debtor, it is not the satisfaction or guarantee of the debt of another. Tourtellot v. Huntington Nat'l Bank (In re Renegade Holdings, Inc.), 457 B.R. 441, 444 (Bankr.M.D.N.C.2011); see Dietz v. St. Edwards Catholic Church (In re Bargfrede), 117 F.3d 1078, 1080 (8th Cir.1997) (per curium) (concluding that the debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value in diverting his pension funds to satisfy a civil judgment against his wife); Leonard v. Norman Vinitsky Residuary Tr. (In re
This court has emphasized that "[a]dequate pleadings under § 548(a)(1)(B) include a list of the alleged fraudulent transfers, identification of the consideration received by the transferee, and information concerning why the consideration was not equivalent in value." AmerLink, 2011 WL 1048848, at *3 (citing BER Care, 409 B.R. at 756). In AmerLink, this court dismissed the trustee's avoidance action, based on a constructive fraud theory, for failure to state a claim because the complaint failed to "show[] that the transaction was more than repayment on the [previously executed] note." 2011 WL 1048848, at *4-5 (dismissing a complaint because it lacked factual assertions to satisfy pleading standards where the "transaction mirrors a typical lender/borrower relationship: AmerLink sought loans, NCCB agreed to lend money, and promissory notes of equivalent value were executed in favor of NCCB.").
The complaint in this case asserts two separate causes of action. The first, based on §§ 548, 550 and 551, seeks avoidance of a promissory note and security agreement executed by the debtor in favor of the defendant during the two-year period prior to the petition date, as constructively fraudulent transfers. Specifically, the trustee alleges that the debtor was insolvent at the time of the execution and did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the obligations it incurred by executing the promissory note and the security interest it granted to the defendant. Second, the trustee seeks avoidance and recovery of a $50,000.00 payment made by the debtor to the defendant during the two-year period prior to filing, pursuant to §§ 544, 548, 550 and 551 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 39-21.1 et seq. In support, the trustee asserts that Mr. Winslow was the primary beneficiary of the proceeds of the loan, $597,410.00, which were deposited in the Winslows' personal bank account and used to operate Winslow Farms. This, according to the trustee, establishes that the debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for incurring the obligation and the payment in partial satisfaction of the indebtedness because Mr. Winslow, not the debtor, was the direct beneficiary of the loan proceeds and used them to finance his personal farming operations.
The facts and allegations in the complaint therefore, support the trustee's assertion that the debtor did not receive any benefit, direct or indirect, in exchange for the liability it incurred by executing the promissory note. The complaint establishes that Mr. Winslow, and not the debtor, was the recipient of all the loan proceeds. Because the loan proceeds were deposited in the Winslows' personal bank account, the debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the obligations it incurred under the promissory note. See Frontier Bank v. Brown (In re N. Merchandise, Inc.), 371 F.3d 1056, 1059 (9th Cir.2004) (holding that debtor, who was not a party to the transaction, received reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the security interest it granted to secure a shareholder's indebtedness, where the proceeds of the loan were directly deposited into the debtor's bank account); Stillwater Nat'l Bank and Tr. Co. v. Kirtley (In re Solomon), 299 B.R. 626, 637 (10th Cir. BAP 2003) (concluding that where the company owned by debtors was sole recipient of loan proceeds, the debtors did not receive reasonably equivalent value when they granted a lien securing their guarantee obligation). Although a co-obligor under the promissory note, the obligations
The second cause of action involves the $50,000.00 payment, which took place on October 31, 2008. The allegations in the trustee's complaint establish the plausible belief that the debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the $50,000.00 payment it made to the defendant. The factual allegations reveal and the trustee does not dispute that this payment was made pursuant to the promissory note, to which the debtor was an obligor along with the Winslows. Although the defendant asserts that this payment was a partial repayment of an antecedent debt,
5. Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 548.03[a]. Because the trustee has sufficiently plead avoidance of the debtor's incurrence of the underlying obligation, the debtor's payment to the defendant was for less than reasonably equivalent value because the debt itself may be avoided and, therefore, eliminated.
The court finds, based on the record, that the trustee's complaint for avoidance and recovery of the constructive fraudulent transfers contains sufficient facts to support a plausible belief that the debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the obligations set forth in the promissory note and in return for the $50,000.00 payment made to the defendant. Because the trustee has sufficiently plead the requirements for both causes of action under § 548(a)(1)(B), dismissal is not appropriate.
Based on the foregoing, the trustee's complaint states claims for relief under § 548(a)(1)(B) that are plausible and, therefore, are not subject to dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012(b). Accordingly, the defendant's motion to dismiss is
For purposes of its motion to dismiss, the defendant does not dispute that the obligation incurred by the debtor and the $50,000.00 payment made in partial satisfaction of that obligation were within the two years prior to the petition date or that the debtor was insolvent on the date of the challenged transfers or became insolvent as a result. Specifically, the defendant contends that the debtor received reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the $50,000.00 payment it made to the defendant.