Carlota M. Bohm, United States Bankruptcy Judge.
The above-captioned adversary proceeding was commenced by Flabeg Solar US Corporation ("Debtor") on July 30, 2015. Within Debtor's Amended Adversary Complaint ("Amended Complaint," Doc. No. 49), Debtor alleges that David Busby and American International Development, LLC ("Defendants") took possession of Debtor's property without payment.
When faced with a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the court must determine if the complaint contains "sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to `state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'" See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable
Typically, if matters outside of the pleadings are considered by the Court, a motion to dismiss must be treated as a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(d); however, there are exceptions to the general rule:
See Lewis v. Allegheny Ludlum Corp., No. 11-1619, 2012 WL 1328360, at *2, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53620 (W.D.Pa. Apr. 17, 2012) (internal citations omitted). Here, the pending motion is resolved as a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b).
In addition, Defendants contend that Debtor lacks standing to bring this action requiring dismissal. As standing is a jurisdictional matter, the motion is properly brought pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). See Ballentine v. United States, 486 F.3d 806, 810 (3d Cir. 2007). It is Debtor's burden, as plaintiff, to demonstrate the elements of standing. Id. As is the case with the analysis pursuant to Fed.R.Civ. P.12(b)(6), the Court accepts as true all material allegations in the Amended Complaint and construes those facts in favor of the Debtor as the non-moving party. Id.
Prior to the filing of the bankruptcy case, Debtor manufactured two coat primary mirror assemblies used for commercial solar power generation. See Amended Complaint, at ¶ 6. As of the commencement of the case, Debtor had 14,881 of these mirrors (the "Mirrors") in stock and ready for shipment at its business facilities, which Debtor leased from The Buncher Company ("Buncher"). Id. at ¶¶ 6-7.
As agreed upon by Debtor, Buncher, UniCredit Luxembourg, S.A. (Debtor's primary secured creditor), and approved by the Court, the Debtor was to vacate the business premises by January 15, 2014 (the "vacation date") and remove its personalty from the premises by that date as well. See id. at ¶ 8; Stipulated and Agreed Order entered November 7, 2013 (the "Vacation Order"), Case No. 13-21415, Doc. No. 222.
As the vacation date approached, certain property remained at the business premises, including property purchased by third parties at the auction as well as items belonging to Debtor. Amended Complaint, at ¶¶ 12, 14. Buncher cooperated with the third-party purchasers, including Defendants, and Debtor by allowing additional time beyond the vacation date to remove items. Id. at ¶ 12-14.
Leading up to the vacation date and through the vacation date, Debtor was involved in discussions with Defendants regarding the purchase of the Mirrors by the Defendants. See id. at ¶ 9. Defendants had purchased some of Debtor's equipment at the auction conducted at the business premises and expressed an interest in purchasing the Mirrors as well. Id. at ¶ 10. Despite these ongoing discussions and Buncher's cooperation with Debtor for the orderly removal of property beyond the vacation date, Defendants took the Mirrors after the vacation date without notification or payment to Debtor. Id. at ¶¶ 15-16. Rather than purchasing the Mirrors from Debtor, Defendants approached Buncher directly and sought to obtain the Mirrors along with the items Defendants had purchased at the auction. Id. at ¶ 16. As Debtor detrimentally relied on discussions it had with Defendants to purchase the Mirrors, Debtor lost the opportunity to pursue a sale to another party or arrange for orderly removal of the Mirrors. Id. at ¶¶ 20-22. Accordingly, Debtor seeks to recover $125,000.40 on the basis of unjust enrichment and turnover.
To state a claim for unjust enrichment, a plaintiff must plead facts in support of the following elements: "benefits conferred on defendant by plaintiff, appreciation of such benefits by defendant, and acceptance and retention of such benefits under such circumstances that it would be inequitable for defendant to retain the benefit without payment of value." Seitz v. 6130 West, LLC (In re Joey's Steakhouse, LLC), 474 B.R. 167, 186 (Bankr.E.D.Pa. 2012). In other words, one party must receive the benefit at the expense of the other. Id. Accordingly, in this case, the estate must have maintained an interest in the Mirrors when Defendants obtained them in order for the Defendants to have been unjustly enriched at the expense of the estate. Likewise, an "essential element of a turnover action is that the property sought...is, in fact, property of the estate." Id. at 188.
Thus, Debtor's success in this adversary proceeding is dependent upon whether the Mirrors remained property of the estate following the vacation date when Defendants obtained possession. In order
Following an evidentiary hearing, the Court granted Buncher relief from stay with respect to the leased premises on October 2, 2013. See Memorandum Opinion and Order, Case No. 13-21415, Doc. Nos. 174 and 175. The decision was followed by the filing of three motions by the Debtor: (1) Motion to Reopen and Supplement Record, (2) Motion for Reconsideration of Order of Court Dated October 2, 2013, and (3) Motion for Continuation of Stay Pending Ruling on Reconsideration and Request for an Expedited Hearing in Regard to Same. See Case No. 13-21415, Doc. Nos. 187-189. Notably, in requesting a continuation of the stay, Debtor stated its concern that Buncher would "utilize self-help landlord remedies" potentially resulting in the ruination of Debtor's equipment and inventory located at the business premises. See Case No. 13-21415, Doc. No. 189, at ¶ 8. Ultimately, the motions, and particularly Debtor's concerns regarding its equipment and inventory, were resolved by the filing of a proposed stipulated and agreed order. See Case No. 13-21415, Doc. No. 218. The proposed order was approved by the Court and served on the mailing matrix (Case No. 13-21415, Doc. No. 228) with an opportunity for objection and hearing. As no objections were filed, that Order, the Vacation Order, became final.
A court's interpretation of its order is given great deference. See Wells Fargo Bank N.A. v. Ashley Business Park LLC, 548 Fed.Appx. 791, 793 (3d Cir. 2013). Generally, interpretation is resolved by looking to the "four corners of the document." See id. at 794. Here, the terms of the Vacation Order are clear: a deadline was provided for Debtor to remove all of its property from the business premises and failure to remove the property by said deadline permitted Buncher to exercise self-help remedies which, as set forth above, Debtor acknowledged may result in the loss and ruination of the property. The extensively negotiated agreement approved as an Order of Court clearly permitted Buncher to take broad, necessary action, without limitation or further Order of Court, as to any remaining property. Notably, to what extent Buncher authorized the removal of the Mirrors by Defendants is not determinative here.
The fact that Buncher may have been cooperating with Debtor beyond the vacation date does not amend the applicable terms of the Vacation Order nor did the successive hearings on Buncher's Request for Emergency Status Conference ("Emergency Motion," Case No. 13-21415, Doc. No. 300) seeking to enforce the terms of the Vacation Order.
Based on the foregoing, Debtor failed to plead facts, and in fact cannot plead facts based upon the record of this case and the terms of the Vacation Order, establishing that Defendants were unjustly enriched at the expense of the estate or that the estate is entitled to turnover of the Mirrors or their value. Accordingly, the Motion to Dismiss must be granted. An Order will be entered consistent with this Memorandum Opinion.