Snap Line Servs., Inc. v. Ridlehuber (In re Snap Line Servs., Inc.)
Snap Line Servs., Inc. v. Ridlehuber (In re Snap Line Servs., Inc.)
Opinion of the Court
The primary issue before the Court is what are the respective interests of the estate and a judgment creditor in cash deposited with the state court pre-petition in lieu of a supersedeas bond when the debtor loses on appeal and all applicable time periods related to the appeal expire post-petition.
This issue arose out of Snap Line Services, Inc. ("Snap Line")'s Motion for Turnover of Estate Property and for Sanctions as to Ted Ridlehuber and Russell Hodges [Doc. No. 12], as well as Ted Ridlehuber, Trustee of VM Trust # 1 and G & M International, LLC ("Ridlehuber")'s Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay [Doc. No. 15]. Additionally, the Court asked the parties to brief the following issues: (1) what distinction, if any, exists between a supersedeas bond and a deposit *504of cash made with the Clerk of Court and the possible legal consequences of that distinction, (2) whether Snap Line had any interest in the cash deposited with the Clerk of Court at the time of filing such that it became property of the bankruptcy estate, and (3) what is the current legal status of the cash deposit now that Snap Line has exhausted all legal remedies in state court.
BACKGROUND
These contested matters arise from attempts by Ridlehuber to collect $62,500 that was placed by Snap Line as or in lieu of a supersedeas bond with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Forsyth County pending the appeals process of a judgment Ridlehuber obtained against Snap Line in the amount of $572,000 [Doc. No. 16]. The final order and judgment in the Superior Court was entered on May 23, 2016, nunc pro tunc to May 19, 2016 [Doc. No. 16]. Snap Line was ordered to post a supersedeas bond in the amount of $62,500 on November 21, 2016 and posted the cash deposit with the Clerk [Doc. No. 16]. Snap Line appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeals of Georgia, which affirmed the trial court on October 31, 2017 and denied Snap Line's motion for reconsideration on November 17, 2017 [Doc. No. 16]. On June 18, 2018 the Georgia Supreme Court denied Snap Line's petition for certiorari [Doc. No. 16]. Snap Line filed its Chapter 11 petition the next day on June 19, 2018 [Doc. No. 1]. Ridlehuber filed a motion with the Superior Court of Forsyth County on July 9, 2018 seeking release of the deposit [Doc. No. 32]. The appellate court sent a remittitur to the trial court on July 10, 2018 [Doc. No. 30].
DISCUSSION
Snap Line contends that the supersedeas cash became property of the bankruptcy estate upon the filing of the petition as the appellate process was not complete at that time so the post-petition attempt by Ridlehuber to obtain the funds was a violation of the automatic stay [Doc. No. 12]. Snap Line requests that this Court order the Clerk to turn over the money to it as estate property and sanction Ridlehuber and his attorney. Ridlehuber asserts that Snap Line had, at most, a contingent non-vested interest in the supersedeas cash that terminated upon the completion of the appellate process. It appears to be Ridlehuber's position now that the automatic stay was terminated in regard to the collection of the supersedeas bond on August 18, 2018, after the 60-day extension (from the petition date) provided by
During the hearing on September 7, 2018, counsel for Snap Line first raised the issue of there being a legal distinction between a supersedeas bond involving a third-party surety and a deposit of cash directly from the party ordered by the court to post one or the other. In the briefing that ensued, counsel for Snap Line asserted that the cash deposit is not a bond at all, but rather an asset of Snap Line that became estate property upon filing of the petition [Doc. No. 33]. Citing to *505In re Legend Homes, Inc. ,
Snap Line suggests that there were only two ways Ridlehuber would have an interest in the cash upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition: (1) had the appeals process been exhausted and Ridlehuber requested disbursement of the funds and actually took possession of said funds, or (2) if Ridlehuber had taken an action to attach his judgment to the funds, such as by garnishing the bank account where they were held [Doc. No. 33]. Snap Line relies on In re Johnson ,
*506In re Vescovo ,
The Eleventh Circuit does not appear to have adopted a position regarding the issue of whether (or when) a supersedeas bond or cash deposit becomes property of the estate as the time of a bankruptcy filing. Other courts are split, but the majority seem to conclude that if the appeals process is not complete, then the bond does become property of the estate, at least temporarily. See Keene Corp. v. Acstar Ins. Co. (In re Keene Corp.) ,
Similarly, courts are split on the issue of what happens to the debtor's interest in the bond when the appellate process is exhausted and the judgment against the debtor is upheld. Some hold that the bond simply drops out of the estate at the conclusion of the appellate process, divesting the debtor of the contingent reversionary interest that it had, and allowing the creditor to proceed as it normally would. See In re Duplitronics, Inc. ,
Other courts require that the judgment creditor move for relief from the stay to obtain the bond. In re Koksal ,
The parties also disagree on when the appellate process was completed, which is relevant to both the Motion for Sanctions and a determination of the parties' interests in the bond at various times. Both agree that, in general, a motion for reconsideration may be filed with the Georgia Supreme Court within ten days from the denial of certiorari. The denial occurred on June 18, 2018, giving Snap Line until June 28, 2018 to file the motion under state law. Snap Line did not file a motion for reconsideration by then, but in the interim it filed its Chapter 11 petition on June 19, 2018 [Doc. No. 1]. This complicates the timeline because
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, if applicable nonbankruptcy law, an order entered in a nonbankruptcy proceeding, or an agreement fixes a period within which the debtor or an individual protected under section 1201 or 1301 of this title may file any pleading, demand, notice, or proof of claim or loss, cure a default, or perform any other similar act, and such period has not expired before the date of the filing of the petition, the trustee may only file, cure, or perform, as the case may be, before the later of--
(1) the end of such period, including any suspension of such period occurring on or after the commencement of the case; or
(2) 60 days after the order for relief.
Therefore, pursuant to § 108(b), Snap Line had until August 18, 2018 to file the motion. It is worth noting that Snap Line did not file a Motion for Reconsideration at any time before, or after August 18, 2018. Presumably because the Supreme Court was not considering the effect of § 108(b), the remittitur from the appellate court was sent to the trial court on July 10, 2018, at which point Title 5 of the Georgia Code provides that "the supersedeas shall cease and execution shall issue at once for the original judgment." O.C.G.A § 5-6-12. Ridlehuber *508filed his motion with the state court to release the supersedeas on July 9, 2018, one day before the remittitur vested jurisdiction back in the trial court [Doc. No 44].
This Court finds that Ridlehuber's action to collect the cash deposit was a violation of the automatic stay because it occurred after the bankruptcy petition had been filed, and before the appeals process was terminated regardless of whether it occurred on either July 10, 2018 or August 18, 2018. However, given the confusion regarding an assessment of when the appellate process concluded, the unsettled law on the issue of the nature of the estate's interest in the cash deposit, and the fact that no motion for reconsideration was ever filed by Snap Line in the Georgia Supreme Court, the Court has determined that the violation of the stay was not willful and that Snap Line was not damaged by it; therefore, the violation was not sanctionable in this instance.
Even if the supersedeas cash deposit became property of Snap Line's bankruptcy estate upon the filing of the petition, this Court finds that the contingent, unvested interest that Snap Line had in said cash either terminated upon the date that the appellate process concluded, in which event the stay dissolved by operation of law such that Ridlehuber is entitled to proceed without further order of the court, or cause exists to modify the stay to allow him to proceed to exercise his state law rights and remedies to enforce his right to the cash deposit because Snap Line cannot adequately protect Ridlehuber's interest in the cash. Either way, Ridlehuber is now free to proceed in state court to obtain release of the funds. Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that Snap Line's Motion for Turnover of Estate Property and for Sanctions is DENIED ; it is further
ORDERED that, to the extent it is necessary given that the automatic stay may not currently be in place as regards the supersedeas bond, Ridlehuber is granted relief from the stay to pursue the collection of the bond from the Clerk of Court and the Superior Court of Forsyth County may proceed with the procedures established by state law regarding the disposition of the supersedeas bond posted by Snap Line in the amount of $62,500; and it is further
ORDERED that the automatic stay is still in place regarding all other matters because Ridlehuber has agreed that he would not proceed against Snap Line in the Cobb County Action.
Ridlehuber has agreed not to proceed against Snap Line in a civil action he previously filed in Cobb County that includes multiple defendants, Snap Line originally being one.
This Court was able to find a few cases where a court referred to a cash deposit as a bond or supersedeas bond or treated the two interchangeably. See In re Toy King Distributors, Inc., No. 90-00528-BKC-6C1,
In addition, Section 362(k) authorizes damages to be paid to an individual, as opposed to a person, who is injured by a willful violation of the stay. Because Snap Line is a corporation, it is debatable at best whether it is entitled to damages under this section. The Court, however, is not ruling on that or whether it can award damages to a non-individual under some other section, including Section 105.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE: SNAP LINE SERVICES, INC., Debtor. Snap Line Services, Inc., Movant v. Ted Ridlehuber, Trustee of VM Trust 1 and G & M International, LLC, Ted Ridlehuber, Trustee of VM Trust 1 and G & M International, LLC, Movant v. Snap Line Services, Inc.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published