Atlantic Veneer Corp. v. Robbins, Unpublished Decision (9-27-2002)
Atlantic Veneer Corp. v. Robbins, Unpublished Decision (9-27-2002)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 3} Mr. and Mrs. Robbins moved to Pike County, Ohio, where they purchased some real estate and began to construct a home at 1311 Prosperity Road, Waverly, Ohio. On May 23, 1998, two weeks prior to the entry of the North Carolina judgment against Mrs. Robbins, the home was nearly complete and valued at between $265,000 and $292,500. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins obtained a mortgage on their home in the amount of $240,000. They then created a trust known as the Natalie K. Robbins Irrevocable Trust ("the Trust") for the benefit of their children, and transferred the home to the Trust. On the same day, Mrs. Robbins, as the sole shareholder of the 200 shares in Natalie K. Robbins, Inc.,1 transferred one-half of her shares to the Trust and one-half of her shares to Mr. Robbins.
{¶ 4} Although Mr. and Mrs. Robbins transferred the Prosperity Road home to the Trust, the Trust did not assume their new mortgage obligation. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins used the money from the mortgage primarily for their businesses. One of their businesses, Natalie K. Robbins, Inc., received approximately $90,000 in contributions from shareholders. The only shareholders, past or present, are Mr. Robbins, Mrs. Robbins, and the Trust. Another corporation, N.K.R., Inc. made a down payment necessary to acquire a $6,000,000 sawmill. The Defendants claim that they are unaware of where the funds for the down payment came from.
{¶ 5} Mr. and Mrs. Robbins continued to make improvements to the Prosperity Road home after the transfer, spending approximately $45,000 on renovations to the driveway, the library, the staircase, the dining room, and a wall. Mrs. Robbins paid for most of the improvements, and some were paid through the businesses. The Trust did not pay for the improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins did not obtain permission from the Trust before they made the improvements, nor did they receive any consideration from the Trust for the improvements.
{¶ 6} Mr. and Mrs. Robbins know that someone, either one of their businesses or Mrs. Robbins, pays the family's monthly rent for the Prosperity Road home to the Trust. However, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins admit that they have no formal lease arrangement with the Trust. The "rent" payment is approximately the same as the monthly payment on the $240,000 mortgage Mr. and Mrs. Robbins incurred just before they transferred the home. Mr. Robbins is not sure who pays the mortgage.
{¶ 7} Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are the sole shareholders (other than the Trust, for whom Mr. Robbins acts as a proxy), owners, officers and directors of each of their businesses.
{¶ 8} According to Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. had no value and owned no assets at the time Mrs. Robbins transferred her stock to the Trust and Mr. Robbins. However, Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. quickly began acquiring assets, despite having no funds with which to purchase assets. In addition to the $90,000 in shareholder contributions that may have come from the mortgage, Sandra Robbins, Mr. Robbins' mother, gave Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. a sawmill shortly after the transfer. By the following year, Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. possessed $589,807 in assets.
{¶ 9} AVC sought to collect their judgment against Mrs. Robbins in Ohio. Upon learning of her transfers to the Trust and Mr. Robbins, AVC filed the underlying complaint pursuant to the Ohio Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act ("UFTA.") AVC named as defendants Mrs. Robbins; Natalie K. Robbins, dba Ohio Valley Logging; Mr. Robbins; the Trust; and Natalie K. Robbins, Inc.2 In its complaint, AVC alleged that the Defendants transferred their interests in the Prosperity Road home and in Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. in contemplation of insolvency and with a design to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors. AVC sought to set aside the fraudulent transfers and subject the property described in those transfers to a lien.
{¶ 10} After a trial to the bench, the trial court found that the Defendants transferred the Prosperity Road home and the shares of Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. with actual intent to defraud, hinder, or delay AVC from collecting on its judgment. The trial court further found that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. is the corporate alter ego of Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, and that its corporate form may be disregarded and the corporate veil pierced.
{¶ 11} The Defendants appeal, asserting the following six assignments of error: "I. The trial court erred in finding that the evidence presented by plaintiff satisfied its burden of proof. II. The court erred by finding that the corporate entity of Natalie [K.] Robbins, Inc. could be disregarded without such relief being requested and it lacked sufficient evidence. III. The court erred by finding that the real estate was an asset as defined by R.C. Section
{¶ 13} Pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 14} Because proving a debtor's actual intent to defraud is difficult, the party alleging fraud may demonstrate actual fraud by producing clear and convincing evidence of the "badges of fraud" found in R.C.
{¶ 15} "(B) In determining actual intent under division (A)(1) of this section, consideration may be given to all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, the following:
{¶ 16} "(1) Whether the transfer or obligation was to an insider;
{¶ 17} "(2) Whether the debtor retained possession or control of the property transferred after the transfer;
{¶ 18} "(3) Whether the transfer or obligation was disclosed or concealed;
{¶ 19} "(4) Whether before the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred, the debtor had been sued or threatened with suit;
{¶ 20} "(5) Whether the transfer was of substantially all of the assets of the debtor;
{¶ 21} "(6) Whether the debtor absconded;
{¶ 22} "(7) Whether the debtor removed or concealed assets;
{¶ 23} "(8) Whether the value of the consideration received by the debtor was reasonably equivalent to the value of the asset transferred or the amount of the obligation incurred;
{¶ 24} "(9) Whether the debtor was insolvent or became insolvent shortly after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred;
{¶ 25} "(10) Whether the transfer occurred shortly before or shortly after a substantial debt was incurred;
{¶ 26} "(11) Whether the debtor transferred the essential assets of the business to a lienholder who transferred the assets to an insider of the debtor."
{¶ 27} The "badges of fraud" list contained in R.C.
{¶ 28} In their first assignment of error, the Defendants assert generally that AVC did not satisfy its burden of proving the existence of any badges of fraud by clear and convincing evidence. In their third and fourth assignments of error, they assert that AVC did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that the Prosperity Road home and the stock in Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. constitute assets, an element of the seventh and eleventh badges of fraud. In their fifth assignment of error, the Defendants assert that AVC did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that they did not receive reasonably equivalent value for the assets they transferred to the Trust, and thus did not prove the eighth badge of fraud. In their sixth assignment of error, the Defendants assert that AVC did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that the transfers of assets made the Robbins insolvent, and thus did not prove the ninth badge of fraud. We consider each of the Defendants' specific arguments before addressing their general challenge to the trial court's finding of fraud.
{¶ 30} The Defendants presented evidence at trial that the Prosperity Road home was subject to a $240,000 mortgage at the time of transfer. The mortgage and the transfer occurred on the same day.
{¶ 31} The trial testimony indicates that the home was valued at approximately $292,500 at the time of the transfer. Thus, the home was worth approximately $52,500 more than the lien at the time of transfer. Additionally, AVC presented evidence that even though Mr. and Mrs. Robbins transferred the Prosperity Road home to the Trust, they retained the obligation of the mortgage. AVC presented evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, through one of their businesses, indirectly make the monthly mortgage payments by paying "rent." Mr. Robbins purports not to know which business pays his rent and not to know who pays his mortgage. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins have continued to make improvements to the home without contribution of the Trust or permission from the Trust. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins lived in the home with their children at the time of the transfer and continue to do so. Under the Trust agreement, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins may live in the home indefinitely; the Trust cannot sell the home.
{¶ 32} We find that these facts constitute some competent, credible evidence that the Prosperity Road home constitutes an asset. Accordingly, we overrule the Defendants' third assignment of error.
{¶ 34} Tim Bryan, the accountant for Natalie K. Robbins, Inc., testified that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. owned no assets as of the date of transfer. Mr. Bryan testified that because the corporation had no assets as of the time of transfer, he was unable to assign a value to its stock. However, Mr. Bryan agreed that it is advantageous to own a legal entity that is capable of acquiring assets, and thus that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. possessed some inherent, though not quantifiable, value. Additionally, AVC presented evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins used the corporation as a vehicle for acquiring assets that would have been subject to collection if Mr. and Mrs. Robbins had acquired them. In particular, AVC presented evidence that the year following its transfer, Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. received substantial cash contributions from "stockholders." Natalie K. Robbins, Inc.'s tax return for 1999 reflects that it possessed approximately $590,000 in assets.
{¶ 35} Based on the facts listed above, we find that the record contains some competent, credible evidence upon which the trial court could conclude that the stock in Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. had some value, and thus constituted an asset, at the time of its transfer from Mrs. Robbins to Mr. Robbins and the Trust. Accordingly, we overrule the Defendants' fourth assignment of error.
{¶ 37} The Defendants' argument in this assignment of error again focuses on their contention that the Prosperity Road home and the Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. stock had no value when Mrs. Robbins transferred them. As we determined in our consideration of the Defendants' third and fourth assignments of error, the record contains some competent, credible evidence that the Prosperity Road home and the stock had value. Additionally, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins testified that they did not receive any consideration for the transfers. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins gave the Prosperity Road home to the Trust without receiving any consideration. The Trust did not even assume the mortgage obligation when it received the home. Likewise, Mrs. Robbins gave her stock to the Trust and to Mr. Robbins without receiving any form of payment in return.
{¶ 38} Thus, we find that the record contains some competent, credible evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins made the transfers without receiving consideration of a reasonably equivalent value to the assets transferred. Accordingly, we overrule the Defendants' fifth assignment of error.
{¶ 40} Mr. and Mrs. Robbins testified in this case that they are aware of the AVC judgment against them and that they have not paid any portion of that debt. Mr. Robbins does not claim to own any assets of his own. Mrs. Robbins testified that she owns a car that had over 100,000 miles on it in May of 1998, which she described as having "very little value." Additionally, Mrs. Robbins testified that she had an IRA in 1998, and that the IRA carries a substantial penalty for early withdrawal.
{¶ 41} Based upon the facts outlined above, we find that the record contains some competent, credible evidence supporting a finding that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are presumed insolvent and did not adequately rebut the presumption of insolvency. Accordingly, we overrule the Defendants' sixth assignment of error.
{¶ 43} As we noted in considering the Defendants' third through sixth assignments of error, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins transferred assets without receiving reasonably equivalent value as consideration, and Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are insolvent. Thus, AVC proved the eighth and ninth badges of fraud by clear and convincing evidence.
{¶ 44} In addition, AVC presented clear and convincing evidence of several other badges of fraud. First, AVC presented evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins made their transfers to the Trust and to Mr. Robbins. The Trust is set up for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Robbins' children, but Mr. and Mrs. Robbins receive benefit. Mrs. Robbins' father is the trustee for the Trust, yet Mr. and Mrs. Robbins have not relinquished control over the property donated to the Trust. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins still live in the home and make changes and improvements to it, and the Trust cannot sell the home. Thus, AVC presented clear and convincing evidence of the first and second badges of fraud, as all the transfers in question were to "insiders," and the debtors retained control of the property transferred. See R.C.
{¶ 45} AVC also presented evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins were aware of AVC's claims against them, valued at a total of over $500,000, before they made the transfers, and they proceeded to make the transfers just two weeks prior to the judgment against Mrs. Robbins was entered. Thus, AVC proved the fourth and tenth badges of fraud by clear and convincing evidence.
{¶ 46} We find that the record contains some competent, credible evidence that several badges of fraud surround Mr. and Mrs. Robbins' transfers of assets. Additionally, we find that AVC produced proof of a sufficient number of badges of fraud to establish actual fraudulent intent. Therefore, we find that the burden of proof shifted to the Defendants to prove that the transfers were not fraudulent, and that the Defendants did not produce evidence that the transfers were not fraudulent.
{¶ 47} Accordingly, we overrule the Defendants' first assignment of error.
{¶ 49} Civ.R. 8(A) requires that a complaint contain "(1) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the party is entitled to relief, and (2) a demand for judgment for relief to which the party claims to be entitled." Civ.R. 8(A) does not require a party "to plead the legal theory of recovery or the consequences which naturally flow by operation of law from the legal relationship of the parties." IllinoisControls, Inc. v. Langham (1994),
{¶ 50} A corporation is a legal entity unto itself, separate and apart from the natural persons composing it. Belvedere Condominium UnitOwners' Assn. v. R.E. Roark Cos., Inc. (1993),
{¶ 51} In this case, AVC named Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. in its complaint and alleged generally that the Defendants made fraudulent transfers with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud their creditors. In particular, AVC alleged that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. acquired real estate from Sandra Robbins. Additionally, AVC alleged that "the Defendants," including Natalie K. Robbins, Inc., transferred all the assets of Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. to the Trust. Thus, the complaint contained allegations regarding not only the stock of Natalie K. Robbins, Inc., over which it possessed no control because Mrs. Robbins was the sole owner, but also the assets of Natalie K. Robbins, Inc., over which Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. possessed exclusive control. We find that these allegations gave Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. sufficient notice of the claims against it and the possibility that the corporate veil would be pierced.
{¶ 52} AVC produced evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, as individuals or through the Trust, are the sole shareholders, directors and officers of Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. Thus, the record contains some competent, credible evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins possess control over Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. that is so complete that the corporation has no separate mind, will, or existence of its own. Additionally, AVC presented evidence that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. accepted real estate from Sandra Robbins and that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. accepted nearly $90,000 in shareholder contributions from Mrs. Robbins, Mr. Robbins, or the Trust. Thus, AVC presented some competent, credible evidence that Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. participated in committing fraud with regard to AVC. Finally, AVC presented evidence that it has not succeeded in collecting on its judgment due from Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, that Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are able to claim that they have no assets in part because they have transferred substantial assets, directly or indirectly, to Natalie K. Robbins, Inc., and hence that AVC has been harmed by Natalie K. Robbins, Inc.'s participation in such fraudulent transfers.
{¶ 53} We find that the above facts constitute some competent, credible evidence supporting the trial court's decision to pierce the corporate veil of Natalie K. Robbins, Inc. Accordingly, we overrule the Defendants' second assignment of error.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Pike County Court of Common Pleas to carry this judgment into execution.
Any stay previously granted by this Court is hereby terminated as of the date of this entry.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 for the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Exceptions.
Abele, P.J., and Harsha, J., concur in judgment and opinion.
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