Fishback Nursery, Inc. v. PNC Bank, Nat'l Ass'n
Fishback Nursery, Inc. v. PNC Bank, Nat'l Ass'n
Opinion
We confront a lien contest among three creditors of a bankrupt commercial farm. Two of the creditors-Fishback and Surface-are nurseries that sold the farm over a million dollars' worth of trees and shrubs in Michigan, Tennessee, and Oregon, and so claim agricultural liens in the farm's assets. The third creditor is a bank, PNC, that claims debtor-in-possession liens based on financing it provided to keep the farm afloat during bankruptcy. The central issue is whether the bank's lien outranks the nurseries' liens.
To settle that dispute, the district court had to decide first whether Michigan, Tennessee, or Oregon law governed the nurseries' liens. Ably navigating a knotty choice-of-law issue, the court ruled that the locale of the plants dictated the pertinent lien law. Applying that law, the court found that the nurseries' liens were either unperfected or unenforceable. This meant the bank's lien was senior.
The nurseries appeal. We affirm.
I.
A.
The parties stipulated to the following facts. BFN was a wholesale grower of trees, shrubs, and other plants, with headquarters in Texas and offices in Michigan, Oregon, and Tennessee. BFN filed for bankruptcy in Texas on June 17, 2016. Three of BFN's creditors dispute the priority of their respective liens on BFN's assets. Two of those creditors, Appellants Fishback and Surface, are commercial nurseries (collectively "Nurseries"), both located in Oregon. The third creditor, Appellee PNC, is a national bank headquartered in Pennsylvania.
The Nurseries are BFN's creditors because they sold agricultural products to BFN and took security interests in them. Fishback demands over $ 1.1 million for products shipped to Michigan, Tennessee, and Oregon. As to those products, Fishback filed Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") financing statements 1 in Oregon *935 and Michigan on June 21, 2016, and in Tennessee on June 28, 2016. All three statements listed the debtor's name as "BFN Operations, LLC abn Zelenka Farms," despite the fact that BFN's founding documents list its name as "BFN Operations LLC." On August 29, 2016, Fishback also filed a notice of lien in Oregon for all orders. For its part, Surface demands over $ 262,000 for products shipped to Michigan only. Surface filed a UCC financing statement in Michigan on June 28, 2016, which also listed the debtor's name as "BFN Operations, LLC abn Zelenka Farms." Surface also filed a notice of lien in Oregon on July 13, 2016.
PNC is BFN's creditor because, as early as May 2015, it loaned BFN money and took a security interest in most of BFN's assets. During the bankruptcy proceedings, PNC also provided debtor-in-possession ("DIP") 2 financing so that BFN could stay in business during bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court ordered that the DIP financing would include PNC's pre-bankruptcy loan to BNF and that PNC's DIP lien would outrank other liens "subject and junior only to ... valid, enforceable, properly perfected, and unavoidable pre-petition liens[.]"
B.
The Nurseries sued PNC in federal district court in November 2016, seeking a declaratory judgment that their liens on BFN assets were "valid, enforceable, properly-perfected, unavoidable pre-petition liens," senior to PNC's DIP lien, and asking the court to order PNC to turn over money to satisfy their allegedly senior liens. PNC counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment that the Nurseries lacked senior and enforceable liens. In August 2017, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The district court ruled for PNC and against the Nurseries.
In its opinion, the district court first considered which choice-of-law analysis should determine the law governing the lien dispute. As the court noted, it is an open question in this circuit as to whether courts exercising bankruptcy jurisdiction
3
should apply forum or federal choice-of-law rules.
See
In re Mirant Corp.
,
The district court declined to choose one choice-of-law approach over the other because, in its view, both would give the same answer.
See, e.g.,
Woods-Tucker Leasing Corp.
,
The district court next addressed the merits of the lien dispute. As to the Michigan and Tennessee products, the court found the Nurseries lacked perfected liens due to defective financing statements. Their statements incorrectly listed the debtor's name as "BFN Operations, LLC abn Zelenka Farms," instead of the name listed on its founding documents, "BFN Operations LLC." That is insufficient under Michigan and Tennessee law, which require listing the debtor's name exactly as it appears on the public documents creating the entity. See MICH. COMP. LAWS § 440.9503(1)(a) ; TENN. CODE ANN . § 47-9-503(a)(1). Nor would "savings clauses" help the Nurseries, the court found. Those clauses validate an incorrect financing statement only if a database search using *937 the debtor's correct name would produce the statement with the incorrect name. See MICH. COMP. LAWS § 440.9506(2) ; TENN. CODE ANN . § 47-9-506(b), (c). But it was undisputed that, under the strict search logics in these states, searching with BFN's correct name would not uncover the incorrectly named liens. See MICH. ADMIN. CODE r. 440.510 ; TENN. COMP. R. & REGS. 1360-08-05-.04 (setting out UCC search logics). Because the Nurseries lacked perfected liens on the Michigan and Tennessee products, the district court concluded those liens were not senior to PNC's lien.
As to the Oregon products, the district court found Fishback failed to extend its lien under Oregon law. Unlike Michigan and Tennessee, Oregon does not require filing a notice to perfect an agricultural lien.
See
OR. REV. STAT. § 87.705(2). The lien, however, expires 45 days after final payment is due, unless the producer files an extension supported by affidavit and containing specified information.
The district court therefore denied the Nurseries summary judgment and granted PNC summary judgment. The Nurseries appeal.
II.
"We review an order granting summary judgment
de novo
, applying the same standards as the district court."
Cooley v. Hous. Auth. of City of Slidell
,
III.
A.
We first consider the choice-of-law issue. The Nurseries argue on appeal that the district court erred by applying the law of the jurisdictions where the farm products were located (Michigan, Tennessee, and Oregon, respectively). Instead, they contend Oregon law should govern the lien dispute as to all products, essentially for two reasons: (1) contracts between Fishback and BFN contain a choice-of-law provision selecting Oregon law; and (2) alternatively, a proper application of both Texas and federal choice-of-law principles point to Oregon law. We address each argument in turn.
First, the district court correctly rejected application of any contractual choice-of-law clauses. The only such clauses identified by the Nurseries appear in the Fishback-BFN invoices.
5
But here we do not have a contractual dispute between Fishback and BFN, to which the choice-of-law clause might apply.
See, e.g.,
Energy Coal. S.P.A. v. CITGO Petroleum Corp.
,
Second, the Nurseries fail to show that the district court misapplied either the Texas or federal choice-of-law rules. As to the Texas rules, the Nurseries say the district court should have applied the test in "section 188 of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws" and determined that Oregon law applied. They are mistaken. As the Nurseries' own authorities explain, that section applies to "evaluating choice-of-law issues in
contractual disputes
."
Minn. Mining & Mfg. Co. v. Nishika Ltd.
,
As to the federal choice-of-law rules, the Nurseries argue that-to the extent we follow their confusing argument-the district court "erred by relying on Section 6 of the Restatement" in its choice-of-law analysis. But our precedent instructs that the section 6 factors are a touchstone for the federal test.
See, e.g.,
Mirant
,
In sum, we reject the Nurseries' arguments that the district court erred in determining the law applicable to the parties' lien dispute.
*940 B.
We turn to the merits. At the outset, we note that the Nurseries do not contest on appeal the district court's conclusion that the Michigan and Tennessee liens were not properly perfected under those states' laws. They have therefore waived any error as to those issues.
See, e.g.,
Bailey v. Shell Western E&P, Inc.
,
The district court ruled that (1) Fishback's 10 Oregon lien expired because Fishback failed to timely file the notice required by Oregon law to extend the lien beyond expiration, and (2) Fishback's previous filing of a UCC financing statement did not "substantially comply" with the notice requirement. Fishback contests both points, arguing that the UCC statement should either count as the lien extension or, at a minimum, should constitute "substantial compliance" with the notice requirement.
Under Oregon law, an agricultural producer has a lien for the price or value of produce that attaches the date the produce is delivered. OR. REV. STAT. § 87.705(1). While the producer "need not file any notice in order to perfect the lien,"
(a) a true statement of the agricultural producer's demand after deducting all credits and offsets;
(b) the name of the purchaser that received the agricultural produce to be charged with the lien;
(c) a description of the produce delivered or transferred by the producer sufficient to identify the basis for the lien;
(d) a statement that the amount claimed is a true and bona fide existing debt as of the date of the filing of the notice of lien;
(e) the date that the final payment to the producer was originally due; and
(f) such other information as the Secretary of State may require.
In this case, it was stipulated that final payment from BFN to Fishback was due "within ninety (90) days from the date of
*941
invoice." The invoice date was March 29, 2016. Final payment was thus due 90 days later on June 27, 2016. Under Oregon law, Fishback's lien would therefore expire 45 days after that, on August 11, 2016, unless Fishback filed the required notice before that date.
Fishback invites us to ignore all this and treat a different document-its UCC financing statement filed June 21, 2016
13
-as the notice required by Oregon law. We decline. Fishback points us to no authority for treating the UCC statement as a notice of lien, and to do so would contravene the plain terms of Oregon law. The relevant statute provides that, in order to "extend the [agricultural] lien beyond the normal expiration date," the producer "must file a notice of lien
as provided in [ Or. Rev. Stat. §] 87.710
or a notice of claim of lien
as provided in [ Or. Rev. Stat. §] 87.242
."
Undaunted, Fishback argues that the UCC financing statement should be treated as "substantial compliance" with the extension requirement. The district court correctly rejected this argument. Under Oregon law, substantial compliance requires complying with " 'the essential matters necessary to assure every reasonable objective of the statute.' "
Rogers v. Roberts
,
We thus conclude that Fishback failed to comply, substantially or otherwise, with Oregon's notice requirement via a UCC financing statement.
IV.
In sum, we find no error in the district court's ruling that the Nurseries' liens were not senior to PNC's lien on the bankrupt company's assets. The district court therefore correctly granted PNC summary judgment.
AFFIRMED.
"Perfection by filing is by far the most common method of perfecting a security interest under [UCC] Article 9." 4 White, Summers, & Hillman, Uniform Commercial Code § 31:27 (6th ed. 2018). A UCC-1 financing statement must provide the name of the debtor and the name of the secured party, and indicate the collateral covered by the financing statement.
A debtor-in-possession has the power "to continue to operate the debtor's business [during bankruptcy] without first having to go to the court to obtain an order authorizing the operation." 5 Norton Bankr. L. & Prac. 3d § 93:4 (2019) ;
see also
The district court found it had jurisdiction under
The parties do not dispute that the products are farm products, nor that the liens are agricultural liens.
See
The clauses provide that "[a]ll matters regarding these transactions shall be governed by Oregon law including but not limited to [ Or. Rev. Stat. ] § 87.700 et seq." The Surface-BFN invoices contain no choice-of-law provision. So, even if such a provision somehow applied to PNC, how that would help Surface is a mystery.
See
Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 1.301(b), 9.302 (providing laws on perfection and priority of "security interests and agricultural liens" in,
inter alia
, § 9.302, "govern[ ]" and "a contrary agreement is effective only to the extent permitted by the law (including the conflict of laws rules) so specified");
Section 188 provides that the rights and duties of parties "with respect to an issue in contract" are determined by state law "which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant relationship to the transactions and the parties" under the general section 6 principles. Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 188(1). It also lists specific contacts to inform section 6, absent a choice of law by the parties.
Section 6 provides as follows:
(1) A court, subject to constitutional restrictions, will follow a statutory directive of its own state on choice of law.
(2) When there is no such directive, the factors relevant to the choice of the applicable rule of law include
(a) the needs of the interstate and international systems,
(b) the relevant policies of the forum,
(c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those states in the determination of the particular issue,
(d) the protection of justified expectations,
(e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law,
(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of result, and
(g) ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied.
Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 6(1), (2).
Although recognizing that the specific UCC and Texas choice-of-law provisions essentially settled the question, the district court also analyzed the section 6 factors and determined that the states with the "most significant relationship" to the case were those where the products were located.
See, e.g.,
Sommers
,
Our discussion in this section pertains only to Fishback because, as already noted, only Fishback shipped products to Oregon.
The "notice of claim of lien" has slightly different requirements, see Or. Rev. Stat . § 87.242(2), but they would not change the result here and are, in any event, immaterial since Fishback's late notice expressly referenced the notice provision of section 87.710.
Fishback's notice of lien filed August 29, 2016 states that payment from BFN was originally due August 31, 2016. But the stipulated facts state that final payment was due within 90 days from the invoice date, and the invoices are all dated March 29, 2016. Ninety days from March 29, 2016 is June 27, 2016. Fishback does not contest any of these dates, nor does it contest the district court's assessment that its August 29 filing was untimely.
The district court opinion states the UCC statement was filed July 13, 2016, but the record reflects it was filed June 21, 2016. The discrepancy makes no difference to the analysis.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FISHBACK NURSERY, INCORPORATED; Surface Nursery, Incorporated, Plaintiffs - Appellants v. PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Defendant - Appellee
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published