In re Automotive Professionals, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 October 2007
• Docket Number: No. 07-C-3750.,No. 07-C-4152.,07-C-3750.,07-C-4152.
• Parties: In re AUTOMOTIVE PROFESSIONALS, INC., Debtor.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

379 B.R. 746

In re AUTOMOTIVE PROFESSIONALS, INC., Debtor.

No. 07-C-3750.

No. 07-C-4152.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

October 23, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

MEMORANDUM DECISION

JOAN HUMPHREY LEFKOW, District Judge.

Automotive Professionals, Inc. ("API") filed a petition for chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in May of this year. The case was assigned to Judge Carol Doyle with case number 07-B-06720. The State of Illinois ("the State") through its Director of Insurance, Michael T. McRaith ("the Director"), filed a motion to dismiss the case, which the bankruptcy court denied in a memorandum opinion issued on June 12, 2007. On July 3, 2007, the court granted API's motion to compel the Director, in his capacity as conservator of API's assets, to turn over any property of the estate in his possession and entered an order to that effect.

The State has now moved for leave to appeal the orders of June 12 and July 3 to this court. Those motions have been assigned case numbers 07-C-3750 and 07-C-4152, respectively. This court has jurisdiction to hear the motions under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). For the following reasons, both motions [# 1 in case no. 07-C-3750 and # 1 in case no. 07-C-4152] are denied and these cases will be terminated.

I. Facts and Background¹

API is an Illinois corporation based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It sells vehicle service contracts to owners of vehicles. The purchaser pays API a fixed amount and API agrees to pay for the cost of certain vehicle repairs for a fixed period of time after the expiration of the original manufacturer's warranty. API's vehicle service contracts are sold through automobile dealerships.

API has outstanding vehicle service contracts with approximately 325,000 consumers in 49 states, including approximately 16,250 consumers in Illinois. API has been registered with the [Director] as an authorized service contract provider under the Illinois Service Contract Act ("[the] Act"), 215 Ill. Comp. Stat. 152/1 et seq. (2006), since at least 2002. Each year the State has approved API's contract forms.

Most states have their own version of the Act, usually based at least to some degree on the Service Contracts Model Act. These laws generally require a service contract provider to demonstrate its financial ability to perform the contracts either through insurance, reserves, or some other means. API's vehicle service contracts are backed by a combination of funds on deposit in various reserve accounts and insurance policies. The amount and type of insurance coverage or other financial backing for each of API's vehicle service contracts is based on the law of the state in which the vehicle service contract is sold.

If a company selling service contracts in Illinois satisfies the financial requirements of the Act through an insurance policy, the policy must provide "first dollar coverage"-meaning that it covers any liability that the service contract provider has under the service contract with the customer. All of API's vehicle service contracts sold in Illinois are backed by first dollar coverage issued by Marathon Financial Insurance Co., Inc. ("Marathon"), Allstate Insurance Company or Travelers Insurance Company. Marathon also provides less comprehensive coverage for many of API's vehicle service contracts sold in states that do not require first dollar coverage.

For the last three years, API has operated at a cash deficit. There is now a cash shortfall of approximately $9 million in the reserve accounts relating to some of the vehicle service contracts. API's situation is complicated by provisions of the Marathon insurance policies that apply to vehicle service contracts sold in states that do not require first dollar coverage. Marathon contends that its coverage does not attach to cover claims until all funds placed in API's reserve accounts in the aggregate have been paid out for repair costs. Marathon may also assert that it has no obligation to pay on the non-first dollar policies for other reasons.

In the fall of 2006, API's management determined that it could not fix its financial problems and that it should wind down its operations. API executed an assignment of its assets for the benefit of creditors on February 15, 2007. The assignee is Michael Kayman. API's assets were transferred to the API Creditors Trust administered by Mr. Kayman for the purpose of liquidating the assets and paying out the proceeds to creditors.

On March 2, 2007, Michael McRaith, the Illinois Director of Insurance, filed a complaint against API and the API Creditors' Trust in the Circuit Court of Cook County. He obtained an Order of Conservation and Injunctive Relief ("order of conservation"), effectively freezing Kayman's activities as API's assignee. The complaint was brought in part under the Act. On April 4, 2007, McRaith filed a Complaint for Rehabilitation in state court seeking to "rehabilitate, wind down and terminate" the business and affairs of API under the rehabilitation and liquidation provisions of the Illinois Insurance Code. There has been no adjudication of any issues in connection with this second complaint. API filed its bankruptcy petition [on April 13, 2007]. The State filed its motion arguing that the case should be dismissed and the Director should be permitted to liquidate API under the rehabilitation and liquidation provisions of the Illinois Insurance Code [on April 27, 2007].

State's Motion for Leave to Appeal, Case No. 07-C-3750, Dkt. No. 1 ("State's motion"), Ex. B (memorandum opinion denying motion to dismiss), at 2-4. On June 12, 2007, the bankruptcy court denied the motion. See id. In the meantime, on June 8, 2007, the court granted the motion of various creditors for appointment of a chapter 11 trustee. Frances Gecker was appointed as trustee. On July 3, 2007, the bankruptcy court granted API's motion to compel the Director to turn over any property of API's estate in his possession and entered an order to that effect.

The State's principal ground for its motion to dismiss was its argument that API is not eligible to be a debtor under the bankruptcy code because API is a "domestic insurance company" and domestic insurance companies are excluded from bankruptcy relief under section 109(b)(2) and (d) of the code, 11 U.S.C. § 109(b)(2) and (d). State's motion, Ex. B, at 4. The bankruptcy court rejected this argument and found that API is not an insurance company for purposes of section 109. See id. at 4-29. The court also rejected API's other arguments: (2) sovereign immunity protects the Director from having to turn over API's assets; (3) the bankruptcy code's automatic stay does not apply to an action filed by the Director in state court to liquidate API under the rehabilitation and liquidation provisions of the Illinois Insurance Code; (4) API's officers lacked authority to file the bankruptcy petition because a state court appointed the Director as conservator of API's assets before it filed its bankruptcy petition; and (5) API has no assets to administer in bankruptcy because of a prepetition assignment for the benefit of creditors. Id. at 29-38. Three of those arguments were repeated by the State, and again rejected by the court in the course of API's motion to compel. State's Motion for Leave to Appeal, Case No. 07-C-4152, Dkt. No. 1 ("State's second motion"), Ex. B (memorandum opinion granting API's motion to compel), at 4.

II. Standard of Review

Under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3), parties to a bankruptcy proceeding can ask leave of the district court to appeal an interlocutory order issued by the bankruptcy court.² This is not an appeal of right, however, and it is within the district court's discretion to decide whether or not to allow the appeal. In re Woltman, 2006 WL 2052078, at *1 (C.D.Ill. May 24, 2006) (citing In re Jartran, Inc., 886 F.2d 859, 866 (7th Cir.1989)); see also In re Nat'l Steel Corp., 2005 WL 2171169, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Aug. 31, 2005). The bankruptcy code does not provide the standard for evaluating such requests, so courts in this district have imported the three part test used in analyzing interlocutory appeals from a district court to a circuit court of appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b): an appeal is allowable when it (1) involves a controlling question of law; (2) over which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion; and (3) an immediate appeal from the order may speed up the litigation. See 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b); Trustee of Jartran, Inc. v. Winston & Strawn, 208 B.R. 898, 900 (N.D.Ill.1997). The party seeking leave to appeal should demonstrate that all three factors are satisfied. Woltman, 2006 WL 2052078, at *1 (citing Hollinger Int'l, Inc. v. Hollinger Inc., 2005 WL 327058, at *2 (N.D.Ill. Feb. 3, 2005)). He also bears the burden of convincing the court that his case involves "exceptional circumstances [that] justify a departure from the basic policy of postponing appellate review until after the entry of a final judgment." Woltman, 2006 WL 2052078, at *1 (quoting In re Brand Name Prescription Drugs Antitrust Litig., 1998 WL 808992, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Nov.17, 1998)).

III. Analysis

The Director characterizes its questions presented for appeal, which are substantially the same as the grounds it asserted for its motions in the bankruptcy court, as follows:

1. Does Illinois classify API as an insurance company or the substantial equivalent of an insurance company such that API cannot be a debtor under section 109(b)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code and was it proper to ignore the Circuit Court's final determination granting the Director leave to seek an order of rehabilitation?

2. Is the Director entitled to Sovereign Immunity as per the Eleventh Amendment of United States' Constitution under the facts of this case?

3. Does the Bankruptcy Code's Automatic Stay apply to prevent the State of...