In re Huntenberg
| Decision Date | 04 May 1907 |
| Citation | 153 F. 768 |
| Parties | In re HUNTENBERG. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Isidor Buxbaum, for claimant.
Richard P. Aldcroftt, Jr., for trustee.
In this proceeding one Henry Batter filed a claim for $1,020 cash advances made to the bankrupt between the 8th of April, 1905 and the 20th day of July, 1906, and a claim for wages for eight weeks, amounting to $104, for services rendered to the bankrupt. The advances of cash were loans made to the bankrupt while he was conducting a grocery store. On or about August 20, 1906, the bankrupt executed and delivered a bill of sale to the said Henry Batter, which was duly filed August 20, 1906, and covered the stock, chattels, fixtures, horse wagon, etc., of the grocery business above referred to. On the 13th day of September, 1906 Christian Huntenberg was adjudicated a bankrupt, and thereafter a receiver was appointed, who took possession of the property. A sale was had, and the proceeds retained by the receiver pending the determination of the rights of the said Henry Batter to the proceeds of the sale in place of the said store.
The record shows that the said Henry Batter filed a claim with the referee as a preferred creditor because of his bill of sale, and this claim for priority was disallowed, inasmuch as possession of the property was not given at any time prior to the bankruptcy. The claimant, Batter, was not in possession when the receiver took the property into his charge. The claimant has now obtained an order directing the trustee to show cause why the various amounts claimed by him should not be paid by the trustee, and sets up the proposition that he was and has been at all times an infant; that as such his contract, evidenced by the bill of sale, was voidable; and that he desires to exercise the privilege of an infant and to rescind the contract. This he claims renders the transaction absolutely void, and entitles him to the return of the money advanced and the amount due as wages.
Upon the return of the order to show cause the matter was referred to the referee in bankruptcy as special master, and he has reported that, of $104 claimed as wages, $96 was for a period some three months before the bankruptcy, and that for this the claimant is not entitled to a preference; that as to the advances made the infant, Batter, having abandoned his claim of title under the bill of sale, should be treated on the same basis as the other creditors. The special master reports that the claimant testified that he had been working at the store at various periods before the bankruptcy, that he made the advances above referred to to help the bankrupt out when he was 'way behind' and had to do something to 'keep up,' and that therefore the said Henry Batter knew of the insolvency at the time of the bill of sale, and that the said bill of sale was given to Batter for the purpose of creating an unlawful preference. The special master reports that under the bankruptcy act he finds no authority allowing an infant the right to rescind a contract and obtain priority thereby, and therefore recommends that the claimant, Batter, receive the sum of $8 wages, and that as to the other amounts ...
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