In re RE Tull & Sons, Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 December 1982 |
| Docket Number | Bankruptcy No. 81-1-1519,Adv. No. 82-0659A. |
| Citation | 25 BR 709 |
| Parties | In re R.E. TULL & SONS, INC., Debtor. Robert Joel ZAKROFF, Trustee, Plaintiff, v. HAJOCA CORPORATION, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of Maryland |
Robert Joel Zakroff, Washington, D.C., trustee of debtor's estate.
Steven Henne, Silver Spring, Md., for defendant.
This matter is before the court upon the complaint filed by Robert Joel Zakroff, Trustee, for an order enjoining Hajoca Corporation from maintaining litigation against or relating to property or assets of the debtor and its estate. For the reasons hereinafter stated, the court will grant the relief requested.
This case involves a study of the interrelationship of two remedial laws, the Bankruptcy Code and the Mechanics' Lien laws of the State of Maryland as set forth in Maryland Code Annotated, Real Property, Title 9 (1981 Repl.Volume).
On November 12, 1981, an order for relief was entered on an involuntary petition filed against the debtor. The debtor had, as a plumbing subcontractor, provided substantial services for an entity known as Capital Homes, Inc. There remain outstanding sums due from Capital Homes, Inc., to the estate of the bankrupt debtor against which Capital Homes, Inc., has claimed credits and adjustments due. Defendant Hajoca Corporation was a supplier to R.E. Tull on the Capital Homes job. On March 1, 1982, Hajoca filed an action in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, to establish and enforce a mechanics' lien against Capital Homes, Inc. That case bears Law No. 78766 and relates to improvements done by Tull for the benefit of Capital Homes utilizing plumbing and heating materials provided by Hajoca to Tull. Defendant had knowledge of the bankruptcy proceeding, but proceeded nonetheless in the honest belief that what it was seeking was not property of the estate of Tull, but rather property of Capital Homes, as to which it had a valid lien.
Clearly, the sums due from Capital Homes, Inc., to Tull at the time of the petition were property of the estate. Under 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1), property of the estate includes "all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of commencement of the case." One cannot conceive of a more comprehensive definition of what is included. See generally, Bare, The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, 47 Tenn.L. Rev. 501, 547 (1980). This definition clearly envelops the receivable due Tull from Capital Homes.
The trustee points out that at the commencement of the case he has the rights of a creditor that extends credit to the debtor at the time of the commencement of the case and that at that time, with respect to such credit, obtains a judicial lien on all property on which a creditor on a simple contract could have obtained a judicial lien, whether or not such creditor exists. 11 U.S.C. § 544(a)(1). In the alternative, the trustee properly argues that the trustee has the status of a creditor with an unsatisfied execution against the debtor, whether or not such a creditor exists.
In view of the strong arm powers of the trustee at that point in...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Summey, Bankruptcy No. 3-82-00805
... ... ownership rights in the pickup truck because in December 1980 he had given the truck to his sons. He did not execute a bill of sale, however, and upon learning at the hearing that the vehicle was ... ...