In re Tousa, Inc., Case No. 08-10928-JKO Jointly Administered (Bankr. S.D.Fla. 10/13/2009)
| Decision Date | 13 October 2009 |
| Docket Number | Adv. Pro. No. 08-1435-JKO.,Case No. 08-10928-JKO. |
| Parties | In re: TOUSA, INC., ET AL., Chapter 11 Cases, Debtors. OFFICIAL COMMITTEE OF UNSECURED CREDITORS OF TOUSA, INC., ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. CITICORP NORTH AMERICA, INC., ET AL., Defendants. |
| Court | United States Bankruptcy Courts. Eleventh Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of Florida |
In this adversary proceeding, the Creditors' Committee seeks to avoid (as fraudulent transfers) and to recover some $500 million in liens granted by certain of the Debtors (the "Conveying Subsidiaries") less than 6 months before their bankruptcy filings in January 2008 and at a time when the Committee contends that the Conveying Subsidiaries were insolvent. The Committee also seeks to recover some $420 million paid in cash to prior lenders to other Debtors whose loans were paid out as part of the same transaction in which the challenged liens were granted. Finally, the Committee seeks to avoid as preferential the grant of a security interest in a $207 million tax refund which was perfected less than 90 days before the Debtors' petitions were filed. Because I conclude that the Conveying Subsidiaries (a) did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the liens granted, (b) were insolvent both before and after the transaction, and (c) were left with unreasonably small capital with which to operate their businesses as a result of the transaction, the liens will be avoided and the value of the property conveyed will be recovered with interest for the benefit of the respective Debtors' estates. Because I conclude that the security interest in the tax refund claim was perfected within the preference period and at a time when the Debtors were insolvent, and that recognition of the security interest would enable the lenders to receive more than they would receive in a Chapter 7 liquidation, the security interest in the tax refund will be avoided and those portions of it which were paid out to the lenders as part of a cash collateral stipulation will be ordered disgorged.
This case was tried in 13 trial days in July and August 2009. The stakes are enormous: the Debtors, who are a roll-up of homebuilders, are grossly insolvent and are in a phased wind-down of their operations, heading to a liquidating Chapter 11 plan. The plaintiff Committee, which was authorized to bring this avoidance action on behalf of the Debtors' estates, represents the interests of unsecured creditors, primarily bondholders owed a principal amount slightly over $1 billion. Aligned as defendants in the fraudulent transfer claims are the holders of a first lien term loan (in the original amount of roughly $200 million), the holders of a second lien term loan (in the original amount of roughly $300 million), and the lenders who were paid some $420 million in the financing transaction which forms the basis for the lawsuit. The defendants in the preference claim include the first and second lien term lenders and the lenders under a revolving credit agreement. The parties were all represented by extremely able lawyers; no expense was spared in trial preparation and presentation and no avenue of legal argument was left unexplored.
This case arises from the decision of TOUSA, Inc. ("TOUSA") to borrow, and to cause many of its subsidiaries (the "Conveying Subsidiaries") to borrow, $500 million on July 31, 2007, and to secure that debt by granting to the lenders liens on substantially all of their assets. The proceeds of the loans were used to settle litigation against TOUSA and one of its subsidiaries, TOUSA Homes LP ("Homes LP"), that arose from the default on debt incurred to finance the Transeastern Joint Venture, a disastrous business venture that TOUSA undertook in 2005. The Conveying Subsidiaries, which were not defendants in the litigation and were not liable to the entities that financed the Transeastern Joint Venture (the "Transeastern Lenders") nonetheless incurred liabilities and granted liens to secure the resolution of their parent's liabilities. TOUSA and the Conveying Subsidiaries filed their chapter 11 petitions on January 29, 2008. In this adversary proceeding, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of TOUSA, Inc. ("the Committee") seeks to avoid obligations and transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 544(b), 548, and 550, and comparable state law provisions. The Committee also seeks, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 547, to avoid liens on a federal income tax refund for tax years 2005 and 2006 arising from losses suffered by TOUSA and its subsidiaries in tax year 2007 I. TOUSA, the Transeastern Joint Venture, and the July 31, 2007 transaction
TOUSA and its subsidiaries design, build, and market detached single-family residences, town homes, and condominiums.
TOUSA made its initial public offering of common stock in March 1998 under the name Newmark Homes Corp. In 1995, it had acquired The Adler Companies, Inc., which had operated in southern Florida since 1990. In December 1999, Technical Olympic USA, Inc. acquired 80% of Newmark Home Corp.'s common stock. In November 2000, Technical Olympic USA, Inc. purchased Engle Holdings, Inc., a Florida-based publicly traded homebuilding company. In June 2002, Engle Holdings Corp. merged into Newmark Homes Corp, and the company changed its name to Technical Olympic USA, Inc. In 2007, the company officially changed its name to TOUSA, Inc.
TOUSA grew rapidly through a series of acquisitions. In October 2002, TOUSA acquired the net assets of DS Ware Homes LLC, a homebuilder operating in Jacksonville, Florida. In November 2002, TOUSA acquired the net assets of Masonry Homes, Inc., a homebuilder operating in the northwestern suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. In February 2003, TOUSA acquired Trophy Homes, Inc., a homebuilder operating in the Las Vegas area, and James Construction Company, a homebuilder operating in the greater Denver area. During 2004, TOUSA acquired certain assets of Gilligan Homes, a homebuilder with operations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. TOUSA's homes are marketed under various brand names, including Engle Homes, Newmark Homes, Fedrick Harris Estate Homes, Marksman Homes, D.S. Ware Homes, Masonry Homes, Trophy Homes, James Company, and Gilligan Homes.
To facilitate its rapid growth, TOUSA took on more than $1 billion of unsecured bond indebtedness. TOUSA, Inc. was the obligor on the bond debt, and the Conveying Subsidiaries were jointly and severally liable as guarantors. The holders of these bonds were senior in right to payment from the assets of all of the Conveying Subsidiaries. As of July 31, 2007, the total amount of principal outstanding on the bonds was approximately $1.061 billion.
In June 2005, Homes LP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TOUSA, and Falcone/Ritchie LLC ("Falcone") formed TE/TOUSA LLC (the "Transeastern Joint Venture") to acquire certain homebuilding assets owned by Transeastern Properties, Inc. in Florida. Homes LP and Falcone each held a 50% voting interest in the joint venture, and Homes LP was its managing member.
The Transeastern Joint Venture was funded with $675 million of third-party debt capacity (of which $560 million was drawn as of July 31, 2007), a $20 million subordinated loan from Homes LP and $165 million of equity, of which Homes LP contributed $90 million in cash and Falcone contributed $75 million in property. None of the Conveying Subsidiaries was an obligor or guarantor on this third party debt.
As a condition precedent to the Transeastern credit agreements, TOUSA and Homes LP executed three unsecured completion guaranties and three unsecured carve-out guaranties (the "Transeastern Guaranties"). None of the Conveying Subsidiaries was a guarantor on the Transeastern Guaranties.
The housing downturn soon threatened the viability of the Transeastern Joint Venture. On September 27, 2006, TOUSA announced that the Transeastern Joint Venture's "revised sales and delivery projections are not adequate to support the existing capital structure." Ex. 5004 at 5. Two days later, the Transeastern Joint Venture and the Transeastern Lenders entered into the "Consent and Agreement," whereby the parties agreed that a potential default or an event of default, as defined in the Transeastern credit agreements, had occurred. Citicorp North America, Inc. ("Citi"), the administrative agent for TOUSA's revolving loan facility ("the Revolver"), in turn notified TOUSA that the potential default constituted a material adverse change under the Revolver, and insisted that TOUSA secure the Revolver by having its subsidiaries grant liens on their assets.
On October 4, 2006, the Transeastern Joint Venture received a letter from certain affiliates of Falcone giving notice of defaults on four existing option agreements for failure by the Transeastern Joint Venture to make required payments of approximately $29 million. On October 30, 2006, the Transeastern Joint Venture received a default notice from Kendall Land Development, LLC ("Kendall"), a land bank.
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas ("DB Trust") (the Administrative Agent for the Transeastern Lenders) sent letters dated October 31, 2006, and November 1, 2006, to TOUSA and Homes LP demanding payment under the Transeastern Guaranties. The demand letters alleged that potential defaults and events of default had occurred under the Transeastern credit agreements, triggering the guarantors' obligations. DB Trust asserted that TOUSA's and Homes LP's guaranty obligations equaled or exceeded all of the outstanding obligations under the Transeastern credit agreements and that TOUSA and Homes LP were also liable for default interest, costs, and expenses. TOUSA's 8-K, filed November 7, 2006, acknowledged receipt of the demand letters from DB Trust and reported that DB Trust contended that TOUSA was liable under the Transeastern Guaranties.
TOUSA...
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