Strafford Sav. Bank v. Bruce
| Decision Date | 02 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-032,81-032 |
| Parties | STRAFFORD SAVINGS BANK v. Mark R. BRUCE et al. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Barrett & McNeill P. A., Durham (Malcolm R. McNeill, Jr., Durham, on brief and orally), for defendants Mark R. Bruce and Eleanor A. Bruce.
Kearns, Colliander & Donahue P. A., Exeter (David S. Brown, Exeter, on brief and orally), for defendant Patricia Grahame Real Estate, Inc.
T. Casey Moher, Dover, by brief and orally, for defendant Patsy S. Lynch, d/b/a Patsy S. Lynch Real Estate.
The defendants Mark and Eleanor Bruce appeal the Trial Court's (Goode, J.) denial of their motion to dismiss the plaintiff's bill of interpleader and its order for payment of the deposited funds. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
In December 1979, Mark and Eleanor Bruce listed their house for sale. Patricia Grahame Real Estate, Inc., and Patsy S. Lynch Real Estate (Grahame and Lynch) found a purchaser and scheduled a closing for May 16, 1980. At the closing they presented their bill for $3,420, but the Bruces refused to pay the commission. Instead, the Bruces requested that all proceeds of the purchase be held in escrow at the Strafford Savings Bank pending resolution of their contemplated bankruptcy proceedings. The bank refused to proceed with the closing unless the real estate commissions were secured. The parties agreed to allow the plaintiff bank to hold the $3,420 in escrow and then deposit the sum in superior court. On May 20, 1980, the plaintiff deposited the money in court and filed a bill of interpleader naming the Bruces, Grahame Real Estate, Inc., and Lynch Real Estate as co-defendants.
On May 28, 1980, the Bruces filed a petition in bankruptcy court. They listed the disputed $3,420 as their property in bankruptcy and listed Grahame and Lynch as general unsecured creditors. In their answer to the plaintiff's bill of interpleader, Grahame and Lynch asserted that the disputed sum was due and owing to them and was not part of the Bruces' bankruptcy estate because it was no longer the Bruces' property as of the closing. Grahame and Lynch filed this answer in superior court and not in bankruptcy court because they asserted that the $3,420 was never part of the Bruces' bankruptcy estate.
In June 1980, the bankruptcy court issued an automatic stay of proceedings and ordered that the first meeting of creditors be held. The Bruces thereupon filed a motion to stay the proceedings in superior court, but the Superior Court (Goode, J.) denied the motion on the ground that "[f]ederal bankruptcy proceedings do not merely by virtue of their maintenance terminate or otherwise affect an action pending in a State court as to matters not covered by the Bankruptcy Act." Subsequently, Grahame and Lynch filed motions for payment of their commission and for imposition of a constructive trust upon the funds. On September 9, 1980, the Superior Court (Contas, J.) denied their motion, advising them to direct their claims to the bankruptcy court. Grahame and Lynch did not act upon that advice, and two days later the period for filing objections to the discharge of debts in the bankruptcy court expired. On October 2, 1980, the Bruces were granted a discharge. Immediately thereafter, the Bruces filed their motion to dismiss the bill of interpleader in superior court. The Trial Court (Goode, J.) denied the motion and ordered that Grahame and Lynch be paid jointly out of the $3,420 deposited with the court. The court at no time received testimony concerning which of the two realtors was entitled to the funds. Counsel for the Bruces timely appealed that decision.
On appeal, the Bruces argue that the disputed funds are part of their bankruptcy estate and should have reverted back to them after they had been granted a discharge in bankruptcy. Grahame and Lynch, on the other hand, argue that the Bruces had no property interest in the escrowed funds when they commenced their bankruptcy proceeding; that they earned their commissions by producing a buyer for the Bruces; and that a constructive trust...
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In re Skorich
...Funds did not pass into the Debtor's bankruptcy estate upon the filing of his bankruptcy petition. See Strafford Savs. Bank v. Bruce, 122 N.H. 557, 559-60, 448 A.2d 373 (1982) (holding that debtors had no equitable interest in a real estate commission, which they had become obligated to pay......
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Dahar v. Biron
...ring. The property interest of the respective parties is, of course, a matter to be decided under state law. Strafford Savings Bank v. Bruce, 122 N.H. 557, 448 A.2d 373 (1982). ...