Ries v. Calandrillo, No. 13-3023 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 2007, Calandrillo purchased a boat manufactured by a Genmar subsidiary. Calandrillo claimed the boat was defective. In 2009, Calandrillo agreed to convey title to the boat to Genmar in exchange for payment of a lien plus $65,000. The bank received $140,000 and issued a lien waiver. Calandrillo conveyed title to Genmar, which sent Calandrillo a check for $65,000. Genmar filed for bankruptcy. The trustee sought recovery of $65,000 as a preferential transfer. The $140,000 payment was outside the 90-day preference period, 11 U.S.C. 547(b). Calandrillo argued that the payment was a contemporaneous new value exchange, exempt from avoidance. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the bankruptcy court’s conclusion that Calandrillo presented no evidence permitting a reasonable fact-finder to find that the parties intended a contemporaneous exchange for new value. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. Calandrillo’s conveyance of the boat was completed on March 4, when he sent executed title documents. He received payment of the $65,000 settlement balance on March 23. The settlement provided that the $65,000 payment would be made no sooner than 15 days after Genmar received the lien waiver and title documents, reflecting a short-term loan of $65,000 to Genmar. Repayment of a loan within 90 days of bankruptcy is an avoidable preference.
Court Description: Civil case - Bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court correctly determined that Calandrillo failed to prove the parties to the transaction intended a contemporaneous exchange for value, and the court did not err in avoiding the transfer as preferential under Section 547(b).
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