Buyer/Defendant Files Summary Judgment On Farm & Nursery Valuation Issue :duplicate
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June 24, 2022, US Bankruptcy Court for Connecticut District – Bethany Farm & Nursery, LLC (“Defendant”) moves Connecticut Bankruptcy Court with a motion for summary judgment as to all three counts of the complaint filed by Bonnie C. Mangan, Chapter 7 trustee (“Trustee”) for ACE Begonias, Inc. (“Debtor”).
According to the motion, the Debtor owned and operated a farm and nursery business at the disputed property but eventually ceased operations in 2019. The Defendant allegedly conducted a due diligence inspection of the disputed property and determined it was “excessively deteriorated and largely unusable and inoperable”. The Defendant purchased the property at a price of $600,000.00 allegedly taking into account the alleged “inoperable” condition of the property.
The Defendant claims that the greenhouses situated on the property apart from the water, cooling, heating and electricity systems all allegedly required “major repairs or replacement”.
Defendant Bethany Farm argues that the Trustee cannot set aside the transfer of the disputed property on the count of “constructive fraudulent transfer”. The Defendant reasons that section 548(a)(1)(B) requires the Trustee to show that the Debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value for the transfer. The Defendant presents Debtor’s own mandatory personal property declaration, Debtor’s Federal and Town tax returns and town assessment card as evidence to show that the value of the disputed property was allegedly less than $600,000.00 at the time of purchase.
The Defendant uses the same arguments and evidence to counter the count of constructive fraudulent transfer under Connecticut Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act and the third count of unjust enrichment.
Mangan, Chapter 7 Trustee v. Bethany Farm & Nursery, LLC (In re ACE Begonias, Inc.), AP No. 21-3005, US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut.
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