Moore v. Bay
Moore, Trustee in Bankruptcy for the Estate of Sassard & Kimball, Inc., Bankrupt, v. Bay
Opinion
Mr. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the Court.
The bankrupt executed a mortgage of automobiles, furniture, show room and shop equipment that is admitted to be bad as against creditors who were such at the date *5 of the mortgage and those who became such between the date of the mortgage and that on which it was recorded, there having been a failure to observe the requirements of the Civil Code of California, § 3440. The question raised is whether the mortgage is void also as against those who gave the bankrupt credit at a later date, after the mortgage was on record. The Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an order of the District Judge giving the mortgage priority over the last creditors. Whether the Court was right must be decided by the Bankruptcy Act since it is superior to all state laws upon the subject.
Globe Bank v. Martin, 236 U. S. 288 , 298.
The trustee in bankruptcy gets the title to all property which has been transferred by the bankrupt in fraud of creditors, or which prior to the petition .he could by any means have transferred, or which, might have been levied upon and sold under judicial process against him. Act of July 1, 1898, c. 541, § 70; U. S. Code, Title 11, § 110. By § 67, Code, Title 11, § 107 (a), claims which for want of record or for other reasons would not have been valid liens as against the claims of the creditors of the bankrupt shall not be liens against his estate. The rights of the trustee by subrogation are to be enforced for the benefit of the estate. The Circuit Courts of Appeals seem generally to agree, as the language of the Bankruptcy Act appears to us to imply very plainly, that what thus is recovered for the benefit of the estate is to be distributed in “ dividends of an equal percentum on all allowed claims, except such as have priority or are secured.” Bankruptcy Act, § 65, Code, Title 11, § 105.
In re Kohler, 159 Fed. 871 .
Mullen v. Warner, 11 F. (2d) 62.
Campbell v. Dalbey, 23 F. (2d) 229.
Cohen v. Schultz, 43 F. (2d) 340.
Globe Bank v. Martin, 236 U. S. 288 , 305.
Decree reversed.
How later courts describe this case
Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 13 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.
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(recognizing that the trustee is not limited to recovering a specific amount of debt of one creditor)
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(observing that what is recovered for benefit of bankrupt's estate is to be distributed in equal parts among allowed unsecured claims that lack priority)
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(holding, with respect to predecessors of section 544(b) claims, the trustee could recover on an avoided transfer for the estate’s creditors at large)
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(holding the trustee may recover the entire value of the transfer, even if the creditor the trustee is using to establish standing is only owed a small portion of the value of the total transfer)
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(finding a trustee’s authority to set aside a fraudulent conveyance broader than an individual creditor’s)
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(allowing trustee to stand in shoes of creditor to recover entire fraudulent-conveyance amount for benefit of all creditors even though creditor who could have avoided it subsequently owed only fraction of original amount)
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(a “transaction that is voidable by a single, actual unsecured creditor may be avoided in its entirety, regardless of the size of the creditor’s claim”)
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(the right of the trustee to recover is dependent upon just one creditor with a cause of action and not dependent at all upon the size of that creditor’s claim against the debtor)
Cited by 276 cases
View all citing references →- U.S. Supreme Court4
- U.S. Courts of Appeals65
- Federal District Courts66
- Bankruptcy Courts120
- Military Courts1
- State Highest Courts12
- State Appellate Courts4
- State Trial Courts1
- State Attorney General Opinions1
- Territorial Courts2
Relies on it most ⓘ
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