Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney's Association

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Thank you Jason and Vernon.
I had another meeting with the client about this and realized there's
another wrinkle.
He has a corporation he conducts his real estate business through, so
there is no direct connection between the listing agreement and the
estate. The Trustee only has a claim on the stock of the corporation.
Unfortunately, there are not too many debts of the corporation to offset
this "asset," but certainly the overhead and other factors would
diminish the Trustee's share.
Thinking on it more, the value of the listing agreement is probably
similar to the referral fee that would be paid for a client before the
work is done, not the value of the entire commission.
Negotiating this is going to be a bear, if that's the way I go, because
this Trustee is tough and taking the position that "Please inform your
clients that any commission that is received on those listing agreements
is property of the estate and they have a statutory duty to promptly
turnover to me." It is not property of the estate because it's in the
corporation and the value that passes through does not include the
postpetition work.
Anyway, thanks for the input.
Steve

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I had that happen recently. We negotiated a settlement that I think was unfair to the client but client did not have money to fight a potential motion by the trustee. Fact specific arguments.
Vernon L. Ellicott, Esq.
Certified Family Law Specialist
California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization
A Bankruptcy and Family Law Firm
Law Offices of Vernon L. Ellicott
325 E. Hillcrest Drive, Suite 150
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-7799
(805) 446-6262 Phone
(661) 222-2922 Phone
(805) 446-6264 Fax
This e-mail transmission and any documents, files, or previous e-mail messages attached to it, may contain confidential information from the LAW OFFICES OF VERNON L. ELLICOTT that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this message is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately notify us by reply e-mail, or by telephone at (805) 446-6262, and destroy the original transmission and its attachments and all copies of any kind, without reading them or saving them in any way. Thank you.
A bad day on the bike is better than a good day on the golf course!

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charsetndows-1252
Steve: Every real estate broker says that a commission isn't earned until the sale closes (not just as a practical matter, but as a legal matter).
I don't know who would hire an expert to say what the intrinsic value of a listing agreement is.
You didn't say, but I am assuming this is a Chapter 7.
It is very tempting to just say "no" to the Trustee and see what Trustee does. If there is litigation, maybe see if CAR would join as amicus.
That said, client should try to estimate the relative amounts of time and effort that he/she put in pre petition and post petition, including the efforts on the deal that didn't close. And make the trustee an offer.
2 cents of wisdom.
Jason Wallach
jwallach@gladstonemichel.com
On May 13, 2014, at 5:07 PM, 'Steven B. Lever' sblever@leverlaw.com [cdcbaa] wrote:
>
> List mates:
>
>
>
> I have a client who is a realtor and broker, and had 3 listing agreements pending when he filed his case.
>
>
>
> There were no offers or escrows on any of the listing agreements on the petition date. One did not sell and the others sold.
>
>
>
> Trustee is requesting all the monies from the 2 that sold, even though my client did all the work postpetition. Actually, he had no idea what sold or not, he just said he wants all the money.
>
>
>
> I know that demand is overreaching, but how do I separate the prepetition value in the Listing Agreements had as potential escrows from the value that came out of the actual escrows postpetition?
>
>
>
> Anyone dealt with this or have any advice/words of wisdom?
>
>
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> Law Offices of Steven B. Lever
>
> >
>
> > Steven B. Lever
>
> >( Tel. (562) 436-5456 ext. 1
>
> >( Fax (562) 485-6886
>
> >* sblever@leverlaw.com
>
> > www.leverlaw.com
>
>
>
>
>
charsetndows-1252
Steve: Every real estate broker says that a commission isn't earned until the sale closes (not just as a practical matter, but as a legal matter).I don't know who would hire an expert to say what the intrinsic value of a listing agreement is.You didn't say, but I am assuming this is a Chapter 7. It is very tempting to just say "no" to the Trustee and see what Trustee does. If there is litigation, maybe see if CAR would join as amicus.That said, client should try to estimate the relative amounts of time and effort that he/she put in pre petition and post petition, including the efforts on the deal that didn't close. And make the trustee an offer.2 cents of wisdom.
Jason Wallach
The post was migrated from Yahoo.

List mates:
I have a client who is a realtor and broker, and had 3 listing
agreements pending when he filed his case.
There were no offers or escrows on any of the listing agreements on the
petition date. One did not sell and the others sold.
Trustee is requesting all the monies from the 2 that sold, even though
my client did all the work postpetition. Actually, he had no idea what
sold or not, he just said he wants all the money.
I know that demand is overreaching, but how do I separate the
prepetition value in the Listing Agreements had as potential escrows
from the value that came out of the actual escrows postpetition?
Anyone dealt with this or have any advice/words of wisdom?
Steve
Law Offices of Steven B. Lever
>
> Steven B. Lever
>( Tel. (562) 436-5456 ext. 1
>( Fax (562) 485-6886
>* sblever@leverlaw.com
> www.leverlaw.com

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