LARRY LESSEN, United States Bankruptcy Judge
The issue before the Court is whether the Debtor, Von Behren Electric, Inc. or Von Built, Inc., a/k/a Von Built Trailers, Inc. own six trailers. Both corporations are owned by Kevin Von Behren.
The Trustee has filed an adversary complaint seeking to avoid the transfer of the trailers to Kevin Von Behren Electric, LLC, a corporation owned by Mr. Von Behren's son, Kevin Von Behren II.
The Trustee seeks to sell the trailers at an auction scheduled for October 12, 2002.
In January, 2001, Mr. Von Behren decided to start a side business making trailers. Mr. Von Behren testified that the trailer business was supposed to be a totally separate business from the Debtor. He testified that the trailers were to be owned by a separate company, Von Built.
Although Mr. Von Behren began building trailers in January, 2001, Von Built was not incorporated until November, 2001. There are no corporate books or records of Von Built, Inc. Von Built, Inc. did not have a corporate minute book or by-laws. Von Built, Inc. did not have any employees, and there are no payroll records.
Mr. Von Behren did not pay himself. Nothing was ever filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Von Built, Inc. made no purchases and there are no invoices. In short, Von Built, Inc. appears to be nothing more than a shell corporation.
The six trailers at issue were built by employees of the Debtor with materials purchased by the Debtor at a site owned by the Debtor. The trailers were also used by the Debtor in the ordinary course of the Debtor's business.
Mr. Von Behren testified that the trailers were stamped with serial numbers on the inside tongue of the trailers denoting them as owned by Von Built, Inc. However, he admitted that he had never actually seen the stamps on any of the trailers. The former Department of Transportation supervisor for the Debtor and KVB Electric testified that vehicle identification numbers were never put on the trailers because they never had the maintenance people on hand to do it. The auctioneer hired by the Trustee to sell the Debtor's vehicles and trailers testified that neither he nor any of his employees could find any vehicle identification numbers on the trailers.
There was no evidence of any agreement between the Debtor and Von Built, Inc. for Von Built, Inc. to reimburse the Debtor for the materials and labor which the Debtor expended in building the trailers.
On May 4, 2002, the Debtor's operation was shut down by the Department of Transportation. Much of the equipment of the Debtor was transferred to KVB Electric after the Debtor knew that it was going to file bankruptcy.
On June 5, 2002, the Debtor filed its petition pursuant to Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. On June 6, 2002, applications were submitted to title the trailers in the name of Von Built, Inc.
The money to get the titles came in the form of cash from Mr. Von Behren; there were no checks from Von Built, Inc. The titles to the trailers were issued on July 30, 2002.
Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that the trailers were owned by the Debtor at the time the case was filed. The trailers were built by the Debtor's employees with materials furnished by the Debtor on property owned by the Debtor and they were used by the Debtor in the operation of the Debtor's business. The only evidence which supports Von Built, Inc.'s claim of ownership of the trailers is the self-serving testimony of Mr. Von Behren that he intended for Von Built, Inc. to own the trailers and some Von Built decals were affixed to the trailers. This is not enough to overcome the overwhelming evidence of the Debtor's ownership of the vehicles.
Because the trailers were property of the bankruptcy estate, the post-petition titling of the trailers in the name of Von Built, Inc. constitutes a voidable post-petition transfer pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 549.
For the foregoing reasons, the transfer of the trailers is avoided, and the Trustee is authorized to sell the trailers.
This Opinion is to serve as Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law pursuant to Rule 7052 of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
See written Order.
ORDER
For the reasons set forth in an Opinion entered this day,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Count I of the Trustee's Complaint is allowed, and the transfers of the vehicles and trailers described below be and are hereby avoided.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Trustee be and is hereby authorized to sell the following personal property:
A. VIN#1FTFS24H2NHB200021 — year 1992 — make (Ford) — model (S250) — body style (truck) — Title no. T2150121035
B. VIN#1FTFS24Y9RHB34486 — year 1994 — make (Ford) — model (S250) — body style (truck) — Title No. T2150121040
C. VIN#VB11001D002 — year 2001 — made "VAC TEC" model (blank) — body style — (Trailer) — Title No. T2211866013
D. VIN#VBT1101C002 — year 2001 — make "VAC TEC" — model (blank) body style (Trailer) — Title No. T2211866012
E. VIN#VBT0402C004 — year 2002 — make "VAC TEC" model (blank) — body style (Trailer) — Title No. T2211866011
F. VIN#VBT0102A002 — year 2001 — make "VAC TEC" — model (blank) — body style (Trailer) — title No. T2211866010
G. VIN#VBT1101C001 — year 2002 — make "VAC TEC" — model (blank) — body style (Trailer) — Title No. T2211866008
H. VIN#VBT0402C003 — year 2002 — make "VON BUILT" — model (blank) — body style (Trailer) — Title No. T2211866003
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Trustee is authorized to employ John Laurenzana II as auctioneer for the purpose of selling the above-described personal property at public or private sale.
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