Matter of Ripley Oil Co.
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio
71 B.R. 631 (1987)
- Written by Douglas Halasz, JD
Facts
Ripley Oil Co. (Ripley) (debtor) sold petroleum products. Ripley often loaned its customers oil tanks and pumps, sometimes for many years, to store the fuel the customers purchased from Ripley. The customers would customarily sign equipment agreements stating that the customers were merely borrowing the tanks, the tanks remained Ripley’s personal property, and Ripley could remove the tanks at the end of the agreement, or any other time Ripley saw fit. In 1983, Ripley obtained a loan from Citizens National (creditor). As security, Ripley pledged all its accounts receivable and inventory. Subsequently, Ripley filed for bankruptcy. During bankruptcy proceedings, Citizens National claimed a security interest in the oil tanks as inventory. The bankruptcy trustee argued that the oil tanks constituted equipment, which Citizens National had no security interest in.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Newsome, J.)
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