Opinion ID: 6536714
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Charles Gebhardt v. Carol Inman

Text: Carol Inman, d/b/a Starichkof Enterprises, provided equipment, labor, and services to Cook Inlet. Charles Gebhardt, the appointed trustee for Cook Inlet's liquidation trust, 5 sued Inman to recover payments Cook Inlet made to her before the bankruptcy. In October 2017 Gebhardt filed a motion for partial summary judgment, asserting that there was no genuine issue of material fact that the payments to Inman were avoidable preferred payments. 6 Inman opposed the motion, asserting an inchoate lien defense. Inman had not recorded a mineral dump lien; she asserted that, had she not been paid for her work, she could have recorded a valid mineral dump lien that would have attached to property valued in excess of the amount she was owed. She contended that this inchoate lien constituted a complete defense to the trustee's attempt to avoid the payments made to her before the bankruptcy. Inman filed a motion to certify to us the questions interpreting the mineral dump lien in her case, which the bankruptcy court granted.