MEMORANDUM DECISION
FILED
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), Nov 02 2017, 9:02 am
this Memorandum Decision shall not be
regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
court except for the purpose of establishing and Tax Court
the defense of res judicata, collateral
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE
Caroline B. Briggs DANIEL DUMOULIN, SR.
Lafayette, Indiana Cassandra A. Kruse
Emswiller, Williams, Noland &
Clarke, P.C.
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Daniel Dumoulin II, November 2, 2017
Appellant-Intervenor, Court of Appeals Case No.
52A02-1704-DR-725
v. Appeal from the Miami Superior
Court
Daniel Dumoulin, Sr., The Honorable A. Christopher
Appellee-Petitioner, Lee, Special Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
and
52D02-0901-DR-11
Joan Dumoulin,
Appellee-Respondent
Baker, Judge.
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[1] Daniel Dumoulin II (Son) appeals the trial court’s order denying his motion to
dismiss the proceedings supplemental action filed by Daniel Dumoulin, Sr.
(Husband), to collect on a debt owed by Son. In 2005, Son purchased a bar
owned by Husband and Joan Dumoulin (Wife), for a purchase price of $2.1
million. The balance still owed on that debt is approximately $1.1 million. As
part of the divorce proceeding between Husband and Wife (in which Son is an
intervening party), the trial court entered an order finding that Son must make
respective payments of approximately $550,000 to each of his parents. Son
appealed that order and, in 2016, this Court affirmed.
[2] After we affirmed that order, Husband filed a proceedings supplemental to
collect on Son’s debt. Son appeals, arguing that it was a limited liability
company (LLC), rather than Son individually, that purchased the bar, and that
the correct way to collect on this debt is to bring a mortgage foreclosure action
rather than a proceedings supplemental. Finding that Son is barred from raising
these arguments because he did not do so when he appealed from the money
judgment order, we affirm.
Facts
[3] Husband and Wife married in 1971 and had four children, including Son. At
some point, Husband and Wife were members of Hoosier LLC, which owned a
sports bar in Kokomo called Ultimate Place 2B (the bar). In 2005, Husband
and Wife agreed to sell the bar to Son. The parties made an oral agreement,
and the bar was either transferred to Son individually or to Ultimate Place
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LLC, of which he was a member. Son or Ultimate Place LLC agreed to pay
$2.1 million for the bar, some of which would be covered by payment of his
preexisting debts to his parents. Dumoulin v. Dumoulin, No. 52A05-1505-DR-
500, at *3 (Ind. Ct. App. June 10, 2016) (“Dumoulin III”).
[4] After Son took over the operations of the bar, he converted it into an adult
entertainment business. Its liquor license then came up for renewal. After the
Alcohol and Tobacco Commission denied his petition to renew the license, Son
sought judicial review; the trial court reversed the denial of his petition. This
Court affirmed the trial court and found, among other things, that Son agreed
to pay $2.1 million for the bar and that the transaction was bona fide. Ind.
Alcohol & Tobacco Comm’n v. Ultimate Place, LLC, No. 34A05-0804-CV-209, at *6
(Ind. Ct. App. Sept. 30, 2008) (“Dumoulin I”).
[5] On January 30, 2009, Husband filed a petition to dissolve the marriage. In
April 2012, Wife filed a motion to add Son as an indispensable party to the
dissolution proceedings and to bifurcate the final hearing, conducting a separate
hearing solely to determine the marital estate. The trial court granted Wife’s
motion and Son intervened in the proceeding.
[6] In January 2013, all parties participated in mediation, but they were not
successful in resolving issues surrounding the bar. On January 28, 2013, the
trial court held a hearing regarding the remaining property disputes in the
marital estate. It distilled the issues before it as follows: “the sole issue[s] in this
hearing are four adjacent properties [unrelated to this appeal] and ownership of
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the “Ultimate Place 2B[”] which is presently owned by a Limited Liability
Company, [“]Ultimate Place LLC.[”] Appellant’s App. p. 42. On April 9,
2013, the trial court issued an order (the April 2013 Order) regarding these
property disputes. In relevant part, it held as follows:
3. The [bar] owned by Ultimate Place LLC is located at 5126
Clinton, Kokomo, IN. The sales member of the LLC is
[Son], the intervener. The husband and wife disclaimed
any interest in said business and property in numerous
proceedings which eventually was decided in [the] 2008
unpublished decision cited as [Dumoulin I]. [Husband]
admitted that the parties so testified, [h]owever, there was
no writing setting forth the terms of an oral agreement.
4. There was an oral partially performed agreement for
payment and ownership between the intervener and his
parents. The husband disputes the price and the terms and
conditions. However, the husband and wife each agree
that many bills, mortgages and other indebtedness have
been paid and that the intervener is not in default. The
husband claims there was and is equity in the
transaction[.] However, he presents no [credible] evidence
of value and relies solely upon his understanding of price
which was disputed by the wife and intervener. Evidence
was presented that the building and business were worth
less than the parties[’] indebtedness pledged or mortgaged
to the payment of debt at the time of the transfer to
intervener.
5. The [bar] property is presently titled to another LLC
named Hoosier LLC which has been administratively
dissolved by the Indiana Secretary of State. Once the
administrative dissolution takes place the LLC members
are required to wind up the business, which they
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accomplished when the sports bar business was transferred
to the Gentlemen’s Club. However, the deeds and other[]
transfer documents will need to be executed at the
completion of the oral and partially performed contract
stated above.
***
10. The court declares that there is no equity . . . in [the bar]
and [it] is not a marital asset. In this connection the title to
real estate is vested in Hoosier LLC which is a dissolved
entity. Therefore the remaining act of winding up business
is the transfer of real estate at the time when all payments
pursuant to the oral contract are completed. . . . The court
finds the parties have no interest in the real estate except
the intervener[’s] promise to pay and their conveyance.
Id. at 43-45. The trial judge recused himself on May 8, 2013; a special judge
was later appointed to oversee the proceedings.
[7] On May 8, 2013, Husband filed a motion to correct error regarding the April
2013 Order. In relevant part, he argued that the Statute of Frauds prevented
Son from enforcing the oral contract regarding the bar, that he had not
disclaimed his interest in the bar during the Dumoulin I proceedings, and that
the value of the oral contract should not be excluded from the marital estate.
On October 22, 2013, the trial court denied Husband’s motion as it related to
the bar.
[8] On December 10, 2014, the trial court held the second of the bifurcated final
hearings. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court granted the
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dissolution of marriage, entered the dissolution decree, and took all pending
issues under advisement. Dumoulin III, at *3. On April 30, 2015, the trial court
issued an order (the Money Judgment Order) requiring Son to make payments
of approximately $581,000 to each parent. In relevant part, the trial court
found as follows:
It is undisputed that [Son] agreed to purchase the [bar] from his
parents. [Wife and Son] argue that the agreement was for [Son]
to assume certain debts and it is clear that [Son] has paid on
those debts. [Father] . . . concedes that part of that purchase
price included the debts that [Son] has paid thus far, leaving a
balance of $1,162,009.08. This Court cannot ignore the prior
sworn testimony of [Father] and [Son] that the purchase price
was 2.1 million dollars. . . .
Id. at 90.
[9] Two appeals ensued. First, Wife appealed the division of the marital estate,
raising arguments unrelated to this appeal. Dumoulin v. Dumoulin, No. 52A05-
1507-DR-823 (Ind. Ct. App. May 13, 2016) (“Dumoulin II”). We affirmed. Id.
at *7.
[10] In Dumoulin III, Son appealed the Money Judgment Order and Husband cross-
appealed the denial of his motion to correct error regarding the April 2013
Order. This Court summarized Son’s arguments in that case as follows:
(1) he argues that the trial court lacked the authority to determine
whether he owed monies to Husband and Wife because Son was
never put on notice that either Husband or Wife was seeking a
monetary judgment against him; (2) the trial court lacked subject
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matter jurisdiction because the issue was not ripe for review; (3)
the Statute of Frauds bars Husband and Wife’s recovery on the
agreement to purchase the Ultimate; and (4) the trial court
abused its discretion by refusing to admit Exhibit J.
Dumoulin III, at *1. Son did not argue that the Money Judgment Order was
erroneous based on the alleged fact that an LLC, rather than Son as an
individual, was the purchaser/owner of the bar, nor did he argue that the
judgment should have been fashioned as an in rem, rather than an in personam,
judgment. Father did not argue that the April 2013 Order was erroneous based
on the trial court’s conclusion in that order that Ultimate Place LLC, rather
than Son as an individual, was the purchaser of the bar. Son argued that the
doctrine of res judicata applied to the April 2013 Order but this Court
disagreed, noting that “the April 2013 Order was not a final appealable order.”
Id. at *4 n.3. This Court affirmed in all respects. Id. at *7.
[11] After Dumoulin III was decided, Father filed a motion to enforce the judgment
by proceedings supplemental1 on October 12, 2016. Son moved to dismiss that
motion, arguing that mortgage foreclosure, rather than proceedings
supplemental, was the appropriate remedy for default on a land contract and
that collection should be made against the Ultimate Place LLC rather than Son
as an individual. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Son’s motion on
1
Proceedings supplemental “are designed as a remedy where a party fails to pay a money judgment. The
proceedings are merely a continuation of the underlying claim, initiated under the same cause number for the
sole purpose of enforcing a judgment.” Prime Mortg. USA, Inc. v. Nichols, 885 N.E.2d 628, 668-69 (Ind. Ct.
App. 2008) (internal citation omitted).
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March 3, 2017, finding that (1) the Money Judgment Order was appealed and
affirmed; and (2) the Money Judgment Order is not an in rem judgment and is
instead a “general judgment” in favor of Husband and against Son. Appellant’s
App. p. 36. Son now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
[12] Son raises the following arguments on appeal: (1) Husband is bound by the
trial court’s finding in the April 2013 Order that Ultimate Place LLC, rather
than Son individually, was the purchaser of the bar; (2) Husband may not
proceed individually against Son without piercing the corporate veil, and there
has been no request to do so; and (3) even if it was proper to proceed against
Son as an individual, proceedings supplemental was not the correct method to
do so—instead, it should have been filed as a mortgage foreclosure action.
[13] With respect to Son’s argument that the Money Judgment Order should have
been entered against Ultimate Place LLC, rather than Son as an individual, the
proper time in which to make this argument would have been the Dumoulin III
appeal, which was a direct appeal of that order. But of all the arguments he
raised in that appeal with respect to the Money Judgment Order, he did not
raise the one he argues now. And unfortunately for Son, he may not take an
untimely second bite at the apple. We can only conclude that he is barred from
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making this argument at this point in the litigation.2 Consequently, we decline
to reverse based on the fact that the Proceedings Supplemental Order was
entered against Son individually rather than against Ultimate Place LLC.
[14] Now, we must consider Son’s final argument—that the proper way in which to
enforce the Money Judgment is via a mortgage foreclosure rather than
proceedings supplemental. Here, yet again, we are compelled to find that he is
not entitled to raise this issue. The Money Judgment Order clearly and plainly
enters a money judgment “in favor of [Father] and against [Son] in the amount
of $581,004.54. The judgment will not accrue interest from the date of this
order through 2017. Commencing on January 1, 2018, any unpaid balance on
the judgment shall accrue interest at the legal rate.” Appellant’s App. p. 90.
[15] An “in personam” debt means that the creditors may “seek to collect against
the debtor individually[.]” McCullough v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 70 N.E.3d 820, 827
(Ind. 2017). An “in rem” debt, on the other hand, is merely a “right[] against
the property” at issue. Id. at 828. In this case, the Money Judgment Order
clearly finds an in personam debt (which may be collected upon via proceedings
supplemental) rather than an in rem debt (which, perhaps, should be collected
upon via a mortgage foreclosure action). If Son wanted to appeal the way in
which the trial court imposed and fashioned this debt, the proper time to do so
2
Son argues that Husband is barred by the doctrine of res judicata from arguing that the April 2013 Order,
which found that Ultimate Place LLC purchased the bar, was erroneous. We cannot reach the merits of this
argument, however, as it should have been raised in Dumoulin III, and may not be raised at this time.
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would have been in Dumoulin III, when he appealed from the Money Judgment
Order. Yet again, he must be denied an untimely second bite of this apple. As
such, we decline to reverse.
[16] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Bailey, J., and Altice, J., concur.
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