Satija v. C-T Plaster, Inc. (In re Sterry Industries, Inc.)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TONY M. DAVIS, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

Summers are hot in Texas, so pools are a hot item. But not hot enough to help a pool installer named Sterry avoid bankruptcy. Shortly before bankruptcy, Sterry paid a debt to CenTex, a subcontractor, and the bankruptcy trustee now seeks to recover that payment as preferential. Can Cen-Tex establish an ordinary course of business defense to the trustee’s suit even though a change in its ownership also changed the course of its business with Sterry?

I. BACKGROUND

For some time prior to bankruptcy, Sterry Industries, Inc. (‘.‘Sterry”)…