Kaiser Agricultural Chemicals v. Beaver Dam Grain, Inc. (In Re Beaver Dam Grain, Inc.)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

MERRITT S. DEITZ, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.

Here we consider whether a landlord who takes over and runs a grain elevator no longer operated by his lessee, with no contractual connection between the two beyond the lease, thereby becomes liable under a security agreement reached years earlier by the tenant and a supplier. We hold that the landlord incurs no such liability.

A key figure in our analysis is the tenant, B.C. Christopher Co. (BC), 1 which formerly did business sub nom “Beaver Dam Grain”, and in so doing planted the seeds of this controversy. Principals to the dispute…