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Supreme Court No.2003-160-Appeal. (KC 02-1175)

Christopher M. Duffy v. Kathleen E. Dwyer.

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Present: Williams, C.J., Flanders, Goldberg, Flaherty, and Suttell, JJ. OPINION Williams, Chief Justice. "[T]ime is money."1 In this case, time cost the

plaintiff, Christopher M. Duffy (plaintiff), $34,189. Without reaching the merits of the controversy, the Superior Court motion justice granted the defendant's, Kathleen E. Dwyer (defendant), motion for summary judgment. The motion justice found that the statute of limitations had run before the plaintiff filed his complaint alleging that the defendant violated the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA), G.L. 1956 chapter 16 of title 6. The plaintiff appealed the matter to this Court. For the reasons indicated herein, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court. I Facts and Travel The parties before us were brought together by the actions of one man, Brian T. Evans (Evans). On October 30, 1995, plaintiff initiated suit against Evans and Evans's business partner to collect an outstanding debt resulting from the sale of a boat (boat litigation). In furtherance of the litigation, a deposition was taken on April 11, 1996, in
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Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Tradesman, in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations 310 (16th ed. 1992). 1

which Evans said that he lived at 82 Model Avenue in Warwick, Rhode Island (Model Avenue property). Eight days after the deposition, on April 19, 1996, Evans executed a quitclaim deed (original quitclaim deed) conveying his interest in the Model Avenue property to defendant, who, plaintiff claims, is Evans's girlfriend (1996 transfer). The original quitclaim deed was promptly recorded with the clerk of the City of Warwick. According to plaintiff, defendant paid Evans roughly half the assessed value of the Model Avenue property. Evans and defendant continue to reside together at the Model Avenue property. Because of a defect in the original quitclaim deed,2 Evans filed a corrective quitclaim deed with the Warwick city clerk on January 10, 1999.3 Presumably unaware of the 1996 transfer, or the state of Evans's finances, plaintiff entered into binding arbitration with Evans and on May 15, 2001, the arbitrator awarded plaintiff $34,189. Evans filed for bankruptcy on July 11, 2001. Five months later, on December 26, 2001, plaintiff initiated the present action against defendant, alleging that the transfer from Evans to defendant was made "[w]ith [the] actual intent to hinder, delay, and defraud the [p]laintiff." See

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