In addition, when a bankruptcy court uses turnover proceedings to quiet title to real estate that is located in another jurisdiction and has no connection to the debtor, title to which is claimed by a party having no contact with the forum, we believe that substantial due process concerns are implicated. Some courts, however, have used turnover proceedings to effect a transfer of possession of real estate. For example, in In re Southern Metal Prods. Corp., 26 F. Supp. 666 (N.D.Ala. 1939), the court, without discussing the point, allowed a trustee to use a turnover action to oust a receiver from property that he occupied after a creditor foreclosed on a fraudulent mortgage. See also 2 Collier on Bankruptcy § 23.10, at 561 n. 2 (14th ed. 1974) (real estate is subject to turnover orders).
(Underlining for emphasis) Under § 70(e)(1) the trustee may avoid a transfer that is voidable under applicable law, including state law. See 4B Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 70.71 et seq. (14th ed. 1978); In re Southern Metal Products Corporation, 26 F.Supp. 666 (N.D.Ala. 1939). Plaintiff, Clear Creek, as assignee of the trustee's action under § 70(e)(1), is proceeding under Alabama's Fraudulent Conveyance Act codified at Ala.
See, Green v. Wright, 160 Ala. 476, 49 So. 320 (1909); Moog v. Talcott, 72 Ala. 210 (1882). See also, In re Grocers' Baking Company, 266 Fed. 900 (M. N.D.Ala. 1920), cited with approval in In re Southern Metals Products Corporation, 26 F. Supp. 666, 672 (N.D.Ala. 1939). Cf. Baker v. Gate City Coffin Company, 203 Ala. 6, 81 So. 674 (1919).
After his appointment no one else is authorized by the bankrupt law to proceed in that respect. In re Southern Metal Products Corp., D.C., 26 F. Supp. 666; Neuberger v. Felis, 203 Ala. 142, 82 So. 172. Prior to the amendment, the courts were substantially agreed that such a suit as this was not authorized by the Bankruptcy Act.