(denying debtor's request for sanctions for violation of the automatic stay/discharge injunction, as unscheduled debt, upon which creditor initiated collection action was not discharged).
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Opinions
Effective January 1, 2017, Orders in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia designated by the Court as "opinions" will be transmitted to the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and made available to the public at no cost. To view these opinions, click HERE to be transferred to GPO site.
Orders designated as Opinions and issued between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2016 are maintained on this website. Many of these Opinions are not intended for publication and are so designated. Each entry includes the style of the matter, the case number, the date entered on the docket, and a short parenthetical expression of the issue(s) raised. The most recent opinions appear first.
You can narrow your search by judge and/or year below. You can also use the search feature above to search by name, word, or phrase. The single opinions are in PDF text format and may be searched for word, phrase, or date by using “Control F,” the Windows search function available in any Windows application.
(Reaffirmation agreement is made when parties agree to material terms, even if executed and filed after discharge);
(Debtor's argument that prepetition foreclosure sale was invalid was rejected based upon prior state court ruling. Bankruptcy court is not substitute to appeal state court ruling);
(order denying motion for default judgment for failure to plead sufficient facts to support a conclusion that credit card debt is nondischargeable under section 523(a)(2)).
Judge James E. Massey (Retired)
After the trial of this matter commenced but was continued, Defendant filed motion for judgment on the Pleadings or alternatively for failure to state a claim for relief, which the Court denied as untimely. Court granted motion for reconsideration to consider whether motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim could be considered during the trial but denied the motion to dismiss. Defendant in effect waived right to move to dismiss after having a belated pretrial order to narrow the issues and thereby to define the substance of the claims in greater detail.
NOT INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION
Court tried the motion of Southwick Real Estate LLC to dismiss for abuse under section 707(b), which apples to an individual Chapter 7 Debtor whose debts are “primarily consumer debts.” The Court found that Debtors renovated a home for investment purposes because their intent was to sell it, rather than to live in it. Debts incurred for renovation exceeded amount of other debts, including initial mortgage debt, so that debts were not primarily consumer debts.
NOT INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION
Trustee brought preference action against non-resident to recover $6,000. Defendant moved to dismiss for improper venue under 11 U.S.C § 1409(b), contending that the debt in question was a consumer debt. Held: motion denied. Section 1409(b) on which
Defendant relies applies to proceedings to avoid and recover preferences, but Plaintiff did not seek a “to recover . . . a consumer
debt” within the meaning of section 1409(b) but instead sought to recover on a debt created by the Bankruptcy Code by section 550 as the consequence of avoidance of a preference under section 547.
NOT INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION
Honorable Paul W. Bonapfel
(Order denying Movant’s default motion for relief from stay. Proposed order on default motion provided for conversion of the case to chapter 7 and awarded movant fees and costs in conjunction with filing/prosecution of the motion. Default motion denied because (1) nothing in the consent order entitled the movant to conversion of the case without notice and hearing and, thus, motion failed to state a claim for relief (consent order only provided for termination of stay and opportunity for trustee to file motion to convert case); and (2) no legal or factual basis for award of fees asserted. In addition, court observed that inclusion of an award of fees in a routine order submitted to chambers on a default motion where there has been no consent and no hearing is inappropriate and improper.
Court denies objection to claim of IRS for improper service. Court also notes that notice did not comply with BLR 3007-1(c) and Official Form 3007-1(c) because it did not state a specific date for a response.
Judge Joyce Bihary (Retired)
(Claim disallowed as a § 507(a)(4) priority claim).