In granting the Debtor's motion to avoid judicial lien, the court relied upon undisputed facts and was unpersuaded by the creditor's reliance upon the doctrine of laches to oppose relief.
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Patrick M. Flatley
In re Polce, 18-ap-28
Date: 11/05/2018
Date: 11/05/2018
In denying the Debtor's motion to dismiss for failure to state a a claim upon which the court can grant relief the court found that the Creditor had adequately plead with particularity the elements necessary to support a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation.
In re Protea Biosciences, Inc. 17-bk-1200
Date: 10/30/2018
Date: 10/30/2018
A request for recharacterization, by itself, may be adjudicated as a contested matter in a claim's objection proceeding and does not require the filing of an adversary proceeding.
In re Tara Retail Gourp, LLC, 17-bk-57
Date: 09/19/2018
Date: 09/19/2018
In sustaining, in part, the Debtor’s objection to the proof of claim filed by its principal secured creditor, the court found that the Loan Agreement governing the parties’ relationship did not entitle the creditor to a prepayment premium after it accelerated the maturity of the promissory note.
In re Dotson, 17-bk-877
Date: 08/23/2018
Date: 08/23/2018
In granting the UST's motion to dismiss for abuse based upon the totality of the circumstances, the court finds that the Debtors have a significant ability to repay their creditors and that the Green factors weigh favor of a finding of abuse under § 707(b)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code.
Boggs v. West (In re West), 17-ap-31
Date: 08/01/2018
Date: 08/01/2018
In granting the Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his complaint under § 523(a)(6), the court finds that the Plaintiff’s state court judgment against the Debtor precludes relitigating “willful and malicious injury” in this proceeding.
In re Tara Retail Group, Inc., 17-bk-57
Date: 06/15/2018
Date: 06/15/2018
The court denied the Debtor’s motion under § 506(c) to surcharge its principal secured creditor for attorney fees and expenses incurred from the petition date through October 31, 2017. In doing so, the court found that the Debtor did not incur the attorney fees primarily to protect or preserve the creditor’s collateral and provided no direct and quantifiable benefit to the creditor.
In re Emerald Grande, LLC, 17-bk-21
Date: 06/04/2018
Date: 06/04/2018
In dismissing First Bank of Charleston, Inc., and Carter Bank and Trust's motion to convert the Debtor's case under § 1112(b) of the Bankruptcy Code, the court finds that the Creditors failed to establish cause for conversion based on the estate's alleged continued diminution and absence of a reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation, the Debtor's alleged administrative insolvency, or the Debtor's alleged gross mismanagement of the estate.
In re Combs, 18-bk-396
Date: 05/11/2018
Date: 05/11/2018
In dismissing the Debtors’ case based upon § 109(g)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code, the court adopts the “causal connection” approach for determining debtor eligibility thereunder.
Morris v. Mortg. Sols. of Colorado, LLC (In re White), 17-ap-16
Date: 03/14/2018
Date: 03/14/2018
In granting the Chapter 13 trustee's motion under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c), the court finds that the uncontested material facts entitle the trustee to relief on her complaint under § 544(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code.
Sheehan v. Peoples Bank, N.A. (In re The Feed Store, LLC), 17-ap-8
Date: 03/13/2018
Date: 03/13/2018
In approving Peoples Bank's motion for summary judgment, the court finds that Peoples Bank provided the Trustee with constitutionally-sufficient notice, despite its financing statement being mis-indexed by the Secretary of State.
In re Jones, 13-bk-260
Date: 02/05/2018
Date: 02/05/2018
In granting the Debtors’ proposed modification of their confirmed Chapter 13 plan, the court finds that nothing in § 1325(b)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code or Pliler v. Stearns (In re Pliler), 747 F.3d 260 (4th Cir. 2014) requires Chapter 13 debtors to pay more than the confirmed base of their plan absent additional disposable income or nonexempt assets justifying modification.
In re Douay, 17-bk-750
Date: 01/19/2018
Date: 01/19/2018
In granting the Debtor’s motion to value an automobile under § 506(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, the court finds that valuation is not precluded by the “hanging paragraph” of § 1325(a) because the Debtor did not acquire the vehicle for his personal use.
In re Tara Retail Group, Inc., 17-bk-57
Date: 01/18/2018
Date: 01/18/2018
In approving the Debtor's stipulation with Dollar Tree resolving its objection to Dollar Tree's proof of claim, the court finds that Dollar Tree’s voting rights need not be identical to its distribution rights under a Chapter 11 plan, and that the stipulation does not constitute an impermissible solicitation under § 1125(b).
Houck v. Thomas (In re Thomas), 17-ap-03
Date: 08/14/2017
Date: 08/14/2017
The court grants summary judgment to the Plaintiff on his complaint against the Debtor under § 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code. In determining that the Plaintiff's civil judgment against the Debtor should be excepted from the Debtor’s Chapter 7 discharge, the court finds that the state court’s findings are entitled to preclusive effect under the doctrine of issue preclusion.
Davis v. Long Reach Federal Credit Union (In re Davis), 16-ap-30
Date: 08/01/2017
Date: 08/01/2017
In granting the Defendant summary judgment on the Plaintiff's complaint under section 525(b) of the Bankruptcy Code, the court found there to be no genuine dispute that the Defendant's termination of the Plaintiff's employment was not "solely because" of the Plaintiff's bankruptcy.
McDade v. Direct Subsidized Consolidation Loan, et. al. (In re McDade), 15-ap-27
Date: 07/27/2017
Date: 07/27/2017
The court granted the Department of Education's motion for summary judgment on the basis that the Debtor failed to satisfy her burden that she would be subjected to an undue hardship should the court deny her a discharge of her student loan obligations. Specifically, the court found that the Debtor failed to demonstrate that she is unable to maintain a minimal standard of living while repaying her student loan debts.
In re John Stewart Custom Woodworking, Inc. No. 16-816
Date: 07/21/2017
Date: 07/21/2017
The court determined that the trustee lacked authority to settle a claim on behalf of the estate when the claim was originally asserted by a third-party and sought to pierce the corporate veil and hold the debtor's shareholders liable. The court's analysis turned on the individual nature of the harm suffered by the third-party rather than a general harm suffered by the entire creditor body.
Gorman v. Seveland, 17-ap-9
Date: 06/30/2017
Date: 06/30/2017
The court dismissed a claim against Wells Fargo for conversion of an instrument and breach of fiduciary duty. The claim for conversion of an instrument was barred by the applicable statute of limitations and the claim for breach of fiduciary duty lacked any allegations of the existence of a fiduciary relationship.
Franklin v. Credit Acceptance Corp. (In re Franklin), 16-ap-44
Date: 06/13/2017
Date: 06/13/2017
The court granted summary judgment to the defendant-creditor on the plaintiff-debtor’s complaint asserting a willful violation of the automatic stay and a preferential transfer. In that regard, the court found that the creditor acted reasonably prompt in releasing its pre-petition garnishment and returning the garnished funds to the debtor such that it did not willfully violate the automatic stay. The creditor’s return of the garnished funds to the debtor mooted the debtor’s action to avoid the transfers as preferential.