ORDER OVERRULING TRUSTEE'S OBJECTION TO THE DEBTORS' CLAIM OF EXEMPTION AND DENYING TRUSTEE'S MOTION TO COMPEL TURNOVER OF HOMESTEAD PROPERTY CARYL E. DELANO, Bankruptcy Judge. This case is before the Court for consideration of the Trustee's Objection to the Debtors' Claim of Exemptions (Doc. No. 12) (the "Objection") and the Trustee's Motion to Compel Turnover of the Debtors' homestead and personal property (Doc. No. 24) (the "Turnover Motion"). The issue is whether the Debtors may claim...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DENYING DEFENDANT'S AMENDED MOTION FOR ABSTENTION KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. In this adversary proceeding, the plaintiff, Plaza South Tower Commercial Condominium Association, Inc. ("Plaza South"), asserts in Count I that, pursuant to 1144 of the Bankruptcy Code, 1 the Court should revoke the confirmation order 2 and vacate a later order 3 modifying the confirmation order because the debtor and the other defendants—Plaza Ten LLC, a corporation formed to...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DENYING BANK JOINT DEFENSE GROUP TEST CASE NO. 1 MOTION TO DISMISS KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. Integra Bank, N.A. seeks to dismiss Test Case No. 1 on two grounds. 1 First, Integra argues the trustee has failed to state a claim for actual fraudulent transfer under 548(a)(1)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code 2 because the so-called "Ponzi scheme presumption"—which is the trustee's sole basis for proving actual fraud— does not apply to the series of loan repayments...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ARTHUR B. BRISKMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter came before the Court on the Adversary Complaint Objecting to the Dischargeability of a Debt ("Complaint") (Doc. No. 1) filed by the Plaintiffs Blake Barnett and Gabriella Barnett (collectively, "Plaintiffs") against the pro se Defendants/Debtors Paul Osborne and Donna Osborne (collectively, "Debtors") seeking: (i) a non-dischargeability determination pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Sections 523(a)(2)(A) and 523(a)(2)(C);...
ORDER ARTHUR B. BRISKMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter came before the Court on the Trustee's Final Report and Application for Compensation (Doc. Nos. 35, 37) filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee Emerson C. Noble ("Trustee"). A hearing was held on September 13, 2010 at which the Trustee, his counsel, and counsel for the Office of the United States Trustee appeared. The Trustee requests the award of a commission of $473,250.00 and costs of $62.82. His request is due to be granted for the reasons...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DENYING MOTIONS FOR CRAMDOWN AND DENYING CONFIRMATION KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. The debtors are investors who purchased six rental properties during the recent real estate boom. Each property is encumbered by at least two mortgages. With the recent financial recession, the properties now are worth far less than the debt. The debtors filed this Chapter 11 case to reduce or, in some cases, eliminate their mortgage debt and to retain five of these six...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DENYING DEBTOR'S MOTION TO TREAT LINCOLN ORLANDO HOLDINGS, LLC'S ADMINISTRATIVE CLAIM AS A PRE-PETITION CLAIM FOR PURPOSES OF SET-OFF UNDER 11 U.S.C. 553 KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. The debtor, Telligenix Corporation, previously occupied many square feet of commercial space in a prominent Orlando office building subject to a lease with Lincoln Orlando Holdings, LLC. Shortly after filing this Chapter 11 case, the debtor rejected its lease and, undisputedly, owes...
ORDER DENYING CREDITOR ZAREMBA'S MOTION TO DEFER ENTRY OF ORDER MICHAEL G. WILLIAMSON, Bankruptcy Judge. THIS CASE came on for consideration without a hearing on the Motion to Defer Entry of Order and to Schedule Conclusion of Hearing (Doc. No. 121) ("Motion to Defer") filed by creditor Zaremba Land Development, LLC ("Zaremba"). In its Motion to Defer, Zaremba asks the Court to defer entering an order that reflects its oral ruling made at the conclusion of the hearing held July 21, 2010 ("...
MEMORANDUM OPINION PARTIALLY GRANTING AND PARTIALLY DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. The numerous plaintiffs in these two adversary proceedings 1 each signed a purchase agreement to buy units in a hotel-condominium project developed by the debtor, Mona Lisa at Celebration, LLC. 2 The buyers no longer want to go forward with the purchase and request the return of their sizeable deposits...
ORDER DENYING MOTIONS TO DISMISS AND MEMORANDUM OPINION ON LIQUIDATING TRUSTEE'S STANDING TO PROSECUTE POST-CONFIRMATION AVOIDANCE ACTIONS MICHAEL G. WILLIAMSON, Bankruptcy Judge. This action is brought by Marika Tolz as liquidating trustee appointed pursuant to the terms of a confirmed plan of reorganization seeking to avoid certain pre- and post-petition payments for legal services made by the Debtor to the Defendant, Fowler White Boggs, P.A. The Defendant moved to dismiss the action...
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW MICHAEL G. WILLIAMSON, Bankruptcy Judge. In this adversary proceeding, the Plaintiff, Maxxim Medical, Inc., 1 alleges that Defendant, Karen McCauley, a sales representative of Maxxim, violated a covenant not to compete contained in her sales representative agreement with Maxxim when she went to work for a competitor, Defendant Professional Hospital Supply, Inc. ("PHS"). Maxxim further alleges that not only did both McCauley and PHS lure away Maxxim's...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ARTHUR B. BRISKMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter came before the Court on the: (i) Amended Complaint Seeking Exception to Discharge and Imposition of Equitable Lien (Doc. No. 3) filed by the Plaintiffs Ray Nielson and Pandora Nielson (collectively, "Plaintiffs") against the Defendant and Debtor Regine O. Aman ("Aman"); (ii) Aman's Third Party Complaint (Doc. No. 14) filed against Equitable Title Agency, Inc. ("Equitable"); and (iii) Aman's Motion for Summary...
ORDER REGARDING TURNOVER OF JOINT TAX REFUNDS TO CHAPTER 13 TRUSTEE DAVID H. ADAMS, Bankruptcy Judge. The debtors in the above cases received income tax refunds with their nondebtor spouses based on joint tax returns filed after the commencement of their bankruptcy cases. The issue before the Court is whether the Chapter 13 Trustee is entitled to the full amount of the refunds pursuant to the confirmation order that was entered in each case. The Court finds that the Chapter 13 Trustee is...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ODDER ON TRUSTEE'S OBJECTIONS TO DEBTORS' CLAIMS OF EXEMPTION DAVID H. ADAMS, Bankruptcy Judge. THIS CASE came before the Court to consider the Objection of the Chapter 7 Trustee, Robert E. Tardif, Jr., to the Debtors' Claims of Exemption. The Debtors own certain personal property as tenants by the entireties. The issue in this case is whether the Debtors' interest in the entireties property must be allocated equally between them for purposes of claiming the...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT CARYL E. DELANO, Bankruptcy Judge. The issue raised by the parties' cross motions for summary judgment (Doc. Nos. 21, 25, 28) is whether, using the hypothetical least-sophisticated consumer test adopted by the Eleventh Circuit, a collection letter mailed by a debt collector falsely represented that it was from an attorney in violation of the Fair Debt Collection...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO DISMISS SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE CARYL E. DELANO, Bankruptcy Judge. The issue raised in the defendants' motions to dismiss is whether, using the hypothetical least-sophisticated consumer test adopted by the Eleventh Circuit, a collection letter mailed by a debt collector provided effective notice to the consumer of her rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") or otherwise violated the FDCPA or the Florida...
ORDER ON AMENDED TRUSTEE'S UNFAVORABLE RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING CONFIRMATION OF THE PLAN (Doc. No. 38) ALEXANDER L. PAS KAY, Bankruptcy Judge. THE MATTER under consideration in this Chapter 13 case of Riaan and Kristy Potgieter (the Debtors) is the Amended Trustee's Unfavorable Recommendation Concerning Confirmation of the Plan (Doc. No. 38), filed on January 29, 2010. The precise question presented to this Court is whether a Chapter 13 Plan where the Debtors' Plan proposes to pay...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEBTOR'S MOTION TO RECONSIDER AND VACATE THE ORDER STRIKING AMENDED CHAPTER 13 PLAN CARYL E. DELANO, Bankruptcy Judge. In this Chapter 13 case, the Debtor has moved for reconsideration of this Court's Order Striking Chapter 13 Plan. The issue presented is whether the bankruptcy court may require Chapter 13 debtors to file Chapter 13 plans which conform to the "Model Plan" adopted for use by the judges of the Middle District of Florida, Tampa and Fort...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ARTHUR B. BRISKMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter came before the Court on the Complaint to Determine Non-Dischargeability of Debts (Doc. No. 1) ("Complaint") filed by Robert A. Kaplus ("Kaplus") and Home Buyers "R" Us, LLC ("HBRU") (collectively, "Plaintiffs") against the Defendant and Debtor Mary Lorenzo ("Debtor"). Plaintiffs request debts stemming from a loan and several monetary advances made to Debtor be deemed nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C....
432 B.R. 856 (2010) In re Michael Keith BLACKWELL, II, Debtor(s) Robert J. Coleman, Plaintiff v. Michael Keith Blackwell, II, Defendant. Bankruptcy No. 9:09-bk-17758-ALP. Adversary No. 9:09-ap-00779-ALP. United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida, Fort Myers Division. May 13, 2010. *857 Robert J. Coleman, Coleman & Coleman, Fort Myers, FL, pro se. Michael Keith Blackwell, II, North Fort Myers, FL, pro se. ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Doc. No. 14); PLAINTIFF COLEMAN'S...
