Chapter 7 ORDER DISMISSING CHAPTER 7 CASE EFFECT OF WHICH IS STAYED FOURTEEN DAYS FOR DEBTOR TO VOLUNTARILY CONVERT BARRY S. SCHERMER, United States Bankruptcy Judge THIS CASE comes before the Court on February 8, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. to consider the United States Trustee's Motion to Dismiss Case Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 707(b)(1) and (b)(2), (Doc. No. 19), and the Debtor's Response thereto. See Resp. (Doc. No. 22). Present for the hearing was David Fineman, counsel to the Debtor, and J....
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING DEFENDANTS' AND COUNTERCLAIM PLAINTIFF'S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge. This proceeding is before the Court on: (1) Plaintiff William Larry Cross' ("Debtor") Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 14); and (2) Defendants Donald E. Cummings and Dolores Cross' (collectively, "Defendants") Response in Opposition and Defendants' and Counterclaim Plaintiff Dolores Cross' ("...
ORDER SUSTAINING CHAPTER 13 TRUSTEE'S OBJECTION TO CONFIRMATION OF DEBTOR'S CHAPTER 13 PLAN JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge This case came before the Court for a confirmation hearing on the Debtor's Chapter 13 Plan and the Chapter 13 Trustee's amended objection thereto (Docs. 39, 43; see also Doc. 5, the "Chapter 13 Plan"). The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1334(b). This is a core matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 157(b)(2)(A). At the hearing, counsel for the parties argued...
ORDER GRANTING EMERGENCY MOTION TO REOPEN CHAPTER 11 CASE AND GRANTING EMERGENCY MOTION TO COMPEL COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge. This case is before the Court on the Debtor's Emergency Motion to Reopen the Chapter 11 Case (Doc. 179), Emergency Motion to Compel Compliance with Court Orders (Doc. 180), and brief in support thereof (Doc. 186, collectively, the "Motions"). Class II Secured Creditor Ittleson Trust 2010-1 ("Ittleson") filed a response in opposition to...
ORDER GRANTING TRUSTEE'S MOTION TO DISMISS DEBTOR'S CHAPTER 13 CASE AND EXTENDING THE EFFECTIVE DATE TO ALLOW FOR DEBTOR'S CONVERSION TO ANOTHER CHAPTER JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge. This case is before the Court on the Chapter 13 Trustee's Motion to Dismiss the Debtor's Case (Doc. 13, the "Motion to Dismiss"). A final evidentiary hearing was held on April 19, 2012. The Debtor appeared at the hearing and testified. At the conclusion of the hearing, the parties were given an opportunity to...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ON EXEMPTION OF DEBTOR'S JOINT TAX REFUND 1 CATHERINE PEEK McEWEN, Bankruptcy Judge. A debtor in bankruptcy who is married may exempt property held as tenants by the entirety even if the debtor is not joined in the bankruptcy filing by the debtor's spouse. Florida law supplies a rebuttable presumption that a married couple's joint tax refund is owned by both spouses as tenants by the entirety. In this chapter 7 case, the Debtor, who is married but filed individually,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION JEFFERY P. HOPKINS, Bankruptcy Judge. Introduction We hold in this adversary proceeding that the parties entered into a valid, binding, and enforceable settlement agreement which resolves all of the claims in Plaintiff's Amended Complaint filed against each of the named Defendants. In order to understand how the Court arrived at this ruling, however, a detailed explanation of the parties' relationships with one another is necessary. Additionally, because the Court's...
ORDER SUSTAINING DEBTOR'S OBJECTION TO CLAIM NUMBER 2-2 OF RBC BANK, USA JEFFERY P. HOPKINS, Bankruptcy Judge. THIS CASE came on for hearing before the Court on December 14, 2011 on the Debtor's Objection to Claim No. 2-2 of RBC Bank, USA (the "Objection") (Doc. 22). The Court has also considered RBC Bank, USA's ("RBC") Response to the Objection (Doc. 23). In sum, the Debtors objected to RBC's proof of claim number 2-2 (the "Claim") on the basis that RBC filed the Claim for the full amount...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING CREDITOR'S MOTIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION, SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND RELIEF FROM STAY KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Chief Judge. Defendant Deutsche Bank ("Deutsche") seeks reconsideration of the Court's previous order denying summary judgment as to Deutsche's standing to enforce a note because Deutsche did not prove it was the proper holder. 1 Deutsche has provided additional evidence to prove it holds a properly endorsed note, and the Court finds the evidence adequate proof of...
ORDER ARTHUR B. BRISKMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter came before the Court on the Motion by Trustee to Approve Administrative Expense ("Motion") filed by Lori Patton, the Chapter 7 Trustee ("Trustee"), seeking authority to pay $300.00 as an administrative expense pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 503 for an asset report provided by American Infosource ("AIS"). (DE 22). Donald F. Walton, as the United States Trustee for Region 21, and United States Trustee Jill Kelso ("UST") object to the Motion...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. The trustee, Soneet Kapila, appointed on behalf of the jointly-administered bankruptcy estate of the debtors 1 (the "Debtors"), seeks to avoid and recover monies the Debtors paid to defendant for his services as a broker, marketing and selling investments in the Debtors' fraudulent Ponzi scheme during the four years prior to the filing of the Debtors' bankruptcy petitions. The trustee alleges...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ARTHUR B. BRISKMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter came before the Court on the Complaint Objecting to Entry of the Debtor's Discharge (Doc. No. 1) filed by the United States Trustee/Plaintiff Donald F. Walton against the pro se Debtors/Defendants John Wheaton and Linda Wheaton seeking denial of their discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Section 727(a). The final evidentiary hearing was held on May 14, 2012 at which counsel for the Plaintiff appeared. The Debtors did not...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Chief Judge. Iryna Hrachova, the plaintiff, together with her daughter, Zhanna, moved from the Ukraine to the United States in response to the debtor/defendant's ad seeking a wife. Denver Cook promised to support the plaintiff and her daughter and signed the necessary Immigration Form-864 "Affidavit of Support." After a short marriage and a later divorce, plaintiff obtained a judgment of approximately $...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. Defendants are the settlor and beneficiaries of a trust established by Hazel Belotti in 1993. Ms. Belotti and all beneficiaries of the trust are now deceased. The trustee, Soneet Kapila, seeks to recover profit payments made from the debtors to the trust as fraudulent transfers under 548 of the Bankruptcy Code. 1 The personal representative of the defendants has moved to dismiss the claim,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING DEBTORS' MOTION TO VALUE, SUSTAINING DEBTORS' OBJECTION TO CLAIM, AND GRANTING DEBTORS' MOTION FOR CRAM DOWN. KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Bankruptcy Judge. Debtors object 1 to Alafaya Homeowners Association's secured proof of claim for a delinquent homeowners' association ("HOA") assessment and have filed a motion to determine the secured status of their claim under 506(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code. Debtors also argue that Alafaya's claim is unsecured and, as such,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING CREDITOR'S MOTIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION, SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND RELIEF FROM STAY KAREN S. JENNEMANN, Chief Bankruptcy Judge. Defendant Deutsche Bank ("Deutsche") seeks reconsideration of the Court's previous order denying summary judgment as to Deutsche's standing to enforce a note because Deutsche did not prove it was the proper holder. 1 Deutsche has provided additional evidence to prove it holds a properly endorsed note, and the Court finds the evidence adequate...
ORDER ON TRUSTEE'S AMENDED OBJECTION TO CONFIRMATION PAUL M. GLENN, Bankruptcy Judge. THIS CASE came before the Court for hearing to consider the Trustee's Amended Objection to Confirmation of the Debtor's Chapter 13 Plan. The Debtor, Brenda Linh Dang, received a discharge in a prior Chapter 7 case on March 8, 2011, and filed the current Chapter 13 case on April 25, 2011. The issue in the current case is whether the Debtor may "strip off" a wholly unsecured junior lien on her homestead...
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR REHEARING JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge. This proceeding is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Rehearing with respect to the Court's Order Denying Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment and Entering Summary Judgment in Favor of Defendant (Doc. 19, Motion; see also Docs. 15, 17). Defendant has filed a response in opposition to the Motion (Doc. 20, Response). No reply brief has been filed. For the reasons that follow, the Motion will be denied....
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND ENTERING SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF DEFENDANT JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge. This proceeding is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 6) and Defendant's response in opposition thereto (Doc. 13). For the reasons stated herein, Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment will be denied. Furthermore, the Court will enter summary judgment in favor of Defendant, sua sponte. I. BACKGROUND In a previous...
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM AUTOMATIC STAY JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge. This case is before the Court on the motion for relief from the automatic stay provisions of 11 U.S.C. 362, filed by Class 3 creditor, TD Bank, N.A. d/b/a Mercantile Bank, as successor by merger to Mercantile Bank, a Division of Carolina First Bank (the "Bank") (Doc. 287, Motion). Kelvin R. Crews and Louann D. Crews (the "Debtors"), did not file a responsive memorandum. On...
