ORDER ON DEBTORS' MOTION TO CONVERT Melvin S. Hoffman , U.S. Bankruptcy Judge . Upon consideration of the debtors' motion to convert this chapter 7 case to chapter 13 pursuant to Bankruptcy Code 706 and the oppositions thereto filed by the chapter 7 trustee and the statement in support of the trustee's opposition filed by the IRS, the oppositions are overruled and the motion is ALLOWED. As the trustee correctly points out, a debtor's right to convert a case from chapter 7 to chapter...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON CONFIRMATION OF DEBTOR'S SECOND MODIFIED SECOND AMENDED THIRD PLAN OF REORGANIZATION Frank J. Bailey , United States Bankruptcy Judge . The matter before the court is the proposed confirmation of the Second Modified Second Amended Third Plan of Reorganization [Doc. # 1214] of debtor Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church of Boston ("the Church"), to which creditor OneUnited Bank ("OneUnited") has objected. For the reasons set forth below, the Court...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the "Motion by Movant for Summary Judgment Relative to Estate Tax Claim of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue" (the "MDOR") through which Robert J. Spenlinhauer (the "Debtor") seeks an order granting summary judgment in his favor and finding that the proof of claim bar date (the "Bar Date") of May 2, 2014 prevents the filling by the MDOR of an amended or a new proof of claim...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the Motion by Respondent, Robert J. Spenlinhauer (the "Debtor"), for Summary Judgment Relative to Estate Tax Claim of the United States of America. The Debtor's Motion for Summary Judgment arises in the context of a contested matter initiated by the filing of "Creditor United States of America's Motion to Determine Tax Liability Pursuant to 505(a)." Pursuant to that motion, the...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON TRUSTEE'S OBJECTION TO CLAIM OF EXEMPTION [Doc. #28] FRANK J. BAILEY , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtors in this chapter 7 case, Wayne and Corrine Frost (the "Debtors"), have claimed an exemption under the Florida homestead statute, FLA. STAT. 222.05, in a mobile home located in Massachusetts. The chapter 7 trustee, Warren Agin (the "Trustee"), has objected to the claim of exemption, arguing that Florida's statutory homestead exemption cannot be applied to...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the First Amended Complaint to Determine Nondischargeability of Debt filed by Maine Coast Shellfish, LLC ("Maine Coast" or the "Plaintiff") against Jonathan Cowles ("Cowles," the "Defendant," or the "Debtor"). Pursuant to its three-count Amended Complaint, the Plaintiff seeks to except a debt, arising from an alleged "fraudulent scheme carried out by the Debtor ... to convert...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendants, CitiMortgage, Inc. ("CMI" or "Citi") and Washington Trust Company ("Washington Trust") (collectively, the "Creditors") with respect to the two-count Complaint filed by Andrew C. Chase and Cheryl M. Chase (the "Plaintiffs" or the "Debtors"). Pursuant to their Complaint, the Debtors seek damages for the Creditors' alleged...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION Christopher J. Panos , United States Bankruptcy Judge . Before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss (the "Motion") filed by Moog, Inc. (the "Defendant" or "Moog"), pursuant to which Moog seeks to dismiss Counts I through XII of a seventeen-count complaint (the "Complaint") brought by Joseph H. Baldiga (the "Trustee"), as Chapter 7 Trustee for the bankruptcy estate of Comprehensive Power, Inc. (the "Debtor"), and Becana Capital ("Becana," together with the Trustee, the "...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the objection to the Claim of Dr. Christine E. Briggs ("Dr. Briggs" or the "Claimant") filed by the Chapter 11 Trustee of the estate of Genesys Research Institute, Inc. (the "Debtor," or "GRI"). Dr. Briggs, a former employee of GRI, who was terminated in September of 2014, approximately one year before the commencement of the Debtor's bankruptcy case, timely filed a proof of claim...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION Melvin S. Hoffman , U.S. Bankruptcy Judge . The plaintiff in this adversary proceeding, Jacqueline da Silva, a creditor of Benjamin Jackson, the defendant here and the debtor in the main chapter 7 case, filed a two-count complaint seeking a judgment denying Mr. Jackson a discharge under Bankruptcy Code 727. 1 In her first count Ms. da Silva claims Mr. Jackson's discharge should be denied under Code 727(a)(3) because he failed to keep or preserve books and records...
MEMORANDUM JOAN N. FEENEY , Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the "Motion to Dismiss Complaint Objecting to Dischargeability of Debt" filed by the Defendant/Debtor, Steven F. Dimeo ("Dimeo" or the "Defendant"). Pursuant to his Motion, the Defendant seeks dismissal of the Complaint filed by Mariel Silverio ("Silverio" or the "Plaintiff") on grounds that it is "barred by the doctrines of claim preclusion and issue preclusion," adding that "[t]he allegations...
MEMORANDUM JOAN N. FEENEY , Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is "First Ipswich Bank's Objection to Debtor's Claim of Homestead Exemption." Pursuant to its Motion, First Ipswich Bank (the "Bank") objects to the Debtor's claimed homestead in property located in Everett, Massachusetts (the "Everett Property") on the ground that the Debtor terminated that homestead when he recorded a subsequent homestead on property located in Malden, Massachusetts (the "Malden...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON JURISDICTION, AUTHORITY, AND PROCEDURE FOR ATTORNEY'S LIEN DISPUTES FRANK J. BAILEY , Bankruptcy Judge . In the above-entitled bankruptcy case, law firms Pierce Atwood LLP ("Pierce") and Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP ("Choate") (together, "the Firms"), as former attorneys for secured creditor OneUnited Bank ("the Bank"), have separately filed notices that they assert attorneys' liens under MASS. GEN. LAWS ch. 221, 50 on the Bank's claims in this case and the...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the Trustee's Objection to Amended Schedule C filed by Anthony J. Volk (the "Debtor") on March 23, 2017 through which he claimed an exemption in a Guardian Life Insurance Policy with a value in the amount of $23,527.27 pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, 125. The Court heard the matter on April 28, 2017, and the parties agreed to file an Agreed Statement of Facts and briefs with...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON THE TRUSTEE'S LIMITED OBJECTION TO THE DEBTOR'S HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION CLAIM Melvin S. Hoffman , U.S. Bankruptcy Judge . John J. Aquino, the chapter 7 trustee in this case, has filed an objection to the exemption in real property claimed by the debtor, Constantin Zakarian, requesting that the amount of the exemption be limited either to $125,000, the so-called automatic homestead exemption under Massachusetts law, or $160,375, based on the maximum exemption...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION Chistopher J. Panos , United States Bankruptcy Judge . The matters before the Court are (i) the Motion to Compromise Claim (Doc. No. 312) (the "Settlement Motion") filed by the Chapter 7 Trustee in the above-captioned case, Jonathan R. Goldsmith (the "Trustee"), by which he seeks to settle a prepetition personal injury claim of the debtor, John E. Hoover (the "Debtor"), resulting from a motor vehicle accident (the "Claim") for the benefit of the estate and (ii) the...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION Christopher J. Panos , United States Bankruptcy Judge . Upon consideration of the Motion to Approve Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release (Docket No. 109) (the "Motion") filed by Janice Marsh, the chapter 7 trustee (the "Trustee") of the estate of Grove Instruments, Inc. (the "Debtor" or the "Estate"), pursuant to which she seeks approval of the Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release (Docket No. 108) (the "Settlement Agreement"), the brief filed in support by...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION Elizabeth D. Katz , United States Bankruptcy Judge . On November 30, 2016, Karen J. Andrade (the "Debtor"), filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. 1 In 2008, after the death of her father, the Debtor, along with her sister and brother, became owners, as tenants in common, of the father's real property located in Lynbrook, New York by operation of law. On April 28, 2017, the Debtor initiated an adversary proceeding against...
MEMORANDUM Joan N. Feeney , United States Bankruptcy Judge . I. INTRODUCTION The matter before the Court is the four-count Amended Complaint filed by Lisa Reed ("Reed" or the "Plaintiff") 1 against David Zak ("Zak," the "Defendant," or the "Debtor"). The Plaintiff seeks to except obligations she alleges are owed to her by the Defendant from discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(2)(A), (4), and (6). 2 The Court conducted a two-day trial commencing on March 28, 2017 at which three...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR (PARTIAL) SUMMARY JUDGMENT FRANK J. BAILEY , Bankruptcy Judge . By her complaint in this adversary proceeding, the Plaintiff, Feng Chen, seeks a determination that the debt owed to her by the Debtor, Xing Ping Liang, is excepted from discharge under 11 U.S.C. 523(a) and the denial of the Debtor's discharge under 11 U.S.C. 727. This matter is before the Court on the Plaintiff's Motion for (Partial) Summary Judgment in which...
