NOT FOR PUBLICATION MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR STAY PENDING APPEAL S. MARTIN TEEL, Jr. , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtor has moved for a stay pending the appeal of this court's Order Terminating Automatic Stay (Real Property at 15712 Jones Lane, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878) (Dkt. No. 141), entered in favor of MTGLQ Investors, LP, Movant (Rushmore Loan Management Services, LLC, Servicer) ("MTGLQ"). That order granted relief from the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. 362(...
MEMORANDUM TO COUNSEL Upon consideration of counsel's response to the court's Order to Justify Fee and the record herein, the court has determined to take no further action with respect to counsel's fee. However, counsel is reminded that Bankruptcy Rule 2016(b) requires a supplemental statement after any payment or agreement not previously disclosed.
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION S. MARTIN TEEL, Jr. , Bankruptcy Judge . This case is before the court on the Debtor's amended complaint seeking discharge of student loans held by the Department of Education on the basis of undue hardship and Defendant U.S. Department of Education's motion for partial findings pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 7052 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 52(c). Once a creditor establishes, as is admitted here by the Debtor, that the debt is...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION THOMAS J. CATLIOTA , U.S. BANKRUPTCY JUDGE . Debtor-plaintiff KH Funding Company brings this preference action against defendant Aida Escobar seeking to recover $134,717.15 of payments made to her during the twelve month period ending on the petition date. At the conclusion of a two day trial held on October 14 and 30, 2015, defendant conceded that plaintiff established all elements of a preference claim under 11 U.S.C. 547(b)(1)-(5). At issue is whether defendant...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DAVID E. RICE , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtor, Quiana Baxter ("Baxter"), commenced this adversary proceeding by filing a complaint against her former landlord, Summerfield Investment Group, LLC ("Summerfield"), that seeks a finding of contempt and other relief against Summerfield for alleged violation of both the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. 362(a) (Count One) and the discharge injunction under 11 U.S.C. 524(a) (Count Two). A trial on the merits of the complaint...
MEMORANDUM TO COUNSEL Upon consideration of counsel's response to the court's Order to Justify Fee and the record herein, the court has determined to take no further action with respect to counsel's fee. However, counsel is reminded that Bankruptcy Rule 2016(b) requires a supplemental statement after any payment or agreement not previously disclosed.
Stay Violation MEMORANDUM OF DECISION THOMAS J. CATLIOTA , UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE . The debtor Vitalis Ojiegbe (the "Debtor") filed a motion seeking sanctions for violating the automatic stay against Judith L. Walter, Esq. ("Ms. Walter"), who holds a judgment against the Debtor for attorneys' fees incurred in representing the Debtor's former spouse in divorce proceedings. Through summary judgment and after a trial, the court concluded that Ms. Walter violated the automatic stay...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION DAVID E. RICE , Bankruptcy Judge . Before the court for consideration is the Application for Compensation for Counsel for the Debtor and for Reimbursement of Expenses [Docket No. 80] (the "Application") filed on May 14, 2015 by former counsel for the debtor, The Burns LawFirm, LLC (the "Burns Firm"). On May 18, 2015, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Harris v. Viegelahn , 135 S.Ct. 1829 (2015). Notice of the Application was duly given, and no timely...
MEMORANDUM DECISION SUSTAINING OBJECTION TO CLAIM S. MARTIN TEEL, Jr. , Bankruptcy Judge . Cardinal Bank, N.A., filed a proof of claim in this case in the amount of $70,804.90. The debtor filed an objection, later amended, to the claim. An evidentiary hearing was held on July 14, 2015, at the end of which the objection to claim was taken under advisement. The dispute centers on charges to a home equity line of credit opened by the debtor and his then wife, Analisa Rusnack, in 2003 —...
Not for Publication MEMORANDUM DECISION RE MOTION TO DISALLOW THE PROOF OF CLAIM FILED BY O'MALLEY, MILES, NYLEN & GILMORE, P.A. S. MARTIN TEEL, Jr. , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtor has objected, via a motion, 1 to the proof of claim filed by a law firm, O'Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore, P.A. The law firm concedes that its claim was filed late, and does not contend that it was not given timely notice of the bar date for filing a claim. I Because the law firm's claim was filed late, the...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DAVID E. RICE , U.S. BANKRUPTCY JUDGE . These cases require the court to consider the effect of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Harris v. Viegelahn, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 1829 , 191 L.Ed.2d 783 (2015), on motions by debtor's counsel for allowance and payment by a Chapter 13 trustee of attorney's fees in a case that was either dismissed or converted to a Chapter 7 case before confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan. The relevant facts in each of these cases are not...
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S RULE 59(E) MOTION TO ALTER/AMEND JUDGMENT AND TO REINSTATE ADVERSARY PROCEEDING WENDELIN I. LIPP , Bankruptcy Judge . Before the Court is the Plaintiff's Motion asking this Court to reconsider entry of the Order Granting Defendant's Motion for Default Judgment (the "Motion to Alter or Amend"), the Defendant's Opposition thereto and the Plaintiff's Reply. For the following reasons, the Motion to Alter or Amend is denied. "A motion to alter or reconsider a...
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT WENDELIN I. LIPP , Bankruptcy Judge . Before the Court is the Defendant's Motion For Default Judgment (Docket Entry No. 152). Having read the parties' respective submissions, and having conducted an oral hearing on the matter on July 7, 2015, the Court finds that Defendant has set forth sufficient cause to grant the relief requested. Specifically, the Court incorporates by reference its findings from its previous Order granting the...
PLAINTIFF'S NOTICE OF APPEAL ELIZABETH J. PAWLAK , Bankruptcy Judge . Notice is hereby given that Plaintiff, Elizabeth J. Pawlak, appeals pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 158(a)(1) to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland 1 from the Order Granting Defendant's Motion For Default Judgment, entered on July 16, 2015 (Doc. Entry No. 167; hereinafter "Final Order"), attached hereto as Exhibit A, and the Order Denying Plaintiff's Rule 59(E) Motion To Alter/Amend Judgment and to...
MEMORANDUM TO COUNSEL THOMAS J. CATLIOTA , Bankruptcy Judge . Upon consideration of counsel's response to the court's Order to Justify Fee and the record herein, the court has determined to take no further action with respect to counsel's fee. However, counsel is reminded that Bankruptcy Rule 2016(b) requires a supplemental statement after any payment or agreement not previously disclosed.
MEMORANDUM OPINION DAVID E. RICE , U.S. BANKRUPTCY JUDGE . Donna Giordano holds a claim against Thomas Todd Collins ("Todd Collins") based upon a judgment for more than $2,100,000 that she obtained in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Maryland (the "Circuit Court"). After Todd Collins filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in this court, Donna Giordano filed a complaint seeking a determination as to the dischargeability of that particular claim against Todd Collins under 523(a)(...
MEMORANDUM DECISION SUPPLEMENTING COURT'S ORAL DECISION RE APRIL KELLER'S MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM THE AUTOMATIC STAY MARTIN TEEL, Jr. , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtor and his ex-wife, April Keller, were divorced in 2014 in the Circuit Court for the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The couple's home was sold, and the proceeds remain in escrow as required by the Circuit Court. Under a separation agreement, incorporated as part of the divorce decree, Keller was to receive one-half of an...
