ORDER APPROVING APPLICATION FOR DEBTOR'S ATTORNEY'S FEES JEFFREY P. HOPKINS, Bankruptcy Judge. Before the Court is an Application for Allowance of Fees (the "Application") for services related to the Debtor's Chapter 13 case filed by James K. Ferris. See Doc. 93. The issue before the Court is whether a total fee of $11,822 calculated on the basis of 61.6 billable hours is reasonable for counsel's services considering the Debtor's inability to obtain confirmation of her Chapter 13 plan. For...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER FOR COMPLAINT TO DETERMINE VALIDITY, PRIORITY, AND EXTENT OF LIENS AND OBJECTION TO CLAIMS OF BRESCO SOLUTIONS, LLC (DOC. NO. 1) CHARLES M. CALDWELL, Bankruptcy Judge. This Adversary Proceeding arises from the Chapter 11 case of Marble Cliff Crossing Apartments, LLC ("Debtor"). MTGLQ Investors, LP ("Plaintiff") commenced this action to determine whether the claims of Bresco Solutions, LLC ("Bresco") are secured. Bresco assigned the claims to The Security Network,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION JOHN E. HOFFMAN, JR., Bankruptcy Judge. I. Introduction Quality Car and Truck Leasing, Inc. ("Quality") lawfully repossessed ten coal trucks and ten trailers ("Equipment") from TLB Equipment, LLC ("TLB"), and two weeks later TLB commenced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Unaware of the commencement of the case, Quality sold the Equipment to Carl Kirk Trucking, Inc. ("Kirk Trucking"). Nearly two months later, TLB filed a motion for turnover of the Equipment. Quality objected...
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT JEFFERY P. HOPKINS, Bankruptcy Judge. Before the Court is a motion to dismiss the third-party complaint ("Motion") (Doc. 30) filed by the third-party defendant, Bridgette Miller Smith ("Ms. Miller"). Dismissal of the third-party complaint for lack of jurisdiction is warranted because its causes of action are not related proceedings under 28 U.S.C. 1334(b). OVERVIEW OF COMPLAINT AND THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT This is a fraudulent transfer...
DECISION DENYING MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BETH A. BUCHANAN, Bankruptcy Judge. The chapter 7 trustee seeks a declaratory judgment finding that the defendants' mortgages do not encumber the debtor-wife's dower interests in three properties owned by the debtor-husband. The chapter 7 trustee maintains that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the debtor-wife is neither obligated on the underlying notes nor is she a "Borrower" (as that term is defined in the mortgages) and,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON MOTION TO TRANSFER AND MOTION FOR REMAND JOHN E. HOFFMAN, JR., Bankruptcy Judge. I. Introduction In this adversary proceeding, the Court is serving as a stopover on the road to litigation elsewhere because the parties agree that the merits of their dispute should be adjudicated by a court other than this one. They disagree, however, on which tribunal should decide those merits. Meritage Homes Corporation and Meritage Homes of Nevada, Inc. 1 filed a...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ON TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT JOHN E. HOFFMAN, JR., Bankruptcy Judge. I. Introduction Susan L. Rhiel ("Trustee"), the trustee appointed in the Chapter 7 case of Mohamed Kebe ("Debtor"), commenced this adversary proceeding to obtain, among other things: (1) avoidance of the Debtor's mortgage on certain real property ("Mortgage"); (2) preservation of the lien represented by the Mortgage for the benefit of the Debtor's estate; and (3) sale of the co-owner's...
Decision Denying Defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings GUY R. HUMPHREY, Bankruptcy Judge I. Introduction On February 1, 2011 the debtor, M. Donald Hayes ("Hayes"), filed a petition for relief under Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (est. doc. 1). The first date set for the meeting of creditors was March 28, 2011 (estate docket entry entered February 1, 2011). Objections to a debtor's discharge must be filed in the form of an adversary complaint not later than 60 days...
ORDER: (A) GRANTING TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; AND, (B) DENYING DEUTSCHE BANK'S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BETH A. BUCHANAN, Bankruptcy Judge. The chapter 13 trustee seeks to avoid a first mortgage noted on the registered land certificate of title for the debtor's residence on the grounds that the mortgage, as filed, was not properly executed in that it did not contain a notary clause certifying the debtor's acknowledgment of his signature on the mortgage as required by...
ORDER DENYING: (1) TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND (2) M & I MARSHALL & ILSLEY BANK'S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BETH A. BUCHANAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This case involves first and second mortgages relating to the debtors' residence, each of which recites the correct street address for the two adjoining parcels of land making up the debtors' residence but contains inconsistent references to the legal description and parcel numbers for the two parcels. The chapter 7 trustee seeks...
Decision Denying the Chapter 7 Trustee's Motion for Summary Judgment and Granting Midland Mortgage Company's Motion for Summary Judgment GUY R. HUMPHREY, Bankruptcy Judge. I. Introduction The Chapter 7 trustee seeks to avoid a mortgage encumbering property of this bankruptcy estate because of the manner in which the acknowledgment clause was certified by the notary public. The trustee argues that the certification of the mortgagors' acknowledgment of their signatures upon the mortgage is...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON FIFTH THIRD MORTGAGE COMPANY'S OBJECTION TO THE TRUSTEE'S FINAL REPORT JOHN E. HOFFMAN, JR., Bankruptcy Judge. I. Introduction The matter before the Court has its genesis in a notary public's failure to certify a debtor's acknowledgment of her signature on a mortgage, an all-too-common scenario that has resulted in numerous judicial opinions adjudicating the avoidability of mortgages based on so-called blank acknowledgments. But in this case the Chapter 7...
Decision Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment GUY R. HUMPHREY, Bankruptcy Judge. I. Introduction This decision concerns whether the value of the debtor's residence set forth in the debtor's appraisal, filed with the court in accordance with a local bankruptcy rule prior to confirmation of the debtor's Chapter 13 plan, is binding on a junior mortgagee upon confirmation of the plan for purposes of stripping off that creditor's lien as "wholly unsecured" in a separate adversary...
