OPINION JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. The Plaintiff, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC), has filed a Complaint objecting to the dischargeability of a certain debt by the Chapter 13 Debtor, Steven S. Bocchino, (Debtor/Bocchino), under 523(a)(2) and 1328(a)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code. 1 Bocchino was a registered representative or, as commonly referred to, a stockbroker. Transcript of 01/23/2013 at 27, Doc. #48. As such, he sold private placements of an interest in...
OPINION 1 REOBERT OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. Before the Court are two motions for summary judgment filed by William and Lori Davis ("Davis" or "Debtors") against Dunmore Properties, Inc. ("Dunmore"). The first motion for summary judgment seeks to reject an alleged executory contract between the Debtors and Dunmore ("Executory Contract Motion"). The second motion for summary judgment moves the Court to disallow Dunmore's proof of claim ("POC Motion"). For the reasons stated herein, both...
OPINION ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. Pending before the Court is the Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Counts IV, V, and VI of the Amended Complaint ("Summary Judgment Motion"). Each count seeks to deny the Debtor/Defendant a Chapter 7 discharge pursuant to a particular subsection of 11 U.S.C. 727 of the Bankruptcy Code. For the reasons stated hereafter, I will grant the Summary Judgment Motion regarding Counts IV and VI. The Summary Judgment Motion on...
OPINION 1 ROBERT N. OPEL, II, United States Bankruptcy Judge. The instant Adversary Proceeding was brought by the Chapter 7 Debtor, Ms. Treena Lienhard ("Plaintiff" or "Debtor"), against the Defendant, Lehighton Ambulance Association, Inc. ("Defendant" or "Lehighton"), for alleged violations of the automatic stay and discharge injunction. A trial on the merits was held on February 22, 2013. For the reasons stated herein, I find that the Defendant did not willfully violate the stay pursuant...
OPINION JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. Adams County Asphalt Company (ACA), Debtor in a confirmed Chapter 11 Plan, and Mann Realty Associates, Inc. (Mann) have filed a Complaint against Martin L. Grass and Mark G. Caldwell, trading as Double M Development, a Partnership (Double M). The Complaint is identified as a quiet title action regarding a property in proximity to a parcel identified as the Fiddler's Elbow Quarry. That quarry is the subject matter of a lawsuit filed to adversary...
OPINION JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. Pending is an Amended Complaint filed by the Debtor, Adams County Asphalt Company (ACA), against Oldcastle, Inc. and Pennsy Supply, Inc., Defendants, on September 21, 2010. Subsequently, the Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. The aged litigation history between the parties is replete with events, the repetition of which would merely serve to confuse an already convoluted relationship. Suffice it to say only those facts that impact this...
OPINION 1 ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. In this non-dischargeability action, both the Plaintiffs/Creditors and the Defendant/ Debtor have moved for summary judgment. The Creditors ground their Motion on the purported collateral estoppel effect of a prepetition state court judgment which was entered after a bench trial. The Debtor bases his summary judgment Motion upon an alleged lack of proof concerning a necessary element for non-dischargeability. For the reasons stated below, the...
OPINION ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. The Chapter 7 Debtor/Plaintiff commenced an Adversary Proceeding alleging that the Defendant/Creditor violated the automatic stay and the discharge injunction. The Defendant failed to timely answer or otherwise respond to the Complaint and a Default Judgment was entered as to the liability of the Defendant for both causes of action. A hearing was later held on the issue of the Plaintiff's entitlement to any damages or attorney's fees. This Opinion...
OPINION 1 POBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. Before the Court is the Chapter 13 Trustee's ("Trustee") Motion to Reinstate Case ("Motion") of Arlene Lampman ("Debtor"). The Trustee brings the Motion on the grounds of alleged bad-faith conduct on the part of the Debtor during the pendency of her case. For the reasons stated herein, the Motion is denied. I. JURISDICTION The Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 157 and 1334. This is a core proceeding under 28 U.S....
OPINION 1 ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. The Plaintiff, California Coast University, commenced an Adversary Proceeding against the Debtor, Jaime Sue Aleckna, in part, seeking a determination that the Debtor's alleged obligation to it was a non-dischargeable educational loan under the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. The Debtor's Answer included a counterclaim alleging that the Plaintiff violated the automatic stay when it refused to release her transcript without payment. The...
OPINION JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. The liquidating trustee under a confirmed bankruptcy plan has initiated a multi-count litigation against a number of defendants in the hope of creating a fund for the beneficiaries of the plan. While the litigation has moved slowly through a number of preliminary skirmishes, I thought best to articulate, after notice, the scope of the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction. On my own motion, I have summoned the parties to file briefs on the issue and they...
OPINION MARY D. FRANCE, Chief Judge. Before the Court is the motion of Alan D. Loeser ("Loeser") and Patricia M. Britton ("Britton") (collectively, "Defendants") to dismiss the Amended Complaint filed by Steven Carr (the "Trustee"), Chapter 7 trustee for the estate of International Auction and Appraisal Services LLC ("Debtor"). The Trustee is seeking to avoid certain transfers made to Defendants before Debtor filed its bankruptcy petition. For the reasons that follow, Defendants' Motion will...
OPINION ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. This Adversary Proceeding was commenced by a six-paragraph Complaint to Determine Extent of Secured Status filed by the Plaintiff, Donnie E. Shull, Jr., ("Debtor" or "Plaintiff") against the Defendant, PNC Bank, ("Bank"). On April 5, 2013, the Debtor filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. On April 8, 2013, the Bank, in turn, filed its Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons stated below, I will grant the Bank's Motion for Summary Judgment and...
OPINION 1 JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. Before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (b)(6) as made applicable to adversary proceedings by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012. For the reasons provided herein, the Motion to Dismiss is granted, in part, and denied, in part. A historical review of the litigation history between the Debtor and the Defendant 2 is essential for resolution of the instant Motion. Prior to the...
OPINION 1 ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. The instant Adversary Proceeding commenced by way of Plaintiff, Joseph Roodhof's, ("Plaintiff" or "Creditor") Complaint filed on May 29, 2012. The Complaint contains five counts: one count praying for the denial of dischargeability for a particular debt, and four counts objecting to the Debtor/Defendant, Sheri L. Roodhof's, ("Defendant" or "Debtor") Chapter 7 discharge. A trial on the merits was held on December 13, 2012. Plaintiff filed his...
OPINION 1 ROBERT N. OPEL, II, Bankruptcy Judge. Pending before the Court is Creditor/Defendant Blue Chip Federal Credit Union's ("Blue Chip") Motion for Summary Judgment. The motion seeks not to dismiss the adversary entirely, but instead only to determine the priority of Blue Chip's and the other Creditor/Defendant, Metro Bank's ("Metro"), security interests in the Debtors' primary residence. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion for Summary Judgment is denied. I. Jurisdiction The...
OPINION 1 JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. This adversary was initiated by Complaint of the Chapter 13 Plaintiff/Debtor requesting a determination of the validity and extent of mortgage lien under 11 U.S.C. 506(d) and 1322(b)(2). The material facts have been admitted and can be briefly summarized. The Defendant mortgagee retains a second lien against property that is held by the Debtor and her grandson as joint tenants with right of survivorship. By correspondence dated September 7,...
OPINION MARY D. FRANCE, Bankruptcy Judge. On October 1, 2012, I issued an Opinion in the above-captioned adversary case in which I found that Arthur Carr ("Carr") violated the automatic stay in the bankruptcy case of Tanisha Dean ("Debtor") by refusing to surrender possession of her 2006 Toyota Solara (the "Solara"). On December 18, 2012, a hearing was held to determine the amount of damages, if any, that should be awarded to Debtor as a result of Carr's violation of the stay. The parties...
OPINION 1 JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. The Debtors, Michele and Christopher Paige, are confronted with an eight count discharge/dischargeability Complaint filed by the Lerner Management Fund (LMF). At the same time, the Proof of Claim of LMF has been objected to by the Paiges. The Paiges are pro se. When appropriate to identify them individually, I shall refer to them by their first name. They have devoted a considerable amount of effort in filing responsive Motions to the LMF...
OPINION JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge. While unrelated cases, the above-captioned matters deal with virtually identical issues and will be addressed in one Opinion. In the Kreidler and Kozak matters, pending for my review are Motions for Determination of Final Cure and Payment of All Post-Petition Payments filed by the Debtor(s), under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3002.1(h). Rule 3002.1 is a recently adopted Rule designed to address the rather significant concern created when a...
