FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS REGARDING DEBTORS' CHAPTER 11 PLAN OF LIQUIDATION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. The Court conducted a hearing on April 14, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. (the "Confirmation Hearing") to consider confirmation of the Debtors' Chapter 11 Plan of Liquidation Dated February 24, 2014 [Docket No. 271] (the "Plan") filed jointly by Infinia Corporation ("Infinia") and PowerPlay Solar I, LLC ("PowerPlay" and, collectively with Infinia, the "Debtors"). Steven Strong appeared at the...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN , Bankruptcy Judge . The matters before the Court are the motions filed by the United States Trustee to assess fines against Virgle F. Odekirk and to cause forfeiture of his fees for his alleged violations of 11 U.S.C. 110, 1 the section of the Bankruptcy Code governing bankruptcy petition preparers. The Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the motions on September 26, 2014. John T. Morgan appeared on behalf of the United States Trustee,...
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS REGARDING APPOINTMENT OF A CHAPTER 11 TRUSTEE R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. The matters before the Court are: (a) the Committee's Motion to Appoint a Chapter 11 Trustee [Docket No. 38] (the " Committee's Motion "), filed by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in this case (the " Committee "); (b) the United States Trustee's Motion for the Appointment of a Chapter 11 Trustee or, in the Alternative, Appointment of an Examiner and Memorandum of Points...
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. On March 19, 2014, the Court commenced the trial in this adversary proceeding. The trial continued through March 20, 2014, and on March 21, 2014, the Court made its ruling from the bench. The following findings of fact and conclusions of law augment any findings and conclusions stated by the Court during the hearing of March 21, 2014. I. FINDINGS OF FACT The Court did not find any of the Defendants' testimony...
MEMORANDUM DECISION ON TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON COUNT 2 OF COMPLAINT (AVOIDANCE OF FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS UNDER 548 AND LIABILITY OF TRANSFEREE UNDER 550) R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. The Trustee's motion for summary judgment came before the Court on January 15, 2014. Kenneth L. Cannon II and Ian S. Davis of Durham Jones & Pinegar, P.C. appeared on behalf of Duane H. Gillman, the Chapter 7 Trustee (Trustee). Jerome Romero of Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough, P.C....
MEMORANDUM DECISION JOEL T. MARKER, Bankruptcy Judge. Prosecuting a bankruptcy case without the assistance of competent counsel is a risky endeavor, and one that occurs with unfortunate frequency in the District of Utah. For some debtors with straightforward financial circumstances and nobody chasing them, errors and inconsistencies in their filings may require additional investigation and explanation but will not ultimately jeopardize their ability to complete a chapter 7 case and obtain a...
MEMORANDUM DECISION ON TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AGAINST DEFENDANTS RICHARD AND COLETTE GEIS R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. Duane H. Gillman (Trustee) brought this action to avoid fraudulent transfers received by Richard and Colette Geis (Defendants). The Trustee moved for summary judgment based on the undisputed facts and matters of law previously determined by this Court. The Defendants opposed the Motion, asserting defenses based on an alleged state statutory claim for...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. The matters before the Court are the cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the Defendants David L. Drabner and Marla Shelby-Drabner (the "Drabners" or "Defendants") and the Plaintiff George B. Hofmann ("Plaintiff"), the Chapter 7 Trustee in the underlying bankruptcy case of Vicki Leigh Baldwin ("Debtor"). The Plaintiff commenced the above-captioned adversary proceeding on December 23, 2013, seeking to avoid and recover for the...
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW IN CONNECTION WITH THE TRUSTEE'S MOTIONS FOR ORDER APPROVING: (1) SETTLEMENT BETWEEN THE TRUSTEE AND THE HARDY PARTIES AND (2) SETTLEMENT BETWEEN THE TRUSTEE AND THE LEXON PARTIES JOEL T. MARKER, Bankruptcy Judge. Before the Court are the following motions: (1) Trustee's Motion for Order Approving Settlement Between the Trustee and the Hardy Parties [Docket No. 291] (the "Hardy Motion") and (2) Trustee's Motion for Order Approving Settlement Between the...
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ORDER DENYING TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT, GRANTING DEFENDANTS' CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DISMISSING DEFENDANTS' RULE 56(d) MOTION AS MOOT R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. Once again we are addressing Kenneth A. Ruston's (Trustee) 1 argument that he is entitled to recover the full market value of more than a million tons of coal that C.W. Mining Company (Debtor) did not mine. This matter has been...
MEMORANDUM DECISION JOEL T. MARKER, Bankruptcy Judge. Sophie Hanson was in a bind. Thanks to an employee's embezzlement, a strained relationship with her business partner, disappearing clients, and the start of the Great Recession, she found herself stuck with a debt-laden printing and publishing business, insufficient cash flow, and substantial guarantees that threatened to ruin her personal finances. But a way out presented itself in the form of James Drake, a buyer who was willing to...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. The Court has two matters before it in this adversary proceeding filed by Peggy Hunt, the Chapter 7 Trustee and Plaintiff. One is Defendant Brian Steffensen's Revised Motion to Dismiss and for Summary Judgment (the "Revised Motion"). The other is the Defendant's Motion to Strike Hunt's Memorandum in Opposition to Steffensen's Motion for Summary Judgment and Ms. Hunt's Declaration (the "Motion to Strike"), which, as its title reveals,...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. The matter before the Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendant, Marlese Christensen. David West, the Chapter 7 Trustee and Plaintiff, commenced this adversary proceeding by filing a complaint on July 11, 2013. In that complaint, the Plaintiff seeks to avoid, and recover for the benefit of the estate, an alleged fraudulent or preferential transfer that Louis Christensen, the Debtor in the main bankruptcy case,...
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER CONFIRMING DEBTOR'S MODIFIED PLAN OF REORGANIZATION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. Confirmation of the Debtor's Plan of Reorganization [docket # 103] came on for hearing before the Honorable William T. Thurman on February 25, 2014. The hearing was then continued to March 17, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. Prior to the continued hearing, the Debtor submitted the Debtor's Modified Plan of Reorganization [docket # 135] (the "Plan"). Proper notice of the...
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS IN SUPPORT OF ORDER GRANTING TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. This adversary proceeding is one of many brought by Kenneth A. Rushton (Trustee) that puts the relationship between C.W. Mining Company (Debtor) and Standard Industries, Inc. at issue. In a related consolidated adversary proceeding, this Court has entered partial summary judgment (Agency Ruling) finding that Standard acted as the Debtor's...
MEMORANDUM DECISION R. KIMBALL MOSIER, Bankruptcy Judge. The question before the Court is whether the Estate or Standard Industries, Inc. is entitled to $2,797,246.79 that UtahAmerican Energy, Inc. (UEI) deposited with the Court (UEI Receivable). Aquila, Inc. filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, in which Kenneth A. Rushton, the Chapter 7 Trustee, joined, seeking a declaration that the Trustee is entitled to the UEI Receivable for the benefit of the Estate's creditors. Standard opposes...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. If there was ever a need for a better drafted contract, this is the case. With just some attention to terms of performance, terms of default, deadlines and the like, much of the controversy that the parties have presented to the Court could have been resolved between them. However, those rudimentary terms are absent from the two page document that the parties agree is their written contract. Because of the sparsity of terms, the Court...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Chief Judge. The matter before the Court is the Notice of Waiver of Discharge and Request for Dismissal of Consolidated Adversary Proceedings 12-02217 and 12-02218 (the "Waiver of Discharge") filed by Mahrokh Akbarian (the "Debtor"). On its own motion, the Court ordered a hearing on the Waiver of Discharge and ordered that the Debtor and any party objecting to the relief sought by the Debtor appear at the hearing. Duane Gillman, the Chapter 7 Trustee...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Judge. This case involves an analysis of Utah water law. Here, the Chapter 7 Trustee asserts claims to certain interests in water as do creditors the Dwendon M. Lee and Annette A. Lee Family Trust and the Lowney Family Trust (collectively, the "Lee and Lowney Trusts"). Without making a determination of the value of these interests in water, the Court perceives, through the pleadings and argument, that the interests in water have significant...
MEMORANDUM DECISION WILLIAM T. THURMAN, Bankruptcy Chief Judge. The matter before the Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment (the "Motion") of Ms. Carol Naylor (the "Plaintiff") seeking summary judgment against Mr. Stanford Ellsworth (the "Defendant"). The Court conducted a hearing on the Motion on December 2, 2013. Ms. Mona Burton appeared on behalf of the Plaintiff and Mr. Jesse Murph appeared on behalf of the Defendant. Both parties previously filed memoranda supporting and opposing the...
