DECISION AND ORDER G. Michael Halfenger , Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge . Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., filed a proof of claim in Lisa Jacobson's bankruptcy case for $126,382 owed on a note secured by a mortgage on Jacobson's residence. Jacobson brought this adversary proceeding against Wells Fargo alleging that the note and mortgage are void or voidable because her ex-husband conspired with a mortgage broker and one or more lenders to fraudulently obtain a guaranty from the U.S....
DECISION AND ORDER REGARDING NICOLET NATIONAL BANK'S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . In the consumer bankruptcy realm, an "emergency filing" often refers to the filing of a petition for relief, without schedules, in order to forestall some imminent state court or creditor action. The degree of gravity can be assessed by acquiring additional, sometimes mitigating information. Lawyers are bound by multiple duties—duties to clients and the courts. Lawyers...
DECISION AND ORDER CONSTRUING DISPUTED CLAIMS BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . This is a patent case about disposal systems for medications, against the backdrop of a bankruptcy claim objection. The Court has reviewed the parties' claim construction briefs and heard well-wrought oral argument. In the intervening period since the hearing presentation, the parties attempted mediation with retired bankruptcy judge Susan V. Kelley, but those efforts were unsuccessful. For the reasons stated...
DECISION ON CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . Sometimes courts must state what is plain, as in, there is no marital property when there is no marriage. Here, the plaintiffs hold a sizeable judgment for fraud committed by the debtor's ex-wife. The plaintiffs settled their fraud case with the ex-wife, a former employee who pled no contest, along with the debtor who agreed at the time that the judgment could be satisfied from marital assets....
DECISION AND ORDER ON AMENDED SECOND APPLICATION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR INTERIM COMPENSATION Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . The matter before the Court is the amended second application of debtor's special counsel for patent and related matters, Quarles & Brady, for interim compensation under 11 U.S.C. 331. For the reasons set out below, the Court will approve the request, and allow interim fees in the amount of $365,091.75 and expenses in the amount of $42,243.74, for...
DECISION Brett H. Ludwig , United States Bankruptcy Judge . Jennifer Moon filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on October 26, 2011. She received her discharge a few months later and her case was closed. Late last year, Moon reopened her bankruptcy case to commence this adversary proceeding against the Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation (ISL). Moon alleges that ISL violated the discharge injunction by attempting to collect a discharged, prepetition debt. ISL has answered and denies...
DECISION AND ORDER Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . This case is yet another illustration of why it is so difficult for Chapter 13 debtors to "go it alone" without counsel. Debtor Theresa Kielman eventually retained counsel, but not before letting a deadline pass. This decision addresses the consequences. JURISDICTION The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1334 and 151, and the standing order of reference in this district. This is a core matter pursuant to 28...
DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING DEBTORS' MOTION TO VACATE DISCHARGE BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . Not expecting to make a "silk purse out of a sow's ear," the debtors valued their partial interest in northern Wisconsin swamp land at a modest rate. But several months later they learned that the swamp land included valuable forestation, altering the value of estate assets and their bankruptcy strategy. Impending deadlines required action; the question presented is whether there was...
DECISION GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . In 2014, debtor Robert Braun took out two parental loans to assist the debtors' son with his college education. At present the balance owed is $9,558.66. The Brauns filed an adversary complaint against the federal lender seeking a determination that the debt is dischargeable under 11 U.S.C. 532(a)(8), because repaying the debt presents an undue hardship for them. Since filing this adversary proceeding,...
DECISION BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . A bankruptcy petition preparer tried to side-step a temporary bar order with a two-step. Specifically, during the four-month period she was prohibited from acting as a Chapter 7 petition preparer, Ms. Davina Scott continued to get referrals and ostensibly channel them to two close friends, whom she said she had trained as preparers. Those two friends, Ms. Latoya Woodson and Ms. Jade Fuller, failed to obey trial subpoenas. Ms. Woodson had...
DECISION AND ORDER ON (1) RICHARD VOSS's OBJECTION TO DEBTOR's REQUEST TO MODIFY CONFIRMED PLAN AND (2) DEBTOR's OBJECTION TO CLAIM NUMBER 4 OF RICHARD VOSS G. Michael Halfenger , Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge Dawn Schroeder and her then-husband, Robert Voss, borrowed money from her former father-in-law, Richard Voss, in 2006. Schroeder and Robert Voss signed two promissory notes in the original principal amounts of $100,000 and $39,900 and granted Richard Voss a mortgage on their...
DECISION ON CONFIRMATION OF CHAPTER 13 PLAN Brett H. Ludwig , United States Bankruptcy Judge . INTRODUCTION On June 4, 2019, the court held a combined confirmation hearing on eight different chapter 13 plans filed in eight different chapter 13 cases, 1 including this one. All of the debtors are represented by the same counsel and all of the proposed plans include the same non-standard provision addressing secured creditors' lien-retention rights. Other than Chapter 13 Trustee Scott...
DECISION ON CONSUMER PORTFOLIO SERVICES INC.'S OBJECTION TO DEBTOR'S REQUEST TO MODIFY CONFIRMED PLAN G. Michael Halfenger , Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge . I In April 2014 debtor Victoria Toliver borrowed about $20 thousand to finance her purchase of a 2011 Buick Regal. Toliver agreed to repay the principal with interest in 72 monthly payments and granted the seller a security interest in the Buick, which the seller assigned, with the rest of its interest in the agreement, to...
DECISION G. Michael Halfenger , Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge . Under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code an individual with regular income can modify the rights of creditors by filing a debt-adjustment plan and submitting future earnings for a specified period to a trustee who then pays the creditors according to the plan, if the court confirms it. See 11 U.S.C. 1322 & 1326. Shortly after a debtor commences such a case, the United States trustee (or a designee) must "convene and...
DECISION ON PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . In October 2012, plaintiff Herbert Cuene purchased a business known as DC Boatlift Dock & Trailer from defendant Daniel Peterson. The parties' subsequent business relationship was anything but smooth sailing. Within a year Peterson sued Cuene and his new business (renamed "DC Docks and Boat Lifts, Inc.") in state court, seeking, among other things, replevin of personal property that...
ORDER ON U.S. TRUSTEE'S MOTION TO STRIKE AND DEBTOR'S MOTION TO CONDUCT AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . Daniel Scott Peterson, dba DC Boatlift, Dock & Trailer, LLC, is the debtor in this Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. His primary creditors, Herbert J. Cuene, Jr. and DC Docks and Boatlifts, Inc., have filed an adversary proceeding against him, Adv. No. 18-2259, seeking a determination that a state court judgment in their favor and against Mr. Peterson is...
DECISION G. MICHAEL HALFENGER , Chief Bankruptcy Judge . Debtor Robert Jakubiak owes Gilbert Schouten a $75,000 judgment debt. Schouten asks this court to declare that he can collect that debt even though Jakubiak received a bankruptcy discharge because, according to Schouten, the debt is of a type excepted from discharge by one or more paragraphs of 523(a) of the Bankruptcy Code. 11 U.S.C. 523(a); see also id. 524(a) & 727(b). 1 Only one of Schouten's claims survived summary...
DECISION ON DEFENDANT NORHARDT CROSSING CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC.'S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . The Chapter 7 debtor, David Doss, filed an adversary proceeding against Norhardt Crossing Condominium Association Inc., requesting injunctive relief and seeking to avoid Norhardt's statutory lien under 11 U.S.C. sections 506(a) and 506(d). Norhardt moved to dismiss the complaint, and also moved for sanctions under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9011, arguing...
DECISION AND ORDER DENYING THE RELIEF REQUESTED IN THE COMPLAINT AND DETERMINING THAT DEBTOR IS ENTITLED TO DISCHARGE SUSAN V. KELLEY , Chief Bankruptcy Judge . The U.S. Trustee filed a complaint to deny the Debtor's discharge pursuant to 727(a)(4)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code, asserting that the Debtor knowingly and fraudulently made false oaths or omissions in his bankruptcy schedules. The Court held a trial on December 6, 2018. Jonathan V. Goodman appeared for the Debtor and Michelle S....
DECISION AND ORDER SUSTAINING IN PART TRUSTEE'S OBJECTION TO DEBTOR'S CLAIM OF EXEMPTIONS SUSAN V. KELLEY , Chief Bankruptcy Judge . The issue is whether the Debtor can "double up" and claim exemptions on behalf of his non-filing spouse. The Debtor has elected the Wisconsin exemptions under 522(b)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code, on behalf of himself and his spouse, who did not join him in the bankruptcy filing. This election increased the value of some exemptions to the dollar amount the...
