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...
DECISION AND ORDER G. MICHAEL HALFENGER , Bankruptcy Judge . In March 2017, the City of Milwaukee brought an in rem action in the Wisconsin Circuit Court for Milwaukee County to foreclose certain unpaid tax liens on parcels of property in the city. See In re Foreclosure of Tax Liens, No. 2017CV2457 (Wis. Cir. Ct. Milwaukee Cty.); see also Wis. Stat. 75.521. That July, the state court vested the City with title to various parcels, including property located at 1978 South 6th Street....
AMENDED DECISION G. Michael Halfenger , United States Bankruptcy Judge . Gilbert Schouten gave debtor Robert Jakubiak a loan, and Jakubiak gave Schouten investment advice. The loan went unpaid. The advice was bad. Schouten sued. He commenced an arbitration proceeding with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against Jakubiak; Jakubiak's cohort, Timothy Stout; and Jakubiak's former employer, MML Investors Services, LLC, an entity regulated by FINRA. After Jakubiak failed to...
DECISION AND ORDER OVERRULING OBJECTION TO DEBTOR'S CLAIM OF EXEMPTION SUSAN V. KELLEY , Bankruptcy Judge . After Teresa Bushberger (the "Debtor") received a Chapter 7 discharge and this bankruptcy case was closed, she moved to reopen the case to schedule and exempt a claim against Midland Credit Management, Inc. ("Midland") for collection practices in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Over Midland's objection, the Court reopened the case for the purpose of determining...
DECISION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND THEIR ADVERSARY COMPLAINT BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtors seek leave to amend their adversary complaint to add the United States Trustee as a defendant. They believe such an addition will prevent the U.S. Trustee from proceeding to conduct a Rule 2004 examination that the Court has approved and that is scheduled to take place in less than two weeks (or will otherwise limit the U.S. Trustee's subsequent ability...
MEMORANDUM DECISION GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT Susan V. Kelley , Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge . This motion for partial summary judgment filed by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation, Inc. presents the central question in the Foundation's bankruptcy case: whether the State of Wisconsin is liable to the Foundation based on assurances the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 1 gave to the Foundation. As both parties recognize, this is a breach of...
DECISION AND ORDER ON TRUSTEE'S MOTION FOR TURNOVER G. MICHAEL HALFENGER , Bankruptcy Judge . Vincent Cicirello is an insurance agent for American Family Mutual Insurance Company. CM-ECF Doc. No. 103. Cicirello and American Family entered into an Agent Agreement effective January 1, 1993. Id. The Agreement permits Cicirello under certain conditions to assign policies to another agent in exchange for compensation. CM-ECF Doc. No. 100, Ex. A, 6.w. The Agreement also allows Cicirello under...
DECISION AND ORDER G. MICHAEL HALFENGER , Bankruptcy Judge . The debtors move to modify their confirmed chapter 13 plan to eliminate an obligation to pay unsecured creditors part of their tax refunds. The trustee objects. I A The debtors' original plan did not provide for a specific dividend to unsecured creditors but states that the debtors will "turn over to the Trustee 50% of all net federal and state income tax refunds received during the term of the plan." CM-ECF Doc. No. 2. An...
DECISION AND ORDER Brett H. Ludwig , United States Bankruptcy Judge . Alan and Maureen Bagg are Chapter 7 debtors. On August 18, 2017, one of their longtime neighbors, Robert Heinrich, filed a proof of claim and an adversary complaint in their bankruptcy case. Heinrich's $425,324.05 claim is based on a state court judgment that he obtained against the Baggs for: (1) tortious interference with contract and (2) unlawful harvesting of timber on Heinrich's land. In the adversary proceeding,...
MEMORANDUM DECISION ON DEFENDANT NORHARDT CROSSING CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC.'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . In Celtic lore, a selkie was a seal who could take human form on land, and become a seal again upon returning to the sea. Unfortunately for the debtor's argument, statutory liens do not have that same transformative quality and do not become avoidable judicial liens when the creditor returns with a money judgment. The debtor, David...
DECISION AND ORDER DETERMINING CLAIM IS PROPERTY OF THE ESTATE AND PERMITTING DEBTOR TO AMEND SCHEDULES Susan V. Kelley , Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge . After her Chapter 7 bankruptcy case concluded, Teresa Bushberger (the "Debtor") filed an action against Midland Credit Management, Inc. ("Midland") in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the "FDCPA action"). Because she did not schedule this...
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT SUSAN V. KELLEY , Bankruptcy Judge . Michael and Anna Marie Blawat filed a mortgage foreclosure action against Daniel Renk and recovered attorneys' fees as part of the foreclosure judgment. After Mr. Renk filed a Chapter 13 petition to stop the foreclosure proceedings, he brought this adversary proceeding against the Blawats, alleging that the attorneys' fee award violated Wisconsin law and that the post-judgment...
MEMORANDUM DECISION Beth E. Hanan , United States Bankruptcy Judge . This case concerns a pizzeria owner whose troubles bubbled over. Just when he took a chance on growing his business, he sustained a house and garage fire. To start his second pizzeria, he had to borrow money, but then encountered equipment failures there and had to borrow more. He took out what he called "loan shark" loans, repaid in daily increments at high interest. While these issues simmered, a key employee skimmed...
DECISION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Susan V. Kelley , Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge . This Chapter 11 bankruptcy case started when the State of Wisconsin refused to honor financial commitments made to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation, Inc. by the former Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the University. The Foundation filed this adversary proceeding against the State (acting through the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System) to...
MEMORANDUM DECISION ON THE UNITED STATES' MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM STAY BETH E. HANAN , Bankruptcy Judge . The United States moved for relief from the automatic stay to perfect its secured interest in the debtor's real property—an interest that already is perfected and fully enforceable against the debtor himself—against certain third parties. Essentially, the United States wants to prevent the debtor from transferring any of his three real properties to a bona fide purchaser, free and...
