PAPPAS, Bankruptcy Judge.
This appeal raises an important issue of first impression concerning the scope of the exception to discharge for student debts in bankruptcy. Creditor Institute of Imaginal Studies d/b/a Meridian University ("Meridian") appeals the summary judgment of the bankruptcy court determining that the debt owed to Meridian by chapter
Meridian is a for-profit California corporation which operates a private university licensed under California's Private Post Secondary Education Act of 2009, Cal. Educ.Code § 94800, et seq. If a graduate of Meridian fulfills other post-graduate requirements, the graduate may obtain a license from California to practice as an independent, unsupervised psychologist.
Debtor applied for admission to Meridian in 2002. Meridian agreed to admit Debtor and offered her $6,000 in financial aid to pay a portion of the tuition for that school year. Under this arrangement, Debtor did not receive any actual funds from Meridian, but instead she received a tuition credit. Debtor signed an enrollment agreement acknowledging Meridian's offer to "finance" $6,000 of the tuition, and she signed a promissory note in favor of Meridian evidencing her obligation. The promissory note provided that the debt for the tuition credit was to be paid by Debtor in installments of $350 per month after Debtor completed her course work or withdrew from Meridian. Interest accrued on the unpaid balance of the note at nine percent per annum, compounded monthly.
In 2003, Debtor submitted a similar application, and Meridian granted her a financial aid award of $5,000 for that school year. As before, Debtor signed a promissory note for $5,000. Again, Debtor did not receive any funds but instead received a tuition credit. The promissory note contained payment terms identical to those in the prior note.
Debtor completed her course work at Meridian, and Debtor's note payments began in October 2005. After making several payments on the notes, in 2009, Debtor sought a deferral of her payments for a period of one year. Meridian granted the extension. Also in 2009, Debtor withdrew from Meridian without completing her dissertation, a requirement for obtaining her degree.
After the extension expired, Debtor did not pay the amounts due under the two promissory notes. Thereafter, Meridian unsuccessfully attempted to collect the balance due from Debtor. Eventually, Meridian and Debtor agreed to submit Meridian's claims to arbitration under a provision in the enrollment agreement. In July 2012, an arbitrator ordered Debtor to pay Meridian the unpaid balance due on the promissory notes, $5,950, plus accrued interest.
Debtor filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on August 19, 2013. Debtor listed Meridian in schedule F as an unsecured, nonpriority creditor. Meridian commenced an adversary proceeding against Debtor seeking a determination by the bankruptcy court that the debt owed by
On April 30, 2014, Meridian filed a motion for summary judgment. In its motion, Meridian conceded that Debtor's debt did not qualify for an exception to discharge under either § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) or (a)(8)(B).
On June 11, 2014, the bankruptcy court entered a Memorandum Decision in which it held that Debtor's debt to Meridian did not qualify for an exception to discharge under § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii). Inst. of Imaginal Studies dba Meridian Univ. v. Christoff (In re Christoff), 510 B.R. 876, 884 (Bankr. N.D.Cal.2014). In making this ruling, the bankruptcy court noted that the question raised by the motion was an issue of first impression in the Ninth Circuit following enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA).
In re Christoff, 510 B.R. at 884.
Interpreting the "funds received" requirement in § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii), the bankruptcy court explained that "Meridian simply agreed to be paid the tuition later ... [i]t did not receive any funds, such as from a third party financing source." Id. at 879. The bankruptcy court therefore concluded that, while the transactions between Debtor and Meridian were clearly loans, § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) does not extend to loans but, instead, grants an exception to discharge for "an obligation to repay funds received." Id. at 879. The bankruptcy court observed that BAPCPA had amended the prior version of § 523(a)(8) and had created a "newly separated [§ 523(a)(8)(A)(ii), which] refers to an `obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship[,] or stipend,' without reference to educational loans or any other kind of loan." Id.
Meridian filed a notice of appeal concerning the Memorandum Decision on June 26, 2014. The bankruptcy court, on July 2, 2014, entered an order granting summary judgment in favor of Debtor and denying Meridian's motion for summary judgment; it also entered a judgment incorporating these rulings. On July 11, 2014, Meridian filed an amended notice of
The bankruptcy court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157(b)(2)(I). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158.
Whether the bankruptcy court erred in holding that the Meridian debt was not excepted from discharge under § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) because it was not an obligation for "funds received."
We review a bankruptcy court's grant `of summary judgment de novo. The President & Bd. of Ohio Univ. v. Hawkins (In re Hawkins), 317 B.R. 104, 108 (9th Cir. BAP 2004), aff'd, 469 F.3d 1316 (9th Cir.2006); Thorson v. Cal. Student Aid Comm'n (In re Thorson), 195 B.R. 101, 103 (9th Cir. BAP 1996) (citing Jones v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 968 F.2d 937, 940 (9th Cir.1992)). According to Civil Rule 56, made applicable to adversary proceedings in Rule 7056, summary judgment is appropriate if there is a showing "that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Civil Rule 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A trial court, in the exercise of its discretion, may grant a summary judgment for a nonmovant pursuant to Civil Rule 56(f)(1).
"We review de novo the bankruptcy court's application of the legal standard in determining whether a student loan debt is dischargeable." Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp. v. Jorgensen (In re Jorgensen), 479 B.R. 79, 85 (9th Cir. BAP 2012) (citing Rifino v. United States (In re Rifino), 245 F.3d 1083, 1087 (9th Cir.2001)). "To the extent the bankruptcy court interpreted statutory law, we review the issues of law de novo." In re Thorson, 195 B.R. at 103.
Meridian argues that the bankruptcy court erred when it interpreted § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) to require that actual funds be received by a debtor in order for a debt to qualify for an exception to discharge under that provision. According to Meridian, "funds received," as that language is used in § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii), is the equivalent to "loans" received by the debtor, as described in the other provisions of § 523(a)(8). To support this argument, Meridian cites to McKay v. Ingleson, 558 F.3d 888 (9th Cir.2009), and to Johnson v. Mo. Baptist Coll. (In re Johnson), 218 B.R. 449 (8th Cir. BAP 1998), a decision cited and relied upon by the Ninth Circuit in McKay. Meridian argues that the bankruptcy court erred in distinguishing these cases because those decisions determined that a "loan" under § 523(a)(8) required no funds to be transferred to a debtor. Meridian argues that since the terms "loan" and "funds received" are synonymous as used in § 523(a)(8), McKay and In re Johnson control the outcome in this case.
Debtor points to the difference in the language employed by Congress to delineate what types of student debts are excepted from discharge under § 523(a)(8). While § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) and (B) indeed make "loans" nondischargeable in bankruptcy, absent undue hardship, § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) applies to a different type of debt: a debtor's "obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend [.]" Because Congress
We agree with Debtor.
Any analysis of the Bankruptcy Code begins with the text of the statute. Ransom v. FIA Card Servs., N.A., 562 U.S. 61, 69, 131 S.Ct. 716, 178 L.Ed.2d 603 (2011); Danielson v. Flores (In re Flores), 735 F.3d 855, 859 (9th Cir.2013) (en bane) (citing Miranda v. Anchondo, 684 F.3d 844, 849 (9th Cir.2012)). "Furthermore, the words of [the Code] must be read in their context and with a view to their place in the overall statutory scheme.'" In re Flores, 735 F.3d at 859 (quoting Gale v. First Franklin Loan Servs., 701 F.3d 1240, 1244 (9th Cir.2012)). "If the statutory language is unambiguous and the statutory scheme is coherent and consistent, judicial inquiry must cease." Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Plant Insulation Co. (In re Plant Insulation Co.), 734 F.3d 900, 910 (9th Cir.2013) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
Courts must limit the provisions granting exceptions to discharge to those plainly expressed in § 523(a). Bullock v. BankChampaign, N.A., ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1754, 1760, 185 L.Ed.2d 922 (2013) (noting the "long-standing principle that exceptions to discharge should be confined to those plainly expressed") (internal quotations marks and citations omitted); Hawkins v. Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal., 769 F.3d 662, 666 (9th Cir.2014) (reminding that "the Supreme Court has interpreted exceptions to the broad presumption of discharge narrowly"); Sachan v. Huh (In re Huh), 506 B.R. 257, 263 (9th Cir. BAP 2014) (en bane) (stating "the exception to discharge provisions of the Bankruptcy Code are interpreted strictly in favor of debtors"); Benson v. Corbin (In re Corbin), 506 B.R. 287, 291 (Bankr.W.D.Wa. 2014) (observing, in a § 523(a)(8) case, that "[c]ourts construe exceptions to discharge strictly against a creditor and liberally in favor of the debtor").
The student debt exception to discharge, embodied in § 523(a)(8), has been amended several times over the years, most recently by BAPCPA in 2005.
Prior to BAPCPA, § 523(a)(8) provided that a bankruptcy discharge would not apply to a debt for:
In re Hawkins, 317 B.R. at 108 (quoting § 523(a)(8)).
Interpreting this version of § 523(a)(8), the Panel stated,
Id. at 109 (citing Mehlman v. N.Y. City Bd. of Educ. (In re Mehlman), 268 B.R. 379, 383 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.2001)).
In In re Hawkins, the Panel examined an agreement between the debtor and Ohio University wherein the debtor agreed, in exchange for admission to the University's medical school, that when she completed her studies she would practice medicine in Ohio for at least five years after licensure. 317 B.R. at 107. If she failed to do this, the agreement provided that she would pay liquidated damages to the University. Id. The debtor graduated but promptly moved to a different state. Id. The University sued the debtor in state court and obtained a money judgment for the liquidated damages specified in the agreement. Id. The debtor filed for chapter 7 relief, and the University sought a determination from the bankruptcy court that the judgment debt was excepted from discharge under § 523(a)(8). Id. at 108. Applying § 523(a)(8) to these facts, the Panel addressed both categories of debt covered by the discharge exception. Id. at 110-11.
First, the Panel concluded that the agreement between the debtor and the University was not an "educational loan" because "while an educational loan need not include an actual transfer of money... to [the d]ebtor, in order for it to fall within the definition of ... § 523(a)(8), the loan instrument must sufficiently articulate definite repayment terms and the repayment obligation must reflect the value of the benefit actually received [by the debtor], rather than some other ill defined measure of damages or penalty." Id. at 110 (emphasis deleted).
Next, the Panel considered whether the agreement created a debt for "an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit." Id. at 112. The Panel quickly concluded that it did not, "because the plain language of this prong of the statute requires that a debtor receive actual funds in order to obtain a nondischargeable educational benefit." Id. (citing Cazenovia Coll. v. Renshaw (In re Renshaw), 229 B.R. 552, 555 n. 5 (2d Cir. BAP 1999), aff'd, 222 F.3d 82 (2d Cir.2000)). The University appealed the BAP's decision and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, adopting the opinion of the BAP as its own. See Ohio Univ. v. Hawkins (In re Hawkins), 469 F.3d 1316, 1317 (9th Cir.2006) ("We adopt the opinion of the BAP, which is reported at 317 B.R. 104, and affirm its judgment.").
A few years later, the Ninth Circuit again addressed whether an agreement between a student and a college constituted a "loan" for purposes of the pre-BAPCPA version of § 523(a)(8). In McKay v. Ingleson, 558 F.3d 888, 889 (9th Cir.2009), the court reviewed an agreement between the debtor and Vanderbilt University that deferred payment of the debtor's tuition and costs of other "educational services" to monthly bills to be sent to the debtor. Id. If the debtor did not pay the bills as they became due, a late fee would be assessed. Id. The debtor did not pay the bills as agreed and later filed for bankruptcy relief. A couple of years after the debtor received her discharge, the University sued the debtor in state court to recover the amounts owed under the agreement. In response, the debtor commenced an adversary proceeding against the University in the bankruptcy court claiming that the University violated the discharge injunction of § 524(a) by prosecuting the state court action. Id. The bankruptcy court, and later the district court on appeal, concluded that no violation of the discharge injunction occurred because the debt at issue was excepted from discharge
In re Johnson, the decision relied upon by the Ninth Circuit in McKay, addressed what constituted a "loan" under the pre-BAPCPA version of § 523(a)(8): "Since the parties stipulate that the [c]ollege is a non-profit institution and that the credit was extended for educational purposes ... the only issue presently on appeal is whether the [c]ollege's extension of credit was a loan." In re Johnson, 218 B.R. at 450-51. In re Johnson focused on a debt represented by a promissory note, executed to evidence the debtor's obligation to a college to pay for tuition, books, and other expenses. Id. at 450. The debtor defaulted on the note and filed a chapter 13 case. Id. The college filed an adversary proceeding in the debtor's bankruptcy case asking the bankruptcy court to declare that the debt represented by debtor's note was excepted from discharge. Id. The bankruptcy court concluded that the debt was a "loan" for purposes of § 523(a)(8), and the Eighth Circuit BAP agreed. Id. The panel rejected the debtor's argument that the note was not a "loan" because no funds had ever been given to him by the college:
Id. at 457.
It is important to note that the BAP in In re Johnson, as relied upon by the Ninth Circuit in McKay, acknowledged that another avenue may have existed for the college to obtain an exception to discharge under § 523(a)(8), characterizing the note as "an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit"; however, the panel determined it need not venture down that path because the debt arising from the agreement with the debtor was determined to be an educational benefit "loan" made by a nonprofit or a governmental unit.
As a result of the Code amendments in BAPCPA, since 2005, § 523(a)(8) has provided
As can be seen, many of the statute's former attributes survived BAPCPA's revisions. On the other hand, there were some additions to its text, and there was also a clear restructuring of the statute.
Since enactment of BAPCPA, neither the Ninth Circuit nor this Panel has published decisions interpreting § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii). And only one published decision, other than the bankruptcy court's decision at issue in this appeal, was located from bankruptcy courts in the Ninth Circuit interpreting § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii). Benson v. Corbin (In re Corbin), 506 B.R. 287 (Bankr.W.D.Wa.2014).
506 B.R. at 291 (citing Burner v. Am. Educ. Servs. (In re Rumer), 469 B.R. 553 (Bankr.M.D.Pa.2012)). The bankruptcy court explained that § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) "was added, covering loans made by nongovernmental and profit-making organizations...." Id. at 296. Canvassing the out-of-circuit bankruptcy court decisions, the court noted that they "pay no attention to who the lender is, but focus instead [under § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii)] on whether, in the plain language of the subsection, the obligation is `to repay funds received as an educational benefit' as reflected by the debtor's agreement and intent to use the funds at the time the obligation arose." Id. at 296-97 (citing Roy v. Sallie Mae (In re Roy), 2010 WL 1523996 (Bankr.D.N.J. Apr. 15, 2010); Carow v. Chase Student Loan Serv. (In re Carow), 2011 WL 802847 (Bankr. D.N.D. Mar. 2, 2011); Skipworth v. Citibank Student Loan Corp. (In re Skipworth),
Given the lack of case law, the bankruptcy court set out to apply post-BAPCPA § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) to the facts before it. In re Corbin involved cash advances from a third-party lender to the debtor to attend college made, in part, because the debtor's coworker had agreed to co-sign the loan. 506 B.R. at 290. The lender later notified the co-signer that the debtor was not paying the loan. Id. The co-signer paid the loans and sued the debtor in state court to recover the amounts he had paid the lender. Id. The debtor then filed a bankruptcy case, and the co-signer commenced an adversary proceeding against the debtor arguing that the debt owed by the debtor to the co-signer was excepted from discharge under both § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) and (a)(8)(A)(ii). Id. The bankruptcy court declined to hold that this arrangement qualified for an exception from discharge under § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) based upon Ninth Circuit authority on subrogated claims. Id. at 295-96 (citing Nat'l Collection Agency v. Trahan, 624 F.2d 906 (9th Cir.1980)). However, the bankruptcy court concluded that the debt was excepted from discharge under § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii), reasoning that because the debtor
Id. at 297-98.
Of course, the In re Corbin debtor actually received funds from the lender to pay for her education; the facts here are different.
We agree with the bankruptcy court that the language of § 523(a)(8) is plain and that it must be read in context with a view to the overall statutory scheme. Moreover, as instructed by the Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit, we must construe § 523(a) narrowly, limiting this discharge exception to those debts described in the statute. Bullock, 133 S.Ct. at 1760; Hawkins, 769 F.3d at 666; In re Huh, 506 B.R. at 263. Finally, we must construe the provisions of § 523(a)(8) that were found in the pre-BAPCPA version of that statute in accord with the Ninth Circuit authorities interpreting them. Doing all this, we conclude that the debt represented by Meridian's arbitration award against Debtor is not excepted from discharge under § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii). As a result, the bankruptcy court did not err in granting summary judgment to Debtor, and denying Meridian's motion for summary judgment.
Section 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) plainly provides that a bankruptcy discharge will not impact "an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend." It is undisputed that the agreements between Meridian and Debtor constitute an "obligation to repay" "educational benefits" provided by Meridian to Debtor. However, § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) requires more. To except a debt from discharge under this subsection, the creditor must demonstrate that the debtor is obliged to repay a debt for "funds received" for the educational benefits. The phrase "funds received" has been interpreted by the BAP, in an opinion which was as adopted by the Ninth Circuit as its own, to require "that a debtor receive actual
This result is bolstered by the changes made to § 523(a)(8) by Congress in BAPCPA. As noted above, the exact wording used in amended § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) was formerly a part of § 523(a)(8). However, BAPCPA set off the "obligation to repay funds received" language from the other provisions of § 523(a)(8) in a new subsection. We agree with the bankruptcy court, that in restructuring the discharge exception in this fashion, Congress created "a separate category delinked from the phrases `educational benefit or loan' in § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) and `any other educational loan' in § 523(a)(8)(B)." In re Christoff, 510 B.R. at 882. Put another way, "new" § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii), now standing alone, excepts from discharge only those debts that arise from "an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit," and must therefore be read as a separate exception to discharge as compared to that provided in § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) for a debt for an "educational overpayment or loan" made by a governmental unit or nonprofit institution or, in § 523(a)(8)(B), for a "qualified education loan."
Meridian's arguments conflating "loan" as used in § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) and (a)(8)(B), and as interpreted by McKay and In re Johnson with "an obligation to repay funds received" as provided in § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii), are unconvincing. According to Meridian, "[t]here is no reason why the word `funds' should not be interpreted in the same light that `loans' has been interpreted in prior cases in the Ninth Circuit...." Appellant's Op. Br. at 14. In effect, Meridian argues that we should read § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) to say "loans received" as opposed to "funds received." But this we must not do. See Conn. Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 253-54, 112 S.Ct. 1146, 117 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992) ("[I]n interpreting a statute a court should always turn first to one, cardinal canon before all others. We have stated time and again that courts must presume that a legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says there.") (citations omitted). Instead, we must presume that, in organizing the provisions of § 523(a)(8) as it did in BAPCPA, Congress intended each subsection to have a distinct function and to target different kinds of debts.
Simply put, because Debtor did not actually receive any funds, Meridian's debt is not excepted from discharge under § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii).
The bankruptcy court did not err in granting summary judgment to Debtor. We therefore AFFIRM the decision of the bankruptcy court.