Abbatiello v. National Collegiate Trust (In re Abbatiello)

484 B.R. 655
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 2, 2013
DocketBankruptcy No. 5:12-bk-01453 RNO; Adversary No. 5:12-ap-00178-RNO
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 484 B.R. 655 (Abbatiello v. National Collegiate Trust (In re Abbatiello)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abbatiello v. National Collegiate Trust (In re Abbatiello), 484 B.R. 655 (Pa. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION1

ROBERT N. OPEL, Bankruptcy Judge.

Presently pending before the Court is a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings filed by the Debtor/Plaintiff, Kathleen Ab-batiello (“Abbatiello” or “Plaintiff’). 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.C. § 157(b)(2)(I) and (J).

II. Facts and Procedural History

On March 14, 2012, Abbatiello filed a petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. Three months later, on June 14, 2012, she commenced this adversary proceeding against The National Collegiate Trust (“NCT” or “Defendant”). Plaintiff brought this Adversary Proceeding seeking discharge of her student loan debt as an undue hardship pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8).2 An Amended Complaint was filed on July 5, 2012 seeking the same relief.

In her Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that her income is limited to pension and disability payments. Because of her disability, she claims, Plaintiff has “no reasonable expectation to be able to have any improvement in her situation.” PL’s Am. Compl. ¶ 8. Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges her income is fixed and that paying her student loan debt would preclude her from [657]*657having a minimal standard of living. Pl.’s Am. Compl. ¶ 9. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that she has made good faith efforts towards repaying the debt. Pl.’s Am. Compl. ¶ 9.

The NCT filed its answer on August 6, 2012. Along with general admissions and denials, Defendant used the following response to most of the paragraphs of the Amended Complaint: “NCT is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations of paragraph [X].” See Def.’s Answer ¶¶ 3-6, 8-9.

Plaintiff responded by filing the instant Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings on August 29, 2012. She filed an accompanying Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings that same day. Defendant did not file a brief in opposition. Plaintiff later filed Initial Disclosures Pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 7026 and Rule 26(a)(1) on October 12, 2012, stating that she possesses the following documentation: Federal tax returns; workman’s compensation determination of disability; Social Security Administration determination of disability; and, records of past student loan payments. None of the documents themselves were filed with the Court, however. The matter is now ripe for disposition.

III. Discussion

A. Standard to Decide a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Under F.R.B.P. 7012(c)

Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012(c) incorporates, and makes applicable to bankruptcy adversary proceedings, Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“F.R.C.P.”). The Court may only grant a motion under Rule 12(c) “if ‘the movant clearly establishes there are no material issues of fact, and he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ ” Atiyeh v. National Fire Ins. Co. of Hartford, 742 F.Supp.2d 591, 595 (E.D.Pa.2010) (citing Sikirica v. Nationwide Insurance Company, 416 F.3d 214, 220 (3d Cir.2005)). Essentially, the Court uses a similar standard for judgment on the pleadings as it does for motions to dismiss under F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6). Mobley v. Tarlini, 641 F.Supp.2d 430, 437 (E.D.Pa.2009); Constitution Bank v. DiMarco, 815 F.Supp. 154, 157 (E.D.Pa.1993). In so doing, the Court “must determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint are sufficient to show that the plaintiff has a ‘plausible claim of relief.’” Sherzer v. Honestar Mortg. Services, 849 F.Supp.2d 501, 504 (E.D.Pa.2011) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). To make this determination, the Court will look at the complaint, exhibits attached thereto, and all other items on the docket. Buck v. Hampton Tp. School Dist., 452 F.3d 256, 260 (3d Cir.2006); Sherzer, 849 F.Supp.2d at 504. Finally, the Court “view[s] the facts presented in the pleadings and the inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Caserta v. GEICO General Ins. Co., — Fed.Appx. -, 2012 WL 6604613, at *1 (3d Cir.2012) (citing Rosenau v. Unifund Corp., 539 F.3d 218, 221 (3d Cir.2008)).

B. Discharge of student loan debt under § 523(a)(8)

Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code reads:

(a) A discharge under section 727 ... of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—
(8) unless excepting such debt from discharge under this paragraph would impose an undue hardship on the debtor ...

[658]*65811 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8) (emphasis added). The term “undue hardship” is not defined in the Code and so the duty of defining the test was left to the courts. In this Circuit, we rely on the seminal case of In re Faish, 72 F.3d 298 (3d Cir.1995), which sets forth the appropriate three factor test:

(1) that the debtor cannot maintain, based on current income and expenses, a “minimal” standard of living for herself and her dependents if forced to repay the loans; (2) that additional circumstances exist indicating that this state of affairs is likely to persist for a significant portion of the repayment period for student loans; and (3) that the debtor has made good faith efforts to repay the loans.

Faish, 72 F.3d at 304-05 (citing Brunner v. New York State Higher Educ. Servs. Corp., 831 F.2d 395, 396 (1987)). Student-loan debtors bear the burden of establishing each of the three elements of the test by a preponderance of the evidence and “all three elements must be satisfied individually before a discharge can be granted.” Faish, 72 F.3d at 306; In re Rumer, 469 B.R.

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Bluebook (online)
484 B.R. 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abbatiello-v-national-collegiate-trust-in-re-abbatiello-pamb-2013.