Arreygue v. Lutz

116 Wash. App. 938
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 22, 2003
DocketNo. 20367-1-III
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 116 Wash. App. 938 (Arreygue v. Lutz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arreygue v. Lutz, 116 Wash. App. 938 (Wash. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Kurtz, J.

The superior court dismissed Jose and Carla Arreygue’s personal injury lawsuit against Shanna Lutz because the Arreygues’ claim against Ms. Lutz had been discharged in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. On appeal, the issue is whether the Arreygues could sue Ms. Lutz for the sole purpose of establishing her liability in order to recover from her insurance company. We hold that the Arreygues could sue Ms. Lutz for that purpose, and we further hold that the superior court improperly dismissed their personal injury claim against her.

FACTS

On June 12, 1997, Carla Arreygue was involved in an automobile accident. The driver of the other car was Shanna Lutz. Thereafter, on December 2, 1997, Shanna Lutz filed a petition for relief under chapter 7 of 11 U.S.C. Ms. Lutz listed Carla and Jose Arreygue among her creditors, referencing their 1997 claim for personal injuries [940]*940arising out of an automobile accident. A chapter 7 discharge was granted to Ms. Lutz on March 11, 1998.

Nearly three years after the accident — on June 9, 2000— Jose and Carla Arreygue filed a complaint in the Kittitas County Superior Court alleging personal injury and property damage caused by Ms. Lutz’s negligence. In response, on March 19, 2001, Ms. Lutz filed a motion for summary judgment, along with a supporting affidavit executed by John D. Winfrey III. In her motion, Ms. Lutz asked that the Arreygues’ lawsuit be dismissed because the claim upon which the lawsuit was based had been dismissed in bankruptcy. In his affidavit, Mr. Winfrey identified himself as Ms. Lutz’s attorney and attested that a true and correct copy of Ms. Lutz’s bankruptcy discharge was attached to the affidavit.

The Arreygues responded to Ms. Lutz’s motion by filing an affidavit executed by their attorney, Timothy Coogan. in that affidavit, the attorney acknowledged that his clients could not recover personally against Ms. Lutz due to the bankruptcy discharge. But, the attorney represented that at the time of the accident Ms. Lutz had automobile insurance. He further stated “Plaintiffs fully agree that they may not recover any funds from Defendants in excess of their insurance policy limits.” Clerk’s Papers at 12. Although Ms. Lutz does respond to Mr. Coogan’s affidavit, she neither affirms nor denies his statement that she was insured at the time of the accident. Rather, she filed a motion to strike the affidavit, arguing that the affidavit contains both unsupported assertions of fact and legal conclusions.

The trial court granted Ms. Lutz’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the Arreygues’ claim. They appeal.

Standard of Review. In reviewing a summary judgment, we engage in the same inquiry as the trial court. Snohomish County v. Anderson, 124 Wn.2d 834, 843, 881 P.2d 240 (1994). The facts and all reasonable inferences from the facts are construed in favor of the nonmoving parties, Jose and Carla Arreygue. Id. We do not weigh the [941]*941evidence or determine the truth of the matter; the only question is whether there is a genuine issue for trial. A motion for summary judgment should be granted only if the court concludes that reasonable persons would reach but one conclusion based upon the facts and reasonable inferences therefrom. And, where material facts are particularly within the knowledge of the moving party, courts have been reluctant to grant summary judgment. Mich. Nat’l Bank v. Olson, 44 Wn. App. 898, 905, 723 P.2d 438 (1986) (quoting Felsman v. Kessler, 2 Wn. App. 493, 496-97, 468 P.2d 691 (1970)).

We review the superior court’s statutory construction of 11 U.S.C. § 524 de novo. Stuckey v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus., 129 Wn.2d 289, 295, 916 P.2d 399 (1996); In re Stainton, 139 B.R. 232, 234 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 1992). Accordingly, whether a state court suit is barred by the permanent injunction of 11 U.S.C. § 524 is a question of law which we review de novo. In re Daniels-Head & Assocs., 819 F.2d 914, 917 (9th Cir. 1987).

Issue. May a plaintiff proceed against a discharged debtor solely to recover from the debtor’s insurer?

Analysis. 11 U.S.C. § 524 provides in relevant part:

(a) A discharge in a case under this title—
(2) operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action... to collect, recover or offset any [discharged] debt as a personal liability of the debtor, whether or not discharge of such debt is waived; and
(e) Except as provided in subsection (a)(3) of this section, discharge of a debt of the debtor does not affect the liability of any other entity on, or the property of any other entity for, such debt.

“Together, the language of these sections reveals that Congress sought to free the debtor of his personal obligations while ensuring that no one else reaps a similar benefit.” Green v. Welsh, 956 F.2d 30, 33 (2d Cir. 1992). Subsection (a) [942]*942prohibits creditors from attempting to collect a debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy. Subsection (e) states that this injunction applies only to the debtor’s personal liability and does not prohibit collection efforts against other entities. See, e.g., In re Edgeworth, 993 F.2d 51, 54 n.6 (5th Cir. 1993). Because the § 524(a) permanent injunction affects only debts for which the debtors are personally liable, “the statutory language, on its face, does not preclude the determination of the debtor’s liability upon which the damages would be owed by another party, such as the debtor’s liability insurer.” In re Jet Fla. Sys., 883 F.2d 970, 973 (11th Cir. 1989).

On similar facts, In re Beeney, 142 B.R. 360 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 1992) provides relevant Ninth Circuit authority. In that case, debtor Gary Beeney and appellant James Patronite were involved in an automobile accident. Mr. Beeney subsequently filed a petition under chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code and scheduled Mr. Patronite as one of his creditors. Like the Arreygues, Mr. Patronite waited to file his personal injury lawsuit until after Mr. Beeney received his chapter 7 discharge. At that time, Mr. Patronite sought to reopen Mr. Beeney’s bankruptcy case so that the court could consider his request for relief from the permanent injunction of 11 U.S.C. § 524. The bankruptcy court denied his motion to reopen the bankruptcy case.

The case was appealed to the bankruptcy appellate panel for the Ninth Circuit. Before deciding whether the bankruptcy court erred by denying the motion to reopen Mr.

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