At & T Universal Card Services Corp. v. Harris (In Re Harris)

210 B.R. 617, 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 41, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 1064, 31 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 122, 1997 WL 402642
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 14, 1997
DocketBankruptcy No. 96-4739-BKC-3P7, Adversary No. 96-587
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 210 B.R. 617 (At & T Universal Card Services Corp. v. Harris (In Re Harris)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
At & T Universal Card Services Corp. v. Harris (In Re Harris), 210 B.R. 617, 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 41, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 1064, 31 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 122, 1997 WL 402642 (Fla. 1997).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

GEORGE L. PROCTOR, Bankruptcy Judge.

This proceeding came before the Court on a complaint to determine dischargeability of debt pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2). After a trial on July 9, 1997, the Court enters the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Defendant is 34 years old and has a college education. Defendant has sixteen years of work experience, primarily in sales.

2. In 1993, Plaintiff issued a credit card to Defendant. From 1993 to 1996, Defendant used his credit card primarily for consumer purchases.

3. Plaintiff alleged that between December 1995 and March 1996, Defendant made eight purchases with his credit card, totalling $498.97. During the same period, Defendant also took seventeen cash advances, totalling $3,139.47.

4. Defendant filed a petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on August 7, 1996. After receiving notice of Defendant’s filing, Plaintiff revoked Defendant’s credit privileges

5. On November 21, 1996, Plaintiff filed this adversary proceeding, alleging that Defendant obtained credit from the Plaintiff by false pretenses, false representation, or actual fraud. Plaintiff alleged that in contemplation of filing a bankruptcy petition, Defendant utilized his credit card to make purchases and obtain cash advances which he knew he lacked both the intent and the ability to repay. (Adv.Doc. 1). Plaintiff seeks to have the debt owed by Defendant to Plaintiff excepted from Defendant’s discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2).

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Bankruptcy Code section 523 provides guidelines for excepting a debt from a debt- or’s discharge. In relevant part, the statute provides:

(a) A discharge ... does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt-
(2) for money, property, services, or an extension, renewal, or refinancing of credit, to the extent obtained by —
(A) false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud
(C) for purposes of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, consumer debts owed to a single creditor and aggregating more than $1,000 for “luxury goods or services” incurred by an individual debtor on or within 60 days before the order for relief under this title, or cash advances aggregating more than $1,000 that are extensions of consumer credit under an open end credit plan obtained by an individual debtor on or *619 within 60 days before the order for relief under this title, are presumed to be non-dischargeable: ‘luxury goods or services’ do not include goods or services reasonably acquired for the support or maintenance of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor; an extension of consumer credit under an open end credit plan is to be defined for purposes of this subparagraph as it is defined in the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(2)(A) and (C).

A. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A)

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a credit card issuer cannot prevail under § 523(a)(2)(A) on allegations of false pretenses or false representations if the creditor faded to revoke the credit privileges of the debtor prior to the bankruptcy filing. First Nat’l Bank of Mobile v. Roddenberry, 701 F.2d 927 (11th Cir.1983). Here, Plaintiff concedes that despite Defendant’s unusual charging habits, Plaintiff did not revoke Defendant’s credit privileges until after Defendant filed his Chapter 7 petition.

Thus, Plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the charges and the cash advances were procured through actual fraud. Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 291, 111 S.Ct. 654, 661, 112 L.Ed.2d 755 (1991) (holding that the standard of proof for dischargeability actions is the preponderance of the evidence standard.).

“To successfully bring an action under § 523(a)(2)(A), a creditor must prove that the debtor committed ‘actual fraud.’ ” AT & T Universal Card Services Corp. v. Chinchilla (In re Chinchilla), 202 B.R. 1010, 1013 (Bankr.S.D.Fla.l996). To prove actual fraud, the Plaintiff must show the following:

(1) the defendant made materially false representations;
(2) that at the time he made them he knew that the representations were false;
(3) that he made them with the intention of deceiving the other party;
(4) that the other party relied upon those representations; and
(5)that the other party sustained damages as the proximate result of those misrepresentations.

Household Credit Services v. Rivera (In re Rivera), 151 B.R. 602, 604 (Bankr.M.D.Fla. 1993).

To determine a debtor’s intent regarding repayment of credit card debt, this Court and others have routinely examined the circumstancés surrounding the origination of the debt. The factors considered include the following:

(1) The length of time between the charges made arid the filing of bankruptcy;
(2) whether or not an attorney has been consulted concerning the filing of bankruptcy before the charges were made;
(3) the number of charges made;
(4) the amount of the charges;
(5) the financial condition of the debtor at the time the charges are made;
(6) whether the charges were above the credit limit of the account;
(7) whether the debtor made multiple charges on the same day;
(8) whether or not the debtor was employed;
(9) the financial sophistication of the debt- or:
(10) whether there was sudden change in the debtor’s spending habits; and
(11) whether the purchases were made for luxuries or necessities.

Id. at 605.

To determine the dischargeability of the charges made by Defendant, the Court will examine the applicable factors above. First, the charges at issue in this proceeding were made between December 1995 and March of 1996. Defendant filed his bankruptcy petition in August of 1996, five months after the charges complained of by Plaintiff.

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210 B.R. 617, 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 41, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 1064, 31 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 122, 1997 WL 402642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/at-t-universal-card-services-corp-v-harris-in-re-harris-flmb-1997.