Bankers Healthcare Grp., LLC v. Moss (In re Moss)

598 B.R. 508
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 25, 2019
DocketCASE NO. 18-41373-BEM; ADVERSARY PROCEEDING NO. 18-4032-BEM
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 598 B.R. 508 (Bankers Healthcare Grp., LLC v. Moss (In re Moss)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bankers Healthcare Grp., LLC v. Moss (In re Moss), 598 B.R. 508 (Ga. 2019).

Opinion

Barbara Ellis-Monro, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant Michael Glenn Moss's Second Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief Can Be Granted (the "Motion") [Doc. 14].1 For reasons stated below, the Court denies the Motion as to the 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2) claims and grants the Motion as to the 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) claim.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 13, 2018, Defendant Michael Glenn Moss ("Dr. Moss") and his wife (collectively, the "Debtors") filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 7, thereby commencing case number 18-41373 (the "Bankruptcy Case") in this Court. The last day for creditors to object to the dischargeability of their debt in the Bankruptcy Case was September 17, 2018, on which day Bankers Healthcare Group, LLC ("Plaintiff") filed its Original Complaint to Determine the Dischargeability of a Debt Under 11 U.S.C. § 523 (the *512"Original Complaint") [Doc. 1] objecting to the dischargeability of its alleged debt. This is a core matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I).

Prior to filing its Original Complaint, Plaintiff submitted a proof of claim for $ 107,429.99 (the "POC"). [Doc. 13 at 7 ¶ 43].

Dr. Moss asserts in the Motion that Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint to Determine the Dischargeability of a Debt Under 11 U.S.C. § 523 (the "Amended Complaint") [Doc. 13] fails to cure deficiencies in the Original Complaint and that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Dr. Moss seeks dismissal of the action with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 12(b)(6) and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure ("Bankruptcy Rule") 7012.

In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff seeks to have its alleged debt declared nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B) and (a)(6). Plaintiff also seeks to recover its attorney's fees and costs in pursuing this adversary proceeding.

II. STANDARD ON A MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM

"To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citation omitted) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "In ruling on a 12(b)(6) motion, the court accepts the factual allegations in the complaint as true and construes them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Lubin v. Markowitz (In re Markowitz) , No. 14-68061-BEM, 2017 WL 1088273, at *3 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Mar. 22, 2017) (Ellis-Monro, J.) (quoting Speaker v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs. , 623 F.3d 1371, 1379 (11th Cir. 2010) ). Legal conclusions, however, need not be accepted as true. Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ("Two working principles underlie our decision in Twombly. First, the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.") (citing Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ).

In addition to the Twombly / Iqbal pleading standards that apply to all complaints, complaints that allege fraud are subject to a heightened pleading standard. Bankruptcy Rule 7009 and Rule 9(b) require the plaintiff to "state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake." In re Eden , 584 B.R. 795, 803 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 2018) (Diehl, J.) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7009 ). The intent element of fraud may be alleged generally.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
598 B.R. 508, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bankers-healthcare-grp-llc-v-moss-in-re-moss-ganb-2019.