Barbara Albytine Gibbs

CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 4, 2022
Docket19-54809
StatusUnknown

This text of Barbara Albytine Gibbs (Barbara Albytine Gibbs) 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
Barbara Albytine Gibbs, (Ga. 2022).

Opinion

AeeRUPTCP ae oe? □ te IT IS ORDERED as set forth below: ai of _ RE Date: March 4, 2022 (Liandy ¥ Hy WendyL.Hagenau U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION IN RE: ) CASE NO. 19-54809 ) BARBARA ALBYTINE GIBBS, ) CHAPTER 13 ) Debtor. ) JUDGE WENDY L. HAGENAU —) ) BARBARA ALBYTINE GIBBS, ) ) Movant, ) ) v. ) CONTESTED MATTER ) NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC ) d/b/a/ Mr. Cooper, ) ) Respondent. ) —) ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT THIS MATTER is before the Court on Debtor’s Emergency Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 81) (the “Motion”). Debtor contends Nationstar Mortgage LLC d/b/a Mr.

Cooper (“Nationstar”) did not have standing to file a foreclosure action in South Carolina and a proof of claim in this Court. Debtor asks the Court to enter judgment against Nationstar, strike her bankruptcy case from the record, sanction Nationstar’s and Bank of America’s conduct, and refer this case to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

Undisputed Facts Debtor filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case on March 27, 2019. Debtor scheduled real property at 4257 Monterey Drive, Florence, SC 29501 (the “South Carolina Property”) and scheduled a secured claim of Nationstar Mortgage/Mr. Cooper’s against the property. Nationstar filed claim no. 3 for $483,059.33. Debtor objected to Nationstar’s claim on June 18, 2019 (Doc. No. 25) (the “Objection”), contending the claim is not accurate. Nationstar responded in opposition (Doc. No. 27) and filed a Supplemental Response to the Objection (Doc. No. 53). Nationstar stated the proof of claim is accurate and submitted a copy of a personal judgment entered by the Court of Common Pleas in Florence County South Carolina on March 4, 2019 against Debtor and in favor of Nationstar Mortgage LLC in the amount of $465,722.08, plus

interest at 6.375% per annum until a foreclosure sale is conducted. (Doc. No. 53.) The judgment is on appeal in South Carolina. Debtor filed a Chapter 13 Plan (Doc. No. 36), that provided Debtor would pay $2,660.00 per month directly to the Chapter 13 Trustee for 60 months, $2,470 of which would go to pay Nationstar’s arrearage claim. The Court entered an Order Confirming Plan on October 25, 2019 that confirmed the plan and instructed the Chapter 13 Trustee to reserve any disbursements owed to Nationstar pending final resolution of outside litigation of the dispute between Nationstar and the Debtor (Doc. No. 49). Debtor’s husband, M. Eugene Gibbs, is not a bankruptcy debtor, but he has filed a series of documents in this case in connection with Nationstar’s claim. The pleadings reflect he is not party to the note or mortgage, but he asserts he is married to the Debtor and has paid at least half the expenses of the Property. He filed a Motion for Leave to File Claim and/or Counterclaim as

Part of Interest (Doc. No. 28), a “Complaint/Counterclaim” (Doc. No. 29), a “Prehearing Brief” (Doc. No. 33), and a “Proof of Claim and Counterclaim” (Doc. No. 35) seeking relief and damages against Nationstar and Bank of America. Mr. Gibbs then filed an adversary proceeding against Debtor, Nationstar, and Bank of America challenging Bank of America’s and Nationstar’s standing to foreclose, seeking injunctive relief against the disposition of the South Carolina Property, seeking a declaratory judgment that all required mortgage payments had been paid, and requesting the Court order Bank of America and Nationstar to issue him a new home loan. (Adv. Proc. No. 19-5272 Doc. No. 1.) The Court held a hearing on the Objection on October 16, 2019 at which the Court heard argument about the proof of claim, the counterclaim, the declaratory judgment, and the pending

appeal of the South Carolina judgment. Mr. Gibbs appeared and stated he wanted to proceed with the appeal of the South Carolina judgment; Debtor did not object. Accordingly, the Court lifted the automatic stay on October 21, 2019 (Doc. No. 47), specifically to allow litigation pending in the Florence County South Carolina Court of Common Pleas case no. 2018-CP-21-03238 Nationstar Mortgage LLC vs. Gibbs and any appeals therefrom to proceed. At the hearing on October 16, 2019, Mr. Gibbs renewed his request for a declaratory judgment that all required mortgage payments had been made. The Court explained the question of whether all the mortgage payments had been made was directly related to and wrapped up in the allegations brought in the South Carolina litigation. Ruling on the declaratory judgment action would require the Court to consider and rule on the same issues the South Carolina courts were considering and would have this Court unnecessarily interfere with that litigation. The Court therefore declined the request. The Court ultimately entered an order abstaining in the adversary proceeding (Case No.

19-5272 Doc. No. 79). Mr. Gibbs appealed, and the District Court affirmed the Court’s decision to abstain. (Case No. 19-5272 Doc. No. 108.) Mr. Gibbs appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, which dismissed as unreviewable Mr. Gibbs’ challenge to the Court’s decision to abstain from hearing the adversary proceeding. Mr. Gibbs filed subsequent motions for reconsideration and reversal, which the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied as moot and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. (Case No. 19-5272 Doc. No. 118). Meanwhile, Debtor filed a Motion to Suspend Payment Plan and Sanctions (Doc. No. 62), seeking to suspend her plan payments and order all moneys returned to her. The Court held a hearing on the motion to suspend on November 18, 2020, at which the Court provided Debtor the opportunity to either dismiss her case and receive a refund of the money the Trustee was holding

or continue her Chapter 13 case (and the protection of the automatic stay) and continue making payments to the trustee. Debtor stated she wished to continue in her Chapter 13 case. Accordingly, the Court denied the Debtor’s request (Doc. No. 71). The Chapter 13 Trustee filed a Motion to Set Hearing on the Case to Determine the Course of Action Pursuant to the Court’s Confirmation Order. (Doc. No. 76.) The Court held a video hearing on the Motion on January 26, 2022 and a continued video hearing on the Motion on February 16, 2022. Debtor did not appear at either hearing. Debtor filed the Motion on January 19, 2022. Nationstar responded to the Motion (Doc. No. 85), and Debtor filed a reply (Doc. No. 86). For the reasons stated below, the Motion is denied. Summary Judgment Motions for summary judgment are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, made applicable to contested matters by Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 7056 and 9014. Summary judgment is appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories,

and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law”. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986); Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7056(c). “The substantive law [applicable to the case] will identify which facts are material.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of proving there are no disputes as to any material facts.

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