Cambio v. Mattera (Cambio)

353 B.R. 30, 52 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1711, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 1533, 2004 WL 2996853
CourtBankruptcy Appellate Panel of the First Circuit
DecidedSeptember 2, 2004
DocketBAP No. RI-03-067, Bankruptcy No. 02-10373-ANV, Adversary No. 02-01032-ANV
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 353 B.R. 30 (Cambio v. Mattera (Cambio)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cambio v. Mattera (Cambio), 353 B.R. 30, 52 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1711, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 1533, 2004 WL 2996853 (bap1 2004).

Opinions

DE JESUS and HILLMAN, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judges.

This matter is before the Panel on the debtor’s appeal from a July 1, 2003 final order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island determining the debt owed to the appellee, Guiseppe Mattera (“Mattera”), be nondis-chargeable in the amount of $79,907.41 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A).1 The issues on appeal are: (1) whether the bankruptcy court had subject matter jurisdiction to award money damages to Matt-era; (2) whether the bankruptcy court erred by awarding excessive damages; (3) whether the bankruptcy erred in finding there was sufficient evidence of damages; and (4) whether the bankruptcy court erred in determining that Mattera had established all the elements of fraud necessary for nondischargeability under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A). For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE as to issue (1), VACATE as to issues (2) and (3), and AFFIRM as to issue (4).

BACKGROUND

The background of this case as it is set forth herein is gleaned from the limited appendix submitted on appeal.

On or about June 4, 2001, Eric Cambio (“Cambio”) entered into an agreement to renovate real property owned by Mattera for a total cost of $75,000. Joint Pre-Trial Statement at ¶ 5 (App. at # 3). On that date, Mattera paid Cambio $25,000 as a down-payment for the work to be performed by Cambio. Id. at ¶ 6. He subsequently made seven additional payments to Cambio totaling $29,166.69. Id. at ¶ 7. However, Cambio stopped all work on the project in January 2002, leaving the project only about 50 percent complete. See Decision Transcript dated July 1, 2003 at 4, 5 (SuppApp. Item # 2).

On February 1, 2002, Cambio and his wife filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.2 On April 22, 2002, Mattera filed an adversary complaint seeking a determination that the obligations owed to him by Cambio were nondischargeable under § 523(a)(2)(A), and Cambio filed an answer. The bankruptcy court conducted a trial on June 24-26, 2003. On July 1, 2003, the bankruptcy court rendered a bench decision finding the debt owed to Mattera to be “nondis-chargeable in the amount of $79,907.91.” On that same date, the bankruptcy court entered an Order Determining Debt To Be [32]*32Nondischargeable.3 Cambio timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

I. Bankruptcy Court’s Jurisdiction To Enter Money Judgment.

This case first raises the question of whether bankruptcy courts have jurisdiction to enter money judgments on nondis-chargeable debts. There is no First Circuit precedent on point, and other courts addressing the issue are divided, generally adopting either an “expansive approach” or a “limited jurisdiction approach.”4

A. Expansive Approach

Most published decisions adopt the expansive approach, concluding that bankruptcy courts do have the power to enter money judgments on nondischargeable debts. See Baker v. Friedman (In re Friedman), 300 B.R. 149, 150 (Bankr.D.Mass.2003). Indeed, every circuit to address the issue has held that there is federal bankruptcy jurisdiction to liquidate and enter a judgment on a nondischargeable debt. See, e.g., Cowen v. Kennedy (In re Kennedy), 108 F.3d 1015, 1017-18 (9th Cir.1997) (bankruptcy court acted within its jurisdiction in entering money judgment in nondischargeability proceeding); Porges v. Gruntal & Co. (In re Porges), 44 F.3d 159, 164 (2d Cir.1995) (“[T]he entry of a money judgment ... finds support in the bankruptcy court’s inherent equitable powers”); Longo v. McLaren (In re McLaren), 3 F.3d 958, 966 (6th Cir. 1993) (bankruptcy courts may determine money damages in nondischargeability proceedings because bankruptcy courts are equitable courts that may decide all the matters in dispute and give complete relief); N.I.S. Corp. v. Hallahan (In re Hallahan), 936 F.2d 1496, 1508 (7th Cir. 1991) (same); McGavin v. Segal (In re McGavin), 189 F.3d 1215, 1220 (10th Cir. 1999) (affirming bankruptcy court’s grant of money judgment); Lang v. Lang (In re Lang), 293 B.R. 501 (10th Cir. BAP 2003) (bankruptcy courts have jurisdiction to enter money damages in § 523(a) proceeding under “the broad congressional grant of jurisdiction given to bankruptcy courts under 28 U.S.C. § 157”).

Generally, courts that routinely enter money judgments on nondischargeable debts focus on the close factual and logical relationship between the dischargeability proceeding and any proceeding on the underlying debt, and rely on theories of judicial economy and the bankruptcy courts’ inherent equitable powers. See, e.g., Cowen, 108 F.3d at 1017-18 (concluding that bankruptcy courts have jurisdiction to determine money damages because “ ‘it is impossible to separate the determination of the dischargeability function from the function of fixing the amount of the non-[33]*33dischargeable debt,’ and ‘equitable jurisdiction attaches to the entire cause of action’ ”); Hallahan, 936 F.2d at 1508 (finding that because parties properly before courts of equity subject themselves “to all the consequences that attach to an appearance,” the amount of the nondischargeable debt is properly determined by the bankruptcy court).

B. Limited Jurisdiction Approach

Courts adopting a limited jurisdiction approach conclude that bankruptcy courts do not have the power to enter money judgments on nondischargeable debts. See, e.g., First Omni Bank, N.A. v. Thrall (In re Thrall), 196 B.R. 959 (Bankr.D.Colo. 1996); see also Am. Express Centurion Bank v. Losanno (In re Losanno), 291 B.R. 1 (Bankr.D.Mass.2003) (bankruptcy courts lack authority to enter money judgments in nondischargeability cases), Porter Capital Corp. v. Hamilton (In re Hamilton), 282 B.R. 22 (Bankr.W.D.Okla.2002) (same); Barrows v. Illinois Student Assistance Comm’n (In re Barrows), 182 B.R. 640, 653 (Bankr.D.N.H.1994) (“Once a non-dischargeability determination is made with regard to educational loans ... the entry of any money judgment and any repayment terms should be left to the affected parties in the first instance, and, if enforcement is required ... should be left to a court of competent jurisdiction as would have occurred had there been no bankruptcy.”). These courts generally conclude either that entry of a money judgment is outside the scope of the bankruptcy courts’ jurisdiction or that awards of monetary damages raise other issues appropriate only in a non-bankruptcy forum. See Thrall, 196 B.R. at 963-64.

The definitive decision cited by courts adopting the limited jurisdiction approach is In re Thrall, supra. In

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Bluebook (online)
353 B.R. 30, 52 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1711, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 1533, 2004 WL 2996853, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cambio-v-mattera-cambio-bap1-2004.