Chase Manhattan Bank (U.S.A.) N.A. v. Carpenter (In re Carpenter)

53 B.R. 724, 13 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1158, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5226
CourtDistrict Court, D. Georgia
DecidedOctober 1, 1985
DocketBankruptcy No. 83-04788A; Adv. No. 84-0210A
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 53 B.R. 724 (Chase Manhattan Bank (U.S.A.) N.A. v. Carpenter (In re Carpenter)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chase Manhattan Bank (U.S.A.) N.A. v. Carpenter (In re Carpenter), 53 B.R. 724, 13 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1158, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5226 (gad 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

A.D. KAHN, Bankruptcy Judge.

Plaintiff filed the above-styled adversary complaint to determine the dischargeability [726]*726of a debt pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(2)(A), 523(a)(2)(B) and 523(a)(4). A trial was held on April 8 at which counsel for Plaintiff and Defendant-Debtor were present. Defendant-Debtor did not attend. The matter was then taken under advisement. The Court finds that this is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2). Based upon the testimony at trial, Defendant-Debtor’s deposition, which was introduced into evidence by Plaintiff at the trial, and other evidence, the Court now makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

I.

On or about May 31, 1983, Defendant-Debtor responded to an invitation from Plaintiff to apply for a Visa credit card. The request form was entitled “Chase Manhattan Visa Request Certificate” and stated that Plaintiff was holding a Visa card for Defendant-Debtor with a credit line of $2,000.00. Plaintiffs Exhibit 1. In filling in the required information on the “invitation,” Defendant-Debtor stated that his employer’s name was Mortgage Services Group and that his position was a loan officer.

There is no evidence that Plaintiff ever verified this information or that it made any independent inquiry into the creditworthiness of Defendant-Debtor. The president and manager of Mortgage Services Group, Inc. testified at trial that Defendant-Debtor was in fact never employed by his company. However, he did state that Defendant-Debtor was an independent agent who originated a loan in May of 1983 for which Mortgage Services Group, Inc. paid him a commission. Transcript at 8.

It appears to the Court that Defendant-Debtor had employment problems from at least as early as November of 1982 when his employment was terminated from First National Bank of Atlanta. Prior to that he had been president of the Bank of Mississippi in Booneville, Mississippi. In June of 1981, he resigned that position and moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he was employed as a branch manager by First National Bank of Atlanta. His employment was terminated because he was suffering from “mental depression.” Defendant-Debtor’s Deposition at 7 [hereinafter referred to as “Deposition”]. Subsequently, Defendant-Debtor worked in some capacity for Southern Mortgage Associates, Mortgage Services Group, Inc., and Mortgage Investment and Development Company. In August of 1983, he was hired by Fidelity National Mortgage Company. That employment was terminated in October 1983. Deposition at 9. Defendant-Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on October 27, 1983. The record is unclear, but at some point during this time, he was suffering from alcohol abuse. Id. at 67.

It was during his relationship with Mortgage Services Group, Inc. that Defendant-Debtor responded to Plaintiff’s “invitation” to receive a Visa credit card. There is no evidence before the Court that Plaintiff made a credit check of Defendant-Debtor. He received his card in June 1983 and appears to have used it for the first time on June 30, 1983 for a cash advance of $300.00. His first monthly statement, however, was dated June 25, 1983 and included only the annual fee for the card of $20.00. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 2. The second statement, dated July 25, 1983, included the cash advance of $300.00, $74.89 in purchases, and the $20.00 annual fee which had been carried over from the previous month. The minimum payment due was $40.00. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3. The third statement, dated August 25, 1983, included additional purchases of $1,177.70. Defendant-Debtor paid the required minimum payment of $40.00 which was credited on this statement. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4. The fourth statement, dated September 25, 1983, included $1,113.22 in additional purchases. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 5. The fifth statement, dated October 25, 1983, included additional purchases of $211.79. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 6. The last statement, dated November 25, 1983, included additional purchases of $89.01 and a credit of $62.25. The new balance was $2,677.02 in purchases with [727]*727interest and $308.52 in cash advances with interest. The last transaction occurred on October 26, 1983. Plaintiffs Exhibit 7. Defendant-Debtor made only one payment of $40.00 which was credited to his account on the August statement.

Defendant-Debtor’s income during this period is unclear. It appears from his deposition, that Defendant-Debtor earned a salary while he was employed by Southern Mortgage Associates, a $600.00 commission from Mortgage Services' Group, Inc., and an advance from Fidelity National Mortgage Company. Deposition at 70. There is nothing in the record establishing the exact amount of his income.

The bulk of the charges made were for restaurants, bars, gasoline, and groceries. Defendant-Debtor had separated from his wife in July and appears to have used the credit card for some of his living expenses. There is no evidence before the Court regarding when Defendant-Debtor first thought of filing his bankruptcy petition.

II.

Plaintiff contends that the debt in question should be held to be nondischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(2)(A), 523(a)(2)(B), and 523(a)(4). Each section will be discussed separately below.

A. Section 523(a)(2)(A)

Section 523(a)(2)(A) provides that a debt is nondischargeable if it is one for “obtaining money, property, services, or an extension, renewal, or refinance of credit by— false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud_” In the context of a credit card debt, two lines of cases have developed.

The first line of cases is clearly the majority view. These cases hold that, when one uses a credit card, one is making an implied representation that he has the ability and intention to pay for the charge incurred. See, e.g., American Bank and Trust Co. v. Lipsey (In re Lipsey,) 41 B.R. 255 (Bankr.E.D.Pa.1984); Mid-American Nat’l. Bank and Trust Co. v. Higgs (In re Higgs), 39 B.R. 181 (Bankr.N.D.Ohio 1984); Montgomery Ward & Co. v. LaBuda (In re LaBuda), 37 B.R. 47 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1984); Mercantile Trust Co. v. Schmidt (In re Schmidt), 36 B.R. 459 (E.D.Mo.1983); Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc. v. Borah (In re Borah), 36 B.R. 535 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1983). “[A] credit card purchase made with knowledge by the purchaser of his inability or obvious lack of intent to pay is tantamount to obtaining property through false pretenses.” Montgomery Ward & Co. v. LaBuda, 37 B.R. at 48.

The other line of cases is an outgrowth of the case of Davison-Paxon Co. v. Caldwell, 115 F.2d 189 (5th Cir.1940), cert. denied, 313 U.S. 564, 61 S.Ct. 841, 85 L.Ed.

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Bluebook (online)
53 B.R. 724, 13 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1158, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chase-manhattan-bank-usa-na-v-carpenter-in-re-carpenter-gad-1985.