Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Collier (In re Collier)

344 B.R. 804
United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Mississippi·Decided June 16, 2006·No. Bankruptcy No. 05-14818; Adversary No. 05-1261·Published

Opinion

OPINION

DAVID W. HOUSTON, III, Bankruptcy Judge.

On consideration before the court is the complaint filed by the plaintiff, Citibank (South Dakota), N.A., (Citibank); answer to said complaint having been filed by the debtor, Michael Allen Collier, (Collier); and the court, having heard and considered same, hereby finds as follows, to-wit:

I.

The court has jurisdiction of the parties to and the subject matter of this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and 28 U.S.C. § 157. This is a core proceeding as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I).

II.

Citibank filed its complaint against Collier seeking a determination that certain credit card obligations owed by Collier were non-disehargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code which provides as follows, to-wit:

(a) A discharge under section 727, 1141, 1228(a), 1228(b), or 1328(b) of this title 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, other than a statement respecting the debtor’s or an insider’s financial condition;

[806]*806Collier had two credit cards issued to him by Citibank which are identified here-inbelow, to-wit:

A. Citi Diamond Preferred Card, having a $9,600.00 credit limit and a balance owing of $10,828.33.
B. AT & T Universal Rewards Card, having a $9,600.00 credit limit and a balance owing of $11,546.23.

Collier utilized the aforementioned credit cards and other credit cards to substantially subsidize his living expenses. According to his bankruptcy schedules, Collier has unsecured debts totaling $63,150.00, of which approximately $50,000.00 is credit card debt. He has two secured debts, totaling $39,884.86, one of which is secured by his 2004 mobile home and the other by his 2002 Nissan Xterra. Both of these secured claims are to be reaffirmed.

According to the testimony, Collier had unusually large expenses which were incurred in caring for his terminally ill father, who is now deceased, and his elderly mother. He was required to employ sitters for both of his parents while he was working at his place of employment.

Collier is divorced, but has a daughter, age 23, and a granddaughter, age 10 months. His Schedule I reflects monthly income in the sum of $2,254.16, and his Schedule J reflects monthly expenses in the sum of $2,155.80. Unfortunately, Collier’s current employment at BASF will terminate in late 2006 or early 2007 due to a plant re-location.

For all practical purposes, Collier’s use of the two Citibank credit cards began in January, 2005, and terminated in late March or early April, 2005. Excepting the finance charges and fees, the balances owing on the credit cards, noted hereinabove, were incurred in this short span of time. A listing of Collier’s charges, including several cash advances, are reflected on Citibank’s Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2, which are the account statements.

In his testimony, Collier testified that he fully intended to pay these debts. However, a review of the statements indicates that he made only a few small payments. Once Collier exceeded the credit limits applicable to the cards, the amounts which exceeded the credit limits were added to the minimum payments which were due each month. This, in effect, escalated the minimum payments to an amount which Collier clearly could not afford, particularly considering that he had exceeded the limits on both of the cards. Collier did not comprehend why the minimum payments had risen so dramatically. He did not realize that if he reduced the outstanding balance below the credit limits for each of the cards that the minimum payments would have then become much more manageable. Fearing that he would be sued and his paycheck garnished, he filed bankruptcy on July 14, 2005.

Because of Collier’s bankruptcy filing date and the dates of the last credit card transactions, Citibank is not entitled to the presumption of non-dischargeability relating to the purchase of luxury goods or to the taking of cash advances that are extensions of consumer credit found in § 523(a)(2)(C)1 of the Bankruptcy Code, the version of which would be applicable to this case since it was filed prior to the effective date of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA).

[807]*807III.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Matter of Mercer, 246 F.3d 391 (5th Cir.2001), reaffirmed the elements necessary to be established in a credit card non-dischargeability proceeding filed pursuant to § 523(a)(2)(A), as follows:

... Accordingly, for each card-use, and by a preponderance of the evidence, Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 287, 111 S.Ct. 654, 112 L.Ed.2d 755 (1991), UCS was required to prove: (1) Mercer made a representation; (2) it was knowingly false; (3) it was made with the intent to deceive UCS; (4) UCS actually and justifiably relied on it; and (5) UCS sustained a loss as a proximate result of its reliance.

246 F.3d 391 at 403.

In this proceeding, elements (1) and (5) have obviously been established by Citibank. Elements (2), (3), and (4), which are generally more problematic, will be discussed more thoroughly.

Insofar as “fraudulent intent” is concerned, the tandem label that this court will utilize to discuss Mercer’s elements (2) and (3), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in In re Anastas, 94 F.3d 1280 (9th Cir.1996), created a substantial burden for a creditor to prevail in a credit card non-dischargeability case. In Anastas, the debtor had incurred sizeable gambling losses utilizing his credit card cash advances while he was obviously insolvent. The court held, however, that an inability to repay a loan was not sufficient to presume a lack of intent to repay. This meant that the creditor had to prove that the debtor, when the charge was incurred, could not have realistically expected to repay the debt, and, in fact, did not intend to do so.

Another approach to establishing fraudulent intent in credit card cases has actually been in existence since the issuance of the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s Dougherty decision in 1988, In re Dougherty, 84 B.R. 653 (9th Cir. BAP 1988). In Dougherty, the court crafted a totality of the circumstances test, examining a non-exclusive list of twelve objective factors to determine whether a credit card debt was incurred through fraud. These factors are listed hereinbelow:

1.

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Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Collier (In re Collier), 344 B.R. 804 (Miss. 2006).

344 B.R. 804 (Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Collier (In re Collier)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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