Eastman v. Baker Recovery Services and Law Offices of Juana Trejo (In re Eastman)

512 B.R. 832
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedApril 20, 2009
DocketBankruptcy No. 05-57404; Adversary No. 08-05055
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 512 B.R. 832 (Eastman v. Baker Recovery Services and Law Offices of Juana Trejo (In re Eastman)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eastman v. Baker Recovery Services and Law Offices of Juana Trejo (In re Eastman), 512 B.R. 832 (Tex. 2009).

Opinion

[835]*835Memorandum Decision on Defendant’s Motion To Dismiss The Complaint Pursuant To Federal Rules Of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012(b)(1) and 7012(b)(6)

LEIF M. CLARK, Bankruptcy Judge.

This is an adversary proceeding by Shane E. Eastman, who re-opened his bankruptcy case in order to enforce the discharge injunction against Baker Recovery Services (“Baker”) and the Law Offices of Juana Trejo (the “Trejo Offices”). The complaint also asserted a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and also sought damages for the defendants’ alleged violation of the discharge injunction. The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court ruled that the motion would be treated as a summary judgment, as factual materials were attached to the motion. After a series of resettings, the motion was ultimately heard by the Court on October 15, 2008. In advance of the hearing, both parties submitted evidence in the form of affidavits and exhibits. The defendants objected to one of the exhibits submitted by the plaintiff, pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 408.1 The plaintiff filed a response to the evidentiary objection. This memorandum decision disposes of these matters, overruling the evidence objection, denying the motion to dismiss the FDCPA and state law causes of action for lack of jurisdiction, and denying the motion to dismiss the action on the discharge.

Background Facts

The following facts are uncontested. The plaintiff filed a voluntary chapter 7 bankruptcy on October 13, 2005 (the “Petition Date”). The case was a “no asset” case, as indicated by the trustee at the conclusion of the First Meeting of Creditors, and as noted on the docket. Baker was a prepetition unsecured creditor.2 However, the plaintiff had failed to list Baker’s debt (the “Baker Debt”) on his bankruptcy schedules. On January 26, 2006, the Plaintiff received his discharge. The next day, the case was closed. On February 28, 2006, Baker, who was represented by the Trejo Law Offices, initiated a lawsuit (the “California Action”) in California state court to recover the Baker Debt. The Plaintiff never appeared in the California Action and, on June 1, 2006, Baker obtained a default judgment against the Plaintiff in the amount of $11,679. Pri- or to the actual entry of the judgment, however, on or about May 2, 2006, the Plaintiffs bankruptcy counsel had contacted Baker informing him of the Plaintiffs discharge. Baker allowed the judgment to be entered anyway.

Over a year and. a half after the Judgment was entered, on March 7, 2008, the judgment was vacated — upon Baker’s request3 — by the California court. However, on January 28, 2008 (before the judgment was vacated), the [836]*836plaintiff had already moved to reopen his bankruptcy case. On February 25, 2008, the case was reopened. On May 6, 2008 (after the state court action in California had been dismissed) the plaintiff initiated this adversary proceeding, seeking a declaratory judgment that the plaintiffs discharge barred Baker’s actions in California as a matter of law, with or without notice, and that Baker and his agent, the Trejo Law Office, improperly initiated and continued to prosecute the California Action to recover the Baker Debt, even though the debt had been discharged in the plaintiffs bankruptcy: The complaint alleges that the defendants (I) violated 11 U.S.C. § 524(a); (II) violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq.; (III) violated Title 5, Chapter 892 of the Texas Finance Code (the “TDCA”); (IV) as a result of the TDCA violation, the Defendants also violated Title 2, Chapter 17, Subchapter E, of the Texas Business & Commerce Code (the “Consumer Protection Act”); and (V) tortiously engaged in practices that rise to the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Arguments of the Parties

The defendants argue that the FDCPA and TDCA causes of action are not within the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal court, and so must be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed.R.CivP 12(b)(1), Fed.R.Bankr.P 7012. The defendants further urge that summary judgment should be granted on all claims4 because the causes of action in the complaint fail to allege any claim upon which relief may be granted. In support, the defendants argue that the plaintiff failed to list the Baker Debt in his bankruptcy. Thus, the Baker Debt was not discharged. They add that the plaintiffs bankruptcy was a no-asset case, so that there was never a deadline to file a claim, further supporting the contention that the claim cannot have been discharged. In all events, there can be no right to recovery in this court for a violation of the discharge injunction if the defendants have already vacated the judgment (as took place on March 7, 2008). The plaintiff disagrees, of course, on all counts.

Analysis

A. The FDCPA and 11 U.S.C. § 524(a)

The defendants claim that the FDCPA cause of action cannot be brought in federal court under the bankruptcy jurisdiction statute. Even if there were jurisdiction, they claim that a debtor must choose between an action under the FDCPA and an action under section 524(a) of the Bankruptcy Code — the debtor cannot have both remedies, say the defendants. For the reasons articulated below, the court holds that claims alleging violations of the FDCPA and 11 U.S.C. § 524(a) can in fact co-exist, even when they are based upon the same set of facts. However, the court also holds that it does not have subject matter jurisdiction to entertain the. FDCPA cause of action asserted, at least in this case.

Regarding the first of these two issues, there is a split in the circuits. The Ninth Circuit in Walls v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 276 F.3d 502 (9th Cir.2002) found that the two causes of action cannot co-exist. The Seventh Circuit, in Randolph v. IMBS, Inc., 368 F.3d 726 (7th Cir.2004), ruled to the contrary, finding [837]*837that violation of the discharge injunction could form a basis for recovery under the FDCPA. The Randolph approach is the more persuasive, in this court’s view. There, the Seventh Circuit explained that the line of authority that suggested the two causes of action are incompatible were built on a false premise — to wit, that the Bankruptcy Code “pre-empted” the FDCPA. The court noted (somewhat dryly) that both statutes are federal, so a preemption analysis could not be applicable. Randolph, 368 F.3d at 730.

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Bluebook (online)
512 B.R. 832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eastman-v-baker-recovery-services-and-law-offices-of-juana-trejo-in-re-txwb-2009.