In re Dixon

241 B.R. 234, 13 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 27, 43 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 256, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 1433, 1999 WL 1054918
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedNovember 9, 1999
DocketBankruptcy No. 98-6093-3P3
StatusPublished

This text of 241 B.R. 234 (In re Dixon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Dixon, 241 B.R. 234, 13 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 27, 43 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 256, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 1433, 1999 WL 1054918 (Fla. 1999).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

GEORGE L. PROCTOR, Chief Judge.

This case came before the Court upon Objection to Amended Chapter 13 Plan filed by Alexander G. Smith, Chapter 7 Trustee. After a hearing on September 21, 1999, the Court enters the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. On July 29, 1998, James Alvin Dixon, Jr. and Arlene Yvonne Dixon (“Debtors”) filed a pro se petition with this Court pursuant to Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. (Doc. 1.)

2. Debtors failed to list a personal injury claim resulting from an automobile accident in their bankruptcy schedules.

3. Debtors’ secured claims total approximately $10,000 and include debts for two vehicles, a word processor and a printer. (Doc. 7.)

4. The market value of Debtors’ scheduled personal property totals $2,100, which includes furniture, several televisions, a VCR, stereo computer, appliances, wall dé-cor, personal clothing, and a wedding set. (Doc. 7.)

5. Upon learning of the personal injury claim, Alexander G. Smith, Debtors’ Chapter 7 Trustee (“Trustee”), attempted to settle the claim.

6. Trustee filed Application to Employ Charles Farah, Jr. to represent the estate in the settlement of the personal injury claim. (Doc. 10.) Charles Farah, Jr. had originally been retained by Debtors pre-petition to prosecute the claim.

7. Trustee’s Application to Employ Charles Farah, Jr. was approved by the Court on September 23, 1998. (Doc. 11.)

8. A settlement in the amount of $15,-000 for a liability claim and $25,000 for an uninsured motorist claim was subsequently reached.

9. On October 19, 1998, Trustee filed Notice of Intent to Compromise the personal injury claim for the amounts set forth above. (Doc. 13.)

10. No objections to Trustee’s Notice of Intention to Compromise were filed. Subsequently, Trustee settled Debtors’ personal injury claim. Trustee received a draft from Geico Insurance Company for $15,000 in settlement of the liability claim. However, Trustee never received possession of the $25,000 for the uninsured motorist claim.

11. On October 21, 1998, Debtors filed Notice of Conversion to Chapter 13. (Doc. 19.)

12. Upon receiving notice of Debtors’ conversion, Trustee transferred the $15,-000 draft he had received in settlement of Debtors personal injury claim to Mamie Davis, the Chapter 13 Trustee.

[236]*23613. On November 25, 1998, Debtors filed a Motion for Sanctions against Charles Farah, Jr. and Trustee. (Doc. 27.)

14. In their Motions for Sanctions, Debtors requested, inter alia, that Charles Farah, Jr. and Trustee be required to relinquish any interest in Debtors’ personal injury claim, and that the case be dismissed.

15. Debtors subsequently received the balance of the settlement proceeds, less attorney’s fees paid to Charles Farah, Jr.

16. On January 7, 1999, Trustee filed a Motion to Reconvert Case to Chapter 7. (Doc. 37.) Trustee’s Motion was based on the grounds that the plan was not filed in good faith, did not comply with 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4) and was not feasible.

17. Trustee’s Motion to Reconvert was denied by the Court on April 21, 1999, on the grounds that an objection to the Chapter 13 would be a more appropriate avenue to obtain the desired relief. (Doc. 51.)

18. On January 12, 1999, an Order Withdrawing Debtors’ Motion for Sanctions against Charles Farah, Jr. and Trustee was entered. (Doc. 40.)

19. On August 13, 1999, Trustee filed an objection to Debtors’ Amended Chapter 13 Plan.1 (Doc.59.)

20. Debtors filed a Second Amended Chapter 13 Plan on August 19, 1999. (Doc. 64.)

21. Pursuant to Debtors’ amended plan, plan payments will first be made out of the $15,000 received by the Chapter 13 Trustee for the personal injury claim. Once the $15,000 has been disbursed, Debtors will be required to begin making the plan payments.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Trustee objects to Debtors’ Amended Chapter 13 Plan on the ground that it was not filed in good faith in accordance with 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3). Trustee alleges that Debtors converted their Chapter 7 case to a case under Chapter 13 solely to prevent him from receiving the settlement proceeds from the personal injury claim. Trustee contends that this conduct amounts to a lack of good faith and therefore, the plan should not be confirmed. Debtors argue that they have an absolute right to convert their case from one under Chapter 7 to one under Chapter 13 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 706(a).2 Debtors assert that Trustee’s contention that conversion “seems unfair,” does not amount to bad faith.

Confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan is contingent upon the satisfaction of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3), which requires that “the plan has been proposed in good faith and not by any means forbidden by law.” 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3) (West 1999). The party who seeks a discharge under Chapter 13 bears the burden of proving good faith, and “to the extent that a creditor preemptively can demonstrate an absence of good faith, or affirmative presence of bad faith, it will enjoy a valid objection to confirmation.” In re Baird, 234 B.R. 546, 550 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1999) (citations omitted).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has provided this Court with substantial guidance on “good faith” matters. See Kitchens v. Georgia R.R. Bank & Trust Co. (In re Kitchens), 702 F.2d 885 (11th Cir.1983). The Kitchens Court has provided the following nonexclusive list of factors that [237]*237courts should consider in determining whether good faith exists:

(1) the amount of the debtor’s income from all sources;
(2) the living expenses of the debtor and his dependents;
(3) the amount of attorney’s fees;
(4) the probable or expected duration of the debtor’s Chapter 13 plan;
(5) the motivations of the debtor and his sincerity in seeking relief under the provisions of Chapter 13;
(6) the debtor’s degree of effort;
(7) the debtor’s ability to earn and the likelihood of fluctuation in his earnings;
(8) special circumstances such as inordinate medical expense;
(9) the frequency with which the debtor has sought bankruptcy protection;

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Bluebook (online)
241 B.R. 234, 13 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 27, 43 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 256, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 1433, 1999 WL 1054918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-dixon-flmb-1999.