In re Fletcher

463 B.R. 9, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4388, 2011 WL 5509081
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedNovember 10, 2011
DocketNo. 10-53109
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 463 B.R. 9 (In re Fletcher) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Fletcher, 463 B.R. 9, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4388, 2011 WL 5509081 (Ky. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOSEPH M. SCOTT, JR., Bankruptcy Judge.

The issue before the Court is whether the Debtor’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy should be dismissed pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(3)(B) for abuse. Where the Debtor did not file bankruptcy based on unforeseeable or catastrophic events, has a stable and relatively high income that includes an ability to eventually fund a Chapter 13 plan with money currently used to make 401(k) loan repayments, and thus has the ability to repay his creditors through a Chapter 13 plan, the Debtor’s case should be dismissed pursuant to § 707(b)(3)(B) because the totality of the circumstances of the Debtor’s financial situation demonstrates abuse.

Facts

The following facts are undisputed. The Debtor filed for Chapter 7 relief on September 29, 2010. He listed no secured debt and $103,291.59 in total unsecured debt. The Debtor’s debts are primarily consumer debts.

The Debtor further listed- his monthly gross income, including overtime pay, on Schedule I as $5,202.53 per month. This amount is reduced by a payroll deduction that includes a 401(k) contribution and 401(k) loan repayment in the total amount of $1,485.96. The Debtor’s 401(k) loan was borrowed on July 24, 2008 in the amount of $22,715.55 and is scheduled to be repaid on August 21, 2013. The loan payment amount is $356.61 every two weeks. With the payroll deduction in the amount of $1,485.97, the Debtor is left with a combined average monthly income of $2,741.71. The Debtor listed average monthly expenses on Schedule J as $2,775.00, leaving the Debtor negative disposable income in the amount of -$33.29.

The Debtor’s case was dismissed on October 18, 2010, but the dismissal was set aside on November 15, 2010. On November 18, 2010, the United States Trustee filed a statement that the case was presumptively abusive pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 704(b).

On December 16, 2010, the United States Trustee filed a Motion to Dismiss [11]*11the Debtor’s case for abuse. The United States Trustee brought the motion based on two grounds. First, the United States Trustee argues that the Debtor’s current monthly income reduced by allowed deductions and multiplied by sixty, exceeds $11,725 and the case should be dismissed pursuant to § 707(b)(2). The United States Trustee also argues the case should be dismissed because the totality of the circumstances of the Debtor’s financial situation demonstrates abuse pursuant to § 707(b)(3)(B).

The United States Trustee and the Debtor resolved the United States Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to § 707(b)(2) by the filing of an amended means test by the Debtor, which included information inadvertently not included in the original means test. Unable to resolve the United States Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to § 707(b)(3)(B), the parties have stipulated that there are no disputed issues of fact, filed briefs on the issue of abuse pursuant to § 707(b)(3)(B), and submitted the matter in lieu of an evidentiary hearing for the Court’s determination.

Discussion

Section 707(b)(3) provides that it is “an abuse of the provisions of this chapter” if (a) a Debtor filed the petition in bad faith or (b) the totality of the circumstances of the Debtor’s financial situation demonstrates abuse. 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(3). The United States Trustee makes no allegations that the Debtor filed his petition in bad faith but rather seeks dismissal of the Debtor’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy because the totality of the circumstances constitute “abuse” within the meaning of § 707(b)(3)(B).

In the Sixth Circuit, abuse may be predicated on either lack of honesty or want of need. The facts relevant to determining whether a debtor is “needy” include a debtor’s ability to repay his debts out of future earnings. This factor alone may be sufficient to warrant dismissal. See Behlke v. Eisen (In re Behlke), 358 F.3d 429, 434 (6th Cir.2004) (citing In re Krohn, 886 F.2d 123 (6th Cir.1989)). The United States Trustee has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. In re Summer, 255 B.R. 555, 563 (Bankr.S.D.Ohio 2000).

One way to determine an ability to pay is to evaluate whether there is sufficient disposable income to fund a Chapter 13 plan. In re Behlke, 358 F.3d at 435. This is the crux of the United States Trustee’s argument for dismissal of the Debtor’s case. The United States Trustee argues that the Debtor’s 401 (k) contributions and the amount used to pay the Debtor’s 401(k) loan repayments could be committed to fund a Chapter 13 plan. According to the United States Trustee, if the Debtor ceased contributing to his 401(k) plan and quit paying the 401(k) loan repayments, the Debtor will have a negative tax effect of approximately $564.66 per month for suspension of these payments, but would have approximately $900 remaining each month to repay creditors.

The Sixth Circuit in Behlke held under the pre-BAPCPA version of § 707(b)1 that a debtor’s voluntary 401(k) contribution “was not reasonably necessary to the maintenance and support of the [12]*12debtors or their dependents” such that it may be considered as disposable income when analyzing whether a debtor has sufficient income to fund a Chapter 13 plan as part of the totality of the circumstances analysis of § 707(b). Id. Thus, the court in Behlke held that the bankruptcy court did not err in dismissing the case of a debtor who did not file bankruptcy following a catastrophic event, has a stable income and the potential to reduce expenses without depriving himself of necessities, and has an ability to fund a Chapter 13 plan with a 401(k) contribution in order to pay a dividend between 14% and 23% to unsecured creditors. Id. at 437-438.

Similarly, 401(k) loan repayments have been treated like 401(k) contributions and also considered as disposable income in the context of determining abuse under the totality of the circumstances test pursuant to § 707(b)(3). See In re Pandl, 407 B.R. 299, 302 (Bankr.S.D.Ohio 2009); In re Felske, 385 B.R. 649, 658 (Bankr.N.D.Ohio 2008). Both bankruptcy courts in the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio addressed the fact that 401 (k) payments are not considered disposable income in Chapter 13 plans pursuant to § 1322(f) post-BAPCPA, but recognized that § 1322(f) is limited in its applicability to a debtor who has filed a Chapter 13 and has no application to a debtor who files a Chapter 7.

The Debtor, while taking no issue with the case law cited herein, argues that he is in a predicament that distinguishes his situation from that of the debtors in Pandl and Felske, as well as justifies this Court deviating from the law as set forth by Sixth Circuit. The Debtor argues that he is being forced into a Chapter 13 plan with negative disposable income, causing him to propose a Chapter 13 plan that has essentially zero being paid into it until the 401(k) loan is repaid in August of 2013.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
463 B.R. 9, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4388, 2011 WL 5509081, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-fletcher-kyeb-2011.