In Re Fretwell

281 B.R. 745, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 839, 2002 WL 1822864
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedMarch 19, 2002
Docket01-1118-3F3
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 281 B.R. 745 (In Re Fretwell) 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 Fretwell, 281 B.R. 745, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 839, 2002 WL 1822864 (Fla. 2002).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge.

This case came before the Court upon the Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss for Bad Faith Filing and Objection to Confirmation. Upon the evidence presented and *747 the arguments of the parties, the Court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

In 1990 Mr. Fretwell retired from Bell-South and began receiving monthly pension benefits. (Tr. At 14.) Several years later Mr. Fretwell returned to work part time in order to augment the household income. (Tr. At 14.) Beginning in 1995 Mrs. Fretwell worked full-time for the same employer, earning $575.00 per week as a payroll administrator. (Debtors’ Ex. 11; Tr. At 14.)

Beginning in May 1995 Mrs. Fretwell suffered chronic and occasionally debilitating lower back pain, culminating in an acute attack in July 1998 which rendered her virtually immobile for nine or ten months. (Debtors’ Ex. 3; Tr. at 10.) Additionally, she suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes. (Debtors’ Ex. 1.) In September 1998 Mrs. Fretwell’s doctor advised her to work no more than six hours a day because of her health problems. (Id.) In December 1997 Mr. Fret-well had cancer surgery followed by six months of chemotherapy. (Tr. at 10.) Debtors are 72 and 64 respectively.

Debtors lived in a home they had purchased in 1974. (Tr. at 5.) Debtors’ monthly mortgage payments were $1,637.00. (Tr. at 35.)

Concerned with the prospect of future financial difficulties resulting from their health problems, Debtors sought legal advice from a local attorney in January 1999. (Tr. at 6-7, 10-11, 33.) That attorney referred them to their bankruptcy counsel, Lansing J. Roy. (Tr. at 33.) At that time Debtors were both employed and were current on all of their financial obligations. (Tr. at 35-36.)

At their initial meeting Mr. Roy advised Debtors to sell their house in order to eliminate their large monthly mortgage payment. He advised them to finance a double-wide mobile home and set it up on an unencumbered vacant lot they had purchased in 1997. (Tr. at 37.)

Although Debtors attempted to sell their house, they did not follow Mr. Roy’s advice with respect to financing a mobile home. Instead, in May 1999 Debtors entered into a contract to construct a house on the vacant lot for $74,483.20. (Debtors’ Ex. 8.) Construction on the house began in August 1999. (Tr. At 16.)

Of the total contract price, Debtors paid $58,688.18 directly to the builder. (Debtors’ Ex. 10; Tr. at 42, 43, 48.) Debtors managed the funding of the payments to the builder through a bank account designated as the Building Fund at Florida Credit Union. (Tr. at 29.) All of the money paid directly to the builder was drawn from the Building Fund. (Tr. at 29; Debtors’ Ex. 6.) The funds from the Building Fund came from: 1) $2,731.85 in cash advances from credit cards, 2) $40,638.16 of proceeds from the liquidation of Debtors’ non-exempt assets, and 3) $15,318.17 of proceeds from the liquidation of Debtors’ exempt assets. (Debtors’ Ex. 10.)

The builder authorized Debtors to pay some of the subcontractors and material providers directly. (Tr. at 43.) Debtors paid $19,741.78 to the subcontractors and material providers. (Trustee’s Composite Ex. 1; Debtors’ Ex. 10.) 1 All of these *748 funds came from charges to or cash advances from credit cards. (Id.) Debtors charged an additional $4,934.22 to their credit cards for household items such as furniture, a bedspread and curtains, blinds, and a refrigerator. (Trustee’s Composite Ex. 3; Tr. at 21, 24.) Debtors’ new house is worth $83,000 to $84,000 and does not have a mortgage on it. (Tr. at 5.)

Aside from the construction and furnishing of the house and despite their concern about the prospect of future health and financial problems, during 1999 Debtors drew $39,350.00 in cash advances from credit cards, which they deposited into their CNB National Bank checking account. (Debtors’ Exs. 4, 5.) During 1999 Debtors paid approximately $12,000.00 from that checking • account toward their credit cards. (Debtors’ Ex. 4.) During 1999 Debtors also charged $66,108.42 on their credit cards for purchases, balance transfers, and credit card convenience checks. (Trustee’s Composite Exs. 2, 3, and 4.) 2 Although Mrs. Fretwell testified that “a lot of that is balance transfer checks” (Tr. at 20.), Debtors offered no other evidence or argument as to what portion represented balance transfers. Upon a thorough review of Trustee’s Composite Exhibits 2, 3, and 4 the Court finds that $24,258.46 of the $66,108.42 represents balance transfers. In sum, Debtors charged well over $100,000.00 on their credit cards during 1999. During this time both debtors were working. Debtors’ 1999 wages were $39,371.00. (Debtors’ Ex. 21.) Mr. Fretwell also received $926.00 monthly in social security benefits and $726.35 monthly in pension benefits.

In late 1999 Debtors moved into their new house. Debtors’ attempts to sell or rent their old house had been unsuccessful. Mrs. Fretwell testified that at that time Debtors expected to maintain their financial obligations as long as they were able to sell or rent their old house and maintain their jobs. (Tr. at 58.)

On January 14, 2000 Mrs. Fretwell wrote a letter informing her employer that she had applied for Social Security disability benefits and advised that her last day of full time employment would be January 28, 2000. (Debtors’ Ex. 11.) Mrs. Fretwell indicated that her decision was based upon her doctor’s September, 1998 recommendation. Although Mrs. Fretwell expressed an interest in part time employment, her employer was downsizing and declined to retain her as a part-time employee. (Tr. at 55.) On January 28, 2000 Debtors both lost their jobs. (Tr. at 14, 55.)

Debtors met again with Mr. Roy on February 10, 2000. (Tr. at 38.) Upon discovering that Debtors had been unable to sell their old house and had liquidated their assets and used credit cards to build a house instead of financing a double wide mobile home, Mr. Roy advised Debtors to compile a list of the source of the funds used to pay for the house. (Tr. at 40.) Mrs. Fretwell testified that she did not ask Mr. Roy why he requested such a list. (Tr. at 60.) Mr. Roy also advised Debtors that it would not be a good idea to file *749 bankruptcy at that time. (Tr. at 49.) Debtors paid Mr. Roy $500.00 for “retainer-research.” (Debtors’ Ex. 12, Check # 3871.)

During 2000 Debtors drew an additional $48,000.00 in cash advances on their credit cards which they deposited into their CNB National Bank checking account. (Debtors’ Ex. 12.) They paid approximately $35,000.00 towards their credit cards. (Id.) Debtors also charged $17,041.25 on their credit cards for purchases, balance transfers, and credit card convenience checks. (Trustee’s Composite Ex. 4.) Of that, $8,085.45 represented balance transfers. (Id.) Debtors remained current on their $1,637.00 mortgage payment.

In March 2000 Debtors took a trip to Las Vegas to attend their daughter’s wedding. (Tr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
281 B.R. 745, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 839, 2002 WL 1822864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-fretwell-flmb-2002.