In Re Hassan Hamidi Hashemi, Debtor. American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc. v. Hassan Hamidi Hashemi

104 F.3d 1122
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 24, 1997
Docket95-55628
StatusPublished
Cited by159 cases

This text of 104 F.3d 1122 (In Re Hassan Hamidi Hashemi, Debtor. American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc. v. Hassan Hamidi Hashemi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Hassan Hamidi Hashemi, Debtor. American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc. v. Hassan Hamidi Hashemi, 104 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 1997).

Opinion

KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge.

Appellant didn’t leave home without his American Express cards. In fact, he and his family traveled to Europe in style, and charged it all. On his return, appellant owed American Express more than $60,000, the bulk of which represented charges made during the six-week trip. He promptly filed for bankruptcy, and American Express petitioned to have his debt declared nondis-chargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A), which precludes discharge of debts obtained through “actual fraud.” The bankruptcy court denied appellant’s request for a jury trial, ruled the debt nondisehargeable and ordered appellant to pay American Express $69,793.67 plus interest. The district court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s judgment and Dr. Hashemi appeals again. We must decide whether appellant was entitled to a jury trial in the dischargeability proceeding, whether American Express adduced sufficient proof of “actual fraud” and whether American Express, as a prevailing party, is entitled to attorney’s fees.

I

Appellant first argues that the Seventh Amendment guarantees him the right to have a jury decide whether his debt is dis-chargeable. We determine whether the Seventh Amendment applies to a given proceeding by reference to the two-part test of Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg, 492 U.S. 33, 109 S.Ct. 2782, 106 L.Ed.2d 26 (1989): “First, we compare the statutory action to 18th-century actions brought in the courts of England prior to the merger of the courts of law and equity. Second, we examine the remedy sought and determine whether it is legal or equitable in nature.” Id. at 42, 109 S.Ct. at 2790 (quoting Tull v. United States, 481 U.S. 412, 417-18, 107 S.Ct. 1831, 1835-36, 95 L.Ed.2d 365 (1987)). Actions to determine the nondischargeability of debts fail the second prong of this test because such proceedings are equitable in nature. See N.I.S. Corp. v. Hallahan (In re Hallahan), 936 F.2d 1496, 1505-06 (7th Cir.1991); Schieber v. Hooper (In re Hooper), 112 B.R. 1009, 1011-13 (9th Cir. BAP 1990). Bankruptcy litigants therefore have no Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in dischargeability proceedings.

In the course of making the dischargeability determination, however, the bankruptcy court also found that appellant had breached his credit agreement with American Express; it ordered him to repay the nondischarged debt with interest. This determination was legal, not equitable, see Atlas Roofing Co. v. Occupational Safety Comm’n, 430 U.S. 442, 459, 97 S.Ct. 1261, *1125 1271, 51 L.Ed.2d 464 (1977), and therefore fell within the ambit of the Seventh Amendment. Nevertheless, we have held that a bankruptcy litigant waives his right to a jury trial in proceedings “vital to the bankruptcy process of allowance and disallowance of ... claims.” Benedor Corp. v. Conejo Enterprises, Inc. (In re Conejo Enterprises, Inc.), 96 F.3d 346, 354 n. 6 (9th Cir.1996). We need not decide here whether an action to recover a nondisehargeable debt falls into this category. 1 Appellant conceded that he breached his contract with American Express and that he made or authorized all of the charges in question. Because there were no contested issues of fact, the bankruptcy court properly granted summary judgment to American Express on its breach of contract claim. No trial, by judge or by jury, was required.

II

Having failed in his effort to obtain a new trier of fact, appellant claims the bankruptcy court erred in finding that he defrauded American Express. Section 523(a)(2)(A) precludes discharge of any debt obtained by “false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud.” In order to establish a debt’s nondischargeability under this section, the creditor must show:

(1) the debtor made ... representations;
(2) that at the time he knew they were false;
(3) that he made them with the intention and purpose of deceiving the creditor;
(4) that the creditor relied on such representations; [and]
(5)that the creditor sustained the alleged loss and damage as the proximate result of the misrepresentations having been made.

Britton v. Price (In re Britton), 950 F.2d 602, 604 (9th Cir.1991). These requirements mirror the elements of common law fraud, see Citibank v. Eashai (In re Eashai), 87 F.3d 1082, 1087 (9th Cir.1996), and the creditor is required to prove each by a preponderance of the evidence. See Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 291, 111 S.Ct. 654, 661, 112 L.Ed.2d 755 (1991). Appellant contends that American Express failed to establish his intent to defraud, that he made no false representations to American Express, and that if any such representations were made, American Express did not justifiably rely on them.

a. Fraudulent Intent. “[A] court may infer the existence of the debtor’s intent not to pay if the facts and circumstances of a particular case present a picture of deceptive conduct by the debtor.” In re Eashai, 87 F.3d at 1087. In Citibank South Dakota v. Dougherty (In re Dougherty), 84 B.R. 653 (9th Cir. BAP 1988), our Bankruptcy Appellate Panel enumerated twelve factors relevant to determining a debtor’s intent. 2 These factors are nonexclusive; none is dis-positive, nor must a debtor’s conduct satisfy a minimum number in order to prove fraudulent intent. So long as, on balance, the evidence supports a finding of fraudulent intent, the creditor has satisfied this element. See Grogan, 498 U.S. at 291, 111 S.Ct. at 661. We adopted Dougherty’s, twelve-factor test *1126 as the law of the circuit in In re Eashai, 87 F.3d at 1087-88.

Applying the test set out in Dougherty and Eashai, as did the bankruptcy court, there is ample evidence to support the finding that appellant intended to defraud American Express. Appellant made nearly 170 charges totaling more than $60,000 during a six-week trip with his family to France. These charges exceeded appellant’s annual income and, even before the trip, appellant already owed more than $300,000 in unsecured credit card debt.

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Bluebook (online)
104 F.3d 1122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hassan-hamidi-hashemi-debtor-american-express-travel-related-ca9-1997.