In re Holman

567 B.R. 599, 77 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1262, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 1267
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Kansas
DecidedMay 9, 2017
DocketCase No. 11-13418
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 567 B.R. 599 (In re Holman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Holman, 567 B.R. 599, 77 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1262, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 1267 (Kan. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Robert E. Nugent, United States Bankruptcy Judge

The Court “may” dismiss a chapter 13 case for “cause,” including unreasonable delay, material default under a confirmed plan, and bad faith.1 But once the debtor completes all payments under the plan, the Court “shall” grant the debtor a discharge.2 In this case, the debtors violated both their plan and confirmation order. They flouted their duties to the Trustee, the Government, and the Court throughout the case. Even after the Trustee’s and the United States’ motions to dismiss were pending, the debtors continued to run afoul of the confirmation order. Yet the debtors completed their payments before the trial on these motions. Despite there being ample cause to convert or dismiss their casé, § 1328(a) requires the Court to instead grant the debtors a discharge and deny the Trustee’s and the United States’ motions as moot.3

Facts

Shala and Nathan Holman filed this case on November 3, 2011. Nathan was and is a [601]*601self-employed chiropractor. Shala was a physician’s assistant who dabbled in multilevel marketing on the side. They proposed a chapter 13 plan that provided for them to make 60 monthly payments of $707. Under the plan, they would surrender their late model Mercedes Benz and their boat, strip off a $212,494 second mortgage on their homestead, and retain their 2009 Volkswagen.4 On June 28, 2012, the Court entered an agreed order confirming their plan as modified (“Confirmation Order”), increasing their monthly payments to $1,517 for 57 months.5 At that time, this Division’s standard confirmation order set out a series of duties on the debtor. The evidence shows that the Holmans flouted these duties throughout the case, especially these four. The debtors were ordered to immediately notify the Trustee of any change in employment. They were directed to timely file all tax returns coming due during the case and to provide copies of those returns to the Trustee upon request. They were prohibited from incurring any new debt during the plan without the Trustee’s or the Court’s approval. And, they were prohibited from selling, encumbering, or otherwise disposing of their assets without a prior court order.6

I. Violations of Plan and Confirmation Order

A. Shala Failed to Disclose Employment Changes.

Shala Holman lost her position as a physician’s assistant in February of 2013. She applied for state unemployment compensation even though she had been working as a Rodan + Fields (“R + F”) associate or consultant since 2011 — a position she failed to disclose on either Schedule I or the statement of financial affairs.7 The debtors filed at least two motions to modify that asserted Shala was unemployed, filing amended schedules I and J that also omitted her employment. The first motion (and second modification) in October 2013 stated that Shala had lost her job in February of 2013. The amended schedule I stated that Shala was unemployed.8 Nathan was credited with receiving “income from Skin Care supplies” that Shala testified should have been attributed to her. She did disclose receiving unemployment. This second modification was granted by agreed order on November 18, 2013.9

Six months later the debtors filed their third motion to modify on May 28, 2014, again claiming that Shala was unemployed.10 This time, they filed no amended schedules I and J. Nevertheless, this motion was also granted by an agreed order.11

[602]*602Not until April 13, 2015 when the Hol-mans filed their fourth motion to modify, was Shala’s R + F employment revealed. On the revised schedules I and J filed to support that motion, the debtors finally disclosed that Shala was involved in “direct sales,” had been for six years, and was receiving $4,558 a month in commissions.12 This modification motion went to trial in October of 2015.

B. The Holmans Failed to File Timely Tax Returns and Provide Timely Copies.

Before filing bankruptcy, the debtors established an annual pattern of filing their tax returns on extension per their accountant’s advice. At trial, Shala admitted failing to file the 2014 taxes by April 15, 2015 and failing to provide the Trustee with the returns. The trustee requested copies of the 2014 returns in an e-mail dated April 15, 2015. The e-mail made providing those returns a condition of agreeing to a post-confirmation modification that debtors were seeking.13 The Holmans’ counsel supplied the Trustee with a copy of the debtors’ 2014 return extension on May 5. Then the debtors sent the Trustee a copy of the 2014 return signed as of June 22, 2015.14

Meanwhile, the debtors had filed their fourth motion to modify on April 13, 2015.15 The Trustee contested the modification and, shortly before a hearing on that matter was to take place, the debtors filed their fifth motion to modify on October 12, 2015.16 Both modification motions were resolved by an Agreed Order entered on December 2, 2015 that provided, in part, that “to resolve the Trustee’s lack of good faith objection to confirmation of their modified Plan,” the debtors would not reduce the dividend payable to the unsecured creditors to pay any § 1305 claims, including those of the taxing authorities.17 Presumably, this Agreed Order resolved any outstanding demand for the 2014 returns. The parties stipulated that the debtors filed this return on October 9.

The Trustee requested copies of the debtors’ 2015 tax returns by emails sent March 14 and March 28,2016.18 The March 14 email requested production of the tax returns not later than May 1. Trustee’s counsel followed up on March 28 and, apparently hearing nothing, filed a formal motion to compel production of the returns on May 17.19 Trustee Williams withdrew that motion on July 13, suggesting that the returns had finally been supplied. The debtors’ 2015 return reflects that they signed and electronically filed it on June 30, 2016, but they later stipulated that this return wasn’t actually filed until September 18.20

[603]*603G. The Holmans Incurred Unauthorized Post-Petition Debts.

The Holmans stipulated that they failed to pay federal income taxes that accrued post-petition.21 They owe at least $24,223 for 2014 and $27,746 for 2015.22 On February 16, 2017, the debtors filed their 2016 return, adding an additional liability of $23,799.23 In short, during their last three years in chapter 13, these debtors racked up over $75,000 in federal income tax liability without either the leave of the court or the Trustee.24 But these are not their only unauthorized post-confirmation debts.

D. The Holmans Acquired and Encumbered Assets without Court Approval

In June of 2014, the debtors decided to give their son a car for his sixteenth birthday.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
567 B.R. 599, 77 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1262, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 1267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-holman-ksb-2017.