In re Patchell

344 B.R. 8, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 3867, 2006 WL 1515996
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJune 1, 2006
DocketNo. 02-45551-JBR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 344 B.R. 8 (In re Patchell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Patchell, 344 B.R. 8, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 3867, 2006 WL 1515996 (Mass. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON (1) DEBTOR’S OBJECTION TO AMENDED PROOF OF CLAIM OF OPTION ONE MORTGAGE COMPANY DATED FEBRUARY 7, 2006 [#223]; (2) DEBTOR’S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF PROOF OF CLAIM OF OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION AND WELLS FARGO BANK [#234]; (3) DEBTOR’S MOTION TO DISALLOW AMENDED PROOF OF CLAIM OF OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION AND WELLS FARGO BANK [#236]; (4) DEBTOR’S SECOND OBJECTION TO CLAIM OF OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION ACTING AS SERVICING AGENT FOR WELLS FARGO BANK AND DEMAND FOR RELIEF [#237]; (5) DEBTOR’S EXPEDITED MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR TO EXAMINE AND REPORT TO THE COURT ON DEBTOR’S MORTGAGE AND POSTPETITION PAYMENTS [#253]; (6) DEBTOR’S EXPEDITED MOTION OF COUNTERCLAIM FOR DAMAGES AGAINST OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION AND WELLS FARGO BANK FOR ABRUPT CANCELLATION OF HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE AND MISDIRECTION OF DOCUMENTS [#254]; AND (7) APPLICATION FOR COMPENSATION OF OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION, FILED AS SUPPLEMENT TO OPTION ONE’S OBJECTION TO DEBTOR’S OBJECTION TO AMENDED PROOF OF CLAIM OF OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION DATED FEBRUARY 7, 2006 [# 233]

JOEL B. ROSENTHAL, Bankruptcy Judge.

This case came before the Court for hearing on several matters arising from the Debtor’s ongoing dispute with Option One Mortgage Corporation and Wells Fargo Bank with respect to her mortgage, and in particular with respect the fees and expenses incurred by Option One and Wells Fargo as a result of the adversary proceeding commenced against them by the Debtor. In addition to the six pleadings filed by the Debtor, Option One has filed an Application for Compensation which the Debtor opposes.

Background

This Debtor filed her Chapter 13 petition on September 11, 2002. To date a plan has not been confirmed. But this should not be understood to suggest that this case has been inactive, especially during the last two years when the Debtor has been acting pro se. In the last two years she wrangled with one of her former attorneys over services and fees but most of her efforts have been directed toward her ongoing disputes with Option One Mortgage Corporation, the original mortgagee of the Debtor’s residence and current servicing agent for the mortgagee, and Wells Fargo Bank, the assignee currently holding the mortgage in its capacity as Trustee for registered Holders of Option One Mortgage Loan Trust 2001-D, Asset-backed Certificates, Series 2001-D.1 During this period the Debtor commenced an adversary proceeding (AP No. 04-4460) for various lending violations against Option One and Wells Fargo. That litigation was fraught with discovery disputes and numerous attempts by the Debtor to amend and supplement the complaint, and to obtain sanctions, including judgment against the Defendants.2 The adversary proceeding ended in judgments for the Defendants prior to trial and those judgments are now on appeal.3 In this same time frame she has filed several pleadings involving her efforts to have Option One and Wells Fargo’s claim stricken and to have them both held in contempt and burdened with monetary sanctions. These pleadings were often duplicative, difficult to decipher, and at times rambling and even nonsensical. Often when pressed for the specific facts that would support one of her motions or oppositions to the creditors’ motion, the Debtor frequently responded, as she did at the hearing on the instant motions, that she cannot provide specific information without obtaining further records from the creditors. The Debtor’s pleadings often contain a statement that she “insists” upon an evidentiary hearing although it is unclear what she would offer as evidence and when asked by the Court what an evidentiary hearing would accomplish, her answer reflects a fundamental misunderstanding that she could litigate and re-litigate all of her allegations and speculations of the creditors’ alleged wrongdoings. When the Court has repeatedly pointed out the inherent difficulties and dangers of representing herself and indeed, urged her on numerous occasions to obtain counsel, the Debtor’s response was to label the Court’s [12]*12comments as “hurtful.”4 She continues undaunted in serially raising essentially the same arguments in each of her pleadings, resulting in a waste of judicial resources, and as discussed below, only adding to the cost she herself must bear. “While courts have historically loosened the reins for pro se parties, ... the right of self-representation is not a license not to comply with relevant rules of procedural and substantive law.... The Constitution does not require judges-or agencies, for that matter — to take up the slack when a party elects to represent himself.... [TJhere is a long line of authority rejecting the notion that pro se litigants in either civil or regulatory cases are entitled to extra procedural swaddling.” Eagle Eye Fishing Corp. v. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 20 F.3d 503, 506 (1st Cir.1994)(internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

The Debtor has renewed many of her previous arguments in the current cadre of pleadings without regard to their relevance to a specific matter and often without the specifics necessary to sustain her burden. These arguments are dealt with below.

1. Debtor’s Objection to Amended Proof of Claim of Option One Mortgage Corporation dated February 7, 2006 [# 223]

The proof of claim dated February 7, 2006 (the “2006 Proof of Claim”) is based on a promissory note of “9/27/2001” that is secured by a mortgage on the Debt- or’s residence. As of the date of the 2006 Proof of Claim, Option One alleges that the debt owed was $278,130.66. The itemization to the 2006 Proof of Claim indicates that this figures includes attorneys’ fees of $58,323.93 incurred in connection with the adversary proceeding and payment late charges of $388.16. “A proof of claim executed and filed in accordance with [the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure] shall constitute prima facie evidence of the validity and amount of the claim.” Fed. R. Bankr.P. 3001(f). On its face, the 2006 is valid. “The party objecting to the claim has the burden of going forward with equivalent probative evidence to rebut the presumption of validity and amount.” In re Fleming, 258 B.R. 488, 489 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.2000).

The Debtor’s Objection sets forth 8 grounds for objecting to the 2006 Proof of Claim. All are without merit; some are frivolous. Option One has filed an “Objection” [# 232] to the Debtor’s objection and has appended its fee application [separately docketed at # 233] to its objection. The fee application is addressed later in this decision.

First the Debtor argues that because Option One’s requested attorneys’ [13]*13fees in various pleadings filed in the adversary proceeding but the Court never issued an order awarding such fees, it is not entitled to attorneys’ fees now. Thus, she reasons, the entire 2006 Proof of Claim should be disallowed. By the Court’s count, Option One and Wells Fargo expressly sought attorneys’ fees no less than 9 times in the adversary proceeding.5 Many of these requests were limited to asking that they be reimbursed for the costs incurred in opposing specific pleadings filed by the Debtor.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
344 B.R. 8, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 3867, 2006 WL 1515996, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-patchell-mab-2006.