In re: Pedro J Nevarez Bruno

• Court: United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Puerto Rico
• Decided: May 16, 2019
• Docket: 18-05191
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO 2

3 IN RE: CASE NO. 18-05191 BKT 4

5 PEDRO J NEVAREZ BRUNO CHAPTER 13

6 Debtor(s) FILED & ENTERED ON 05/16/2019 7

9 OPINION AND ORDER 10 11 Before the court is Claimant Jorannie Cruz Nieves’ (hereinafter “Claimant”) Amended 12 Motion Requesting Reconsideration of Order Entered at Docket No. 85 [Dkt. No. 92]. Claimant 13 filed claim number 6-1 in the amount of $500,000.00 on December 11, 2018. This claim was 14 objected to by the Debtor, Pedro J. Nevarez Bruno (hereinafter “Debtor”). See Dkt. No. 58. 15 Claimant’s reconsideration stems from an Order entered by the court on March 20, 2019, granting 16 Debtors objection claim number 6-1 [Dkt. No. 85]. The Debtor’s objection to the claim was based 17 18 on four legal arguments: (1) the timeliness of the filing pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3002(c); (2) 19 the applicability of the doctrine of excusable neglect under Pioneer Inv. Servs. Co. v. Brunswick 20 Assocs. Ltd. P’ship, 507 U.S. 380 (1993); (3) the lack of valid supporting documents; and (4) the 21 validity of the claim because the amount was not owed. Claimant failed to file a reply to the 22 Debtor’s objection despite being allowed additional time to do so by this court. See Dkt. No.’s 73 23 and 74. 24 In her motion requesting reconsideration, the Claimant posits that the arguments which 25 26 formed the basis of Debtor’s objection to claim number 6-1 became moot once the court allowed 27 the filing of her late filed claim. See the court’s Order at Dkt. No. 64. Moreover, Claimant argues 1 that the claim did contain the necessary documentation since it included a copy of the complaint 2 filed against the Debtor in the state court proceedings. In addition, Claimant states that the claim 3 is valid, and refers to the Debtor’s schedules and the purported findings of the state court judge 4 prior to the filing of the voluntary petition. 5 Claimants motion for reconsideration does not set forth a legal basis under which the court 6 could provide relief. However, since the motion for reconsideration was filed five days after the 7 court’s order, the appropriate statutory authority lies in Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e), made applicable to 8 9 bankruptcy cases through Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9023. Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) authorizes the filing of a 10 motion moving the court to alter or amend a judgment within twenty-eight (28)1 days of entry of 11 said judgment. Because “Rule 59(e) does not state the grounds on which relief may be granted . . 12 . courts have considerable discretion in deciding whether to grant or deny a motion under the rule.” 13 In re Nieves Guzman, 567 B.R. 854, 863 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. 2017) (quoting ACA Fin. Guar. Corp. v. 14 Advest, Inc., 512 F.3d 46, 55 (1st Cir. 2008)) (internal quotations omitted). 15 16 The First Circuit has generally noted four grounds for granting a motion for reconsideration 17 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59: “manifest errors of law or fact, newly discovered or previously 18 unavailable evidence, manifest injustice, and an intervening change in controlling law.” Marie v. 19 Allied Home Mortgage Corp., 402 F.3rd 1, 7 (1st Cir. 2005) (citing 11 C. Wright et al., Federal 20 Practice & Procedure § 2810.1 (2d ed. 1995)). “It is well settled in the First Circuit that to meet 21 the threshold requirements of Rule 59(e), the motion must demonstrate the ‘reason why the court 22 should reconsider its prior decision….’ In re Nieves Guzman, 567 B.R. at 863 (quoting In re 23 24 Arroyo, 544 B.R. 751, 756 (Bankr. D.P.R. 2015)). The moving party is generally held as having 25 to produce to the court a “‘clear conviction of error’ or belief that the final judgment was ‘dead 26

27 1 Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9023 reduces the twenty-eight (28) day requirement to fourteen (14) days. 1 wrong.’” Steven S. Gensler, 2 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules and Commentary, Rule 59, 2 Westlaw (February 2017). 3 “A motion for reconsideration is not the venue to undo procedural snafus or permit a party 4 to advance arguments it should have developed prior to judgment, nor is it a mechanism to 5 regurgitate old arguments previously considered and rejected.” In re Nieves Guzman, 567 B.R. at 6 863 (quoting Biltcliffe v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 772 F.3d 925, 930 (1st Cir. 2014) (citations omitted) 7 (internal quotations omitted). Finally, "[i]n practice, [R]ule 59(e) motions are generally denied 8 9 because of the narrow purpose for which they are intended." Rosado v. Banco Popular de P.R., 10 561 B.R. 598, 608 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. 2017) (quoting BAC Home Loans Servicing LP v. Grassi, No. 11 EP 11-010, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 4362 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. Nov. 21, 2011)). Federal courts “have 12 consistently stated that a motion for reconsideration of a previous order is an extraordinary remedy 13 that must be used sparingly because of interest in finality and conservation of scarce judicial 14 resources." Id. at 607. 15 16 Upon review of Claimant’s arguments, the court determines that the evaluation of the 17 evidence demonstrates that no error was committed. Claimant fails to establish any of the required 18 legal factors for reconsideration under Rule 59 discussed above. After considering Claimant’s 19 motion, the court finds that said motion neither provides the court with genuine reasons why it 20 should revisit the prior Order, nor compelling facts in support of reversing the prior decision. 21 Granting a motion for reconsideration under Rule 59 is generally viewed with disfavor by the 22 courts, and the procedurally late recitation of facts proffered by the Claimant does not provide any 23 24 reason to justify relief from this court’s Order. As such the Claimant’s Amended Motion 25 Requesting Reconsideration of Order Entered at Docket No. 85 [Dkt. No. 92], is DENIED. 26 SO ORDERED 27 1 In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 16th day of May, 2019. 2 ; . OD oe He 5 Brian K. Tester U.S. Bankruptcy Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 -4-