In Re Reynolds

470 B.R. 138, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 1506, 2012 WL 1190296
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Colorado
DecidedApril 9, 2012
Docket19-10971
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 470 B.R. 138 (In Re Reynolds) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Reynolds, 470 B.R. 138, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 1506, 2012 WL 1190296 (Colo. 2012).

Opinion

*140 ORDER ALLOWING CLAIMS

HOWARD R. TALLMAN, Chief Judge.

This case comes before the Court on Debtors’ Verified Motion to Disallow Proof of Claim # 1-1 (docket #33); Debtors’ Verified Motion to Disallow Proof of Claim # h-l (docket # 37); Debtors’ Verified Motion to Disallow Proof of Claim # 5-1 (docket # 39); Debtors’ Verified Motion to Disallow Proof of Claim # 10-1 (docket # 41); and Debtors’ Verified Motion to Disallow Proof of Claim # 11-1 (docket # 43) (collectively, the “Motions”).

I. FACTS

The Debtors have filed their Motions objecting to proofs of claim filed by five of their creditors. All five of the Debtors’ Motions identify the creditor filing the proof of claim as a creditor, or the successor in interest to a creditor, identified on the Debtors’ Schedule F. The Debtors did not schedule any of the five debts as contingent, unliquidated or disputed. Thus, the Debtors have not claimed any bona fide dispute as to the debts they scheduled as owed to the five creditors. They acknowledge owing debts to the five creditors as follows:

Creditor Account No. Amount
Discover Card XXX 4986 $ 6,024.00
Bank of America XXXX 8645 $ 9,068.00
Bank of America XXXX 3936 $14,307.00
Premier Bankcard 5178 0062 6569 XXXX $ 517.00 Inc.
Capital One [blank] $17,019.00
Total $46,925.00

The five creditors filed proofs of claim on those same scheduled debts as follows:

Creditor Referenced in Debtors’ Motion Last Four Digits Claim No. Claimant Objecting to Claim of Account No. Amount

I-1 Discover Bank Discover Card 4986 $ 6,627.69

4-1 FIA Card Services, N.A. as Bank of America 8545 $10,337.46 successor in interest to Bank of America, N.A. (USA) and MBNA America Bank, N.A.

5-1 FIA Card Services, N.A. as Bank of America 3936 $15,328.95 successor in interest to Bank of America, N.A. (USA) and MBNA America Bank, N.A.

10-1 Premier BankCard/Charter Premier Bankcard Inc. 2592 $ 552.74

II-1 Back Bowl I LLC, Series B Capital One 6639 $17,981.03

TOTAL $50,827.87

II. DISCUSSION

The sole basis for objection stated in all five of the Motions to disallow the claims is that the creditors had failed to attach documentation to their proofs of claim in compliance with Fed. R. BanKR.P. 3001(c)(1). That subsection of the rule states that

When a claim, or an interest in property of the debtor securing the claim, is based on a writing, the original or a duplicate shall be filed with the proof of claim. If the writing has been lost or destroyed, a statement of the circumstances of the loss or destruction shall be filed with the claim.

Fed. R. BaNKrP. 3001(c)(1). Debtors allege that all five claims are based on written credit card agreements. The attach *141 ments to the filed claims do not purport to be the written agreements upon which the debts are based. Instead, all five claims are accompanied by account summaries. 1 The summaries differ in format but the differences are not material. The Court finds that none of the five proofs of claim are in compliance with the requirement stated in Rule 3001(c)(1) to attach the writing upon which the claim is based.

A. The Creditors’Default

None of the affected creditors filed responses to the Motions. The Debtors filed Certificates of Non-Contested Matter and requested the Court to enter orders disallowing the five claims in their entirety.

A claim objection is a contested matter to which Fed. R. BANKR.P. 9014 applies. Rule 7055, Fed. R. BankrP., is applicable to contested matters under Rule 9014. Rule 7055, in turn, adopts Fed.R.Civ.P. 55 as the standard for granting default judgments.

Before granting judgments or entering orders on motions after a party’s default, as a matter of routine, the Court examines the legal basis for the relief requested.. A party’s default is no justification for a court to enter an order for relief that is not permitted under the law. In Nishimatsu Const. Co. Ltd. v. Houston National Bank, 515 F.2d 1200 (5th Cir. 1975), the Fifth Circuit explained that a party’s default

does not in itself warrant the court in entering a default judgment. There must be a sufficient basis in the pleadings for the judgment entered.... [A] default is not treated as an absolute confession by the defendant of his liability and of the plaintiffs right to recover.

Id. at 1206 (citing Thomson v. Wooster, 114 U.S. 104, 113, 5 S.Ct. 788, 29 L.Ed. 105 (1885)). In the case of Pitts v. Seneca Sports, Inc., 321 F.Supp.2d 1353 (S.D.Ga. 2004), the court explained that “[wjhile the well-pleaded facts alleged in the Complaint are deemed admitted, plaintiff’s conclusions of law are not, and the Court may grant only the relief for which a sufficient basis is asserted....” Id. at 1356 (emphasis in original).

The Supreme Court made a similar point in the case of United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa, — U.S. -, 130 S.Ct. 1367, 176 L.Ed.2d 158 (2010). The focus of Espinosa was a student loan creditor’s Rule 60(b) motion for relief from the order confirming a chapter 13 plan that improperly provided for the discharge of a student loan debt. The court found no grounds to grant relief from the confirmation order under Rule 60(b). Id. at 1376-1380. At the same time, the court also made clear that it was legal error for the bankruptcy court to have confirmed the plan in question even though the affected creditor failed to respond and that, notwithstanding the creditor’s default, the bankruptcy court should have reviewed the plan and denied confirmation. Id. at 1381 n. 14.

The Debtors ask the Court to enter an order denying the creditors’ claims solely on the basis that the creditors failed to attach documents to their proof of claim in *142 compliance with Rule 3001(c)(1). The fact of the creditors’ non-compliance is clear. Before granting the Motions by default, the Court must satisfy itself that the Debtors have stated a legally sufficient ground for claim disallowance.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
470 B.R. 138, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 1506, 2012 WL 1190296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-reynolds-cob-2012.