Lori Ann Lambert

CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedOctober 6, 2023
Docket22-40817
StatusUnknown

This text of Lori Ann Lambert (Lori Ann Lambert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lori Ann Lambert, (Ga. 2023).

Opinion

aeRUPTCP Pe a oa

aM fs IT IS ORDERED as set forth below: i GE ISTRICT”

Date: October 6, 2023 Jel LY’, bry! Paul W. Bonapfel U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ROME DIVISION IN RE: LORI ANN LAMBERT, : CASE NO. 22-40817-PWB Debtor. ! CHAPTER 13 LORI ANN LAMBERT, : OBJECTOR, CONTESTED MATTER

COURTESY FINANCE, Claimant.

ORDER ON DEBTOR’S OBJECTION TO CLAIM OF COURTESY FINANCE Form 1099-C is an informational return a creditor files with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) when a debt is cancelled or extinguished under certain circumstances

recognized by the IRS. The upshot of the filing of the Form 1099-C is that the creditor may treat the debt as a loss and the debtor must report the cancelled debt as income. The Debtor seeks disallowance of the claim filed by Courtesy Finance on the ground that it cancelled the debt and filed an informational return on Form 1099-C with the Internal Revenue Service in support of its discharge of the indebtedness. Courtesy

Finance contends that the debt has not been cancelled or discharged because even if a creditor “charges off” a debt and files a Form 1099-C, the debt itself is not forgiven and remains collectable. For the reasons stated herein, the Court disallows without prejudice the objection to Courtesy Finance’s claim.

I. Factual Background The Debtor filed a chapter 13 petition on July 8, 2022. In her schedules, the Debtor listed the debt owed to Courtesy Finance as an unsecured, nonpriority debt and did not identify it as contingent, unliquidated, or disputed. Courtesy Finance filed an unsecured claim in the amount of $1,760.00 on July

29, 2022. [Claim No. 3]. The supporting documents attached to the claim show that on January 14, 2022, the Debtor entered into a contract to borrow $1,672.29 at an annual percentage rate of 39.95 per cent. The contract called for eighteen monthly payments of $125.00 beginning February 14, 2022. Although the contract provides that the Debtor gave a security interest in a 2017 Hyundai vehicle and other personal property, nothing attached to the proof of claim shows that Courtesy Finance perfected its security interest, and it has not sought treatment as a secured

claim. About seven months after the case was filed, the Debtor objected to Courtesy Finance’s claim. The Debtor argues that “the debt has been cancelled and a 1099-C has been issued on the debt” and that “because [Courtesy Finance’s] claim has been cancelled and a 1099-C has been issued on the debt, it should be disallowed.” [Doc.

19, ¶¶ 3-4]. Courtesy Finance does not dispute – or confirm – that it issued a Form 1099-C. Instead, it argues that, even if such an event occurred, it did not result in forgiveness of the debt and that its proof of claim, therefore, is valid. [Doc. 21]. The timing of the objection and the issuance of the Form 1099-C is somewhat

unusual. The Debtor incurred the debt to Courtesy Finance on January 14, 2022, so the Form could not have been issued for the prepetition tax year of 2021. It follows that the earliest tax year Courtesy Finance could have issued a Form 1099-C would have been for the tax year 2022. This would have been after the Debtor filed bankruptcy on July 8, 2022, and after Courtesy Finance filed a proof of claim for

the debt on July 29, 2022.1

1 Because Courtesy Finance has not filed any evidence to contradict the Debtor’s assertion that it issued a Form 1099-C, the Court will presume it did so. II. Legal Background

The issue in this case is whether the Debtor owes a debt to Courtesy Finance that is allowable in this case. To make this determination, the Court must consider whether the Debtor has “liability on a claim” (the definition of “debt” in the Bankruptcy Code) to Courtesy Finance enforceable in this bankruptcy case. This requires consideration of the

Bankruptcy Code’s framework for allowance of claims and the nature of a “claim” – a right to payment – in general. Next, the Court must decide whether a creditor’s issuance of a Form 1099-C itself result in the cancellation or discharge of a debt. This requires consideration of the purpose of Form 1099-C and its legal significance.

A. Allowance of Claims in Bankruptcy The Bankruptcy Code defines “debt” as “liability on a claim.” 11 U.S.C. § 101(12). The Bankruptcy Code does not define “Liability,” but it is generally understood to mean, “The quality, state, or condition of being legally obligated or accountable.”

Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019). The Bankruptcy Code defines “claim” to mean: (A) right to payment, whether or not such right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured; or

(B) right to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if such breach gives rise to a right to payment, whether or not such right to an equitable remedy is reduced to judgment, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, secured, or unsecured. 11 U.S.C. § 101(5) (emphasis added).

Nonbankruptcy law typically determines whether a creditor has a “right to payment.” E.g., Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. 224, 228 (2017) (“State law usually determines whether a person has such a right [to payment].”); Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. of America v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 549 U.S. 443, 451 (2007) (“when the Bankruptcy Code uses the word ‘claim’—which the Code itself defines as

a ‘right to payment,’ 11 U.S.C. § 101(5)(A)—it is usually referring to a right to payment recognized under state law”); Raleigh v. Illinois Dept. of Revenue, 530 U.S. 15, 20 (2000) (“[c]reditors' entitlements in bankruptcy arise in the first instance from the underlying substantive law creating the debtor's obligation, subject to any qualifying or contrary provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.”); Butner v. United States, 440 U.S. 48,

55 (1979) (“Property interests are created and defined by state law. Unless some federal interest requires a different result, there is no reason why such interests should be analyzed differently simply because an interested party is involved in a bankruptcy proceeding.”). Generally, a claim filed by a creditor is allowed unless a party, including the debtor, objects. 11 U.S.C. § 502(a). A ground for denial of a claim is that it is “unenforceable against the debtor and property of the debtor, under any agreement or

applicable law for a reason other than because such claim is contingent or unmatured.” 11 U.S.C. § 502(b)(1). The Bankruptcy Code does not define “unenforceable,” but it follows that whether a debt is unenforceable for purposes of the Bankruptcy Code depends on whether the creditor has a present and existing “right to payment” under nonbankruptcy

law. The Court next turns to the function of IRS Tax Form 1099-C with respect to a “discharge of indebtedness.” B.

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

Related

Butner v. United States
440 U.S. 48 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Cavoto v. Hayes
634 F.3d 921 (Seventh Circuit, 2011)
Raleigh v. Illinois Department of Revenue
530 U.S. 15 (Supreme Court, 2000)
In Re Crosby
261 B.R. 470 (D. Kansas, 2001)
Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson
581 U.S. 224 (Supreme Court, 2017)
Ware v. Bank of America Corp.
9 F. Supp. 3d 1329 (N.D. Georgia, 2014)
Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC v. Riley (In re Riley)
478 B.R. 736 (D. South Carolina, 2012)
In re Reed
492 B.R. 261 (E.D. Tennessee, 2013)
In re Rodriguez
555 B.R. 871 (S.D. Florida, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Lori Ann Lambert, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lori-ann-lambert-ganb-2023.