Matheny v. Maier (In re Maier)

498 B.R. 340
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 8, 2013
DocketCase No.: 3:12-bk-283-JAF; Adv. Pro. No.: 3:12-ap-688-JAF
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 498 B.R. 340 (Matheny v. Maier (In re Maier)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matheny v. Maier (In re Maier), 498 B.R. 340 (Fla. 2013).

Opinion

Chapter 7

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT

JERRY A. FUNK, United States Bankruptcy Judge

This proceeding is before the Court on the Debtor, Albert Carl Maier’s (“Defendant”), Motion to Dismiss the Complaint Objecting to Discharge (Doc. 5, the “Motion to Dismiss”; see also Doc. 1, the “Complaint”). Plaintiff, Steele Matheny, t/a Steele Construction Co. (the “Plaintiff’), filed a response in opposition to the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 6). For the reasons set forth herein, the Motion to Dismiss is granted in part and denied in part.

Background

The following facts are alleged in the Complaint. Defendant filed a Chapter 13 petition on January 19, 2012 (the “Petition”), which was subsequently converted to a Chapter 7 case on July 25, 2012. Defendant is a professor at St. Johns River State College. He holds multiple degrees, including a Doctor of Medicine and a Juris Doctorate. Defendant’s homestead is located in Palatka, Florida.

Prior to the date of the Petition, Defendant and his non-filing spouse, Gail Elizabeth Maier, were members of an entity known as The Faire Harbour Limited Partnership (the “Partnership”). On July 27, 2000, the Partnership purchased (and held title to) an office strip center (the “Commercial Property”) in which Defendant operated a medical practice, Putnam Readieare, The initial purchase price of the [343]*343Commercial Property was approximately $112,500.00. On November 4, 2010, the Partnership was converted to The Faire Harbour Limited Liability Company (the “LLC”). Although Defendant’s spouse, son, and daughter were named as members of the LLC in the Articles of Incorporation, Defendant’s name was not included in the filing.

Defendant filed Schedules and a Statement of Financial Affairs on January 19, 2012. Defendant reviewed the Schedules before he signed the Schedules. The Schedules were signed under oath. In response to Question 18 of the Statement of Financial Affairs, Defendant disclosed that he held an interest in the Partnership during the six years preceding the filing of the Petition, In response to Question 10 of the Statement of Financial Affairs, Defendant declared that he had not transferred any interest in property in the previous two years.1 Likewise, Defendant failed to disclose in Schedule B any business interest or stock in either the LLC or the Partnership. No further mention of either the LLC or the Partnership was made in the bankruptcy petition.

On February 24, 2011, the Commercial Property was sold by the LLC for $429,000.00. At the time of the sale, the approximate mortgage balance related to the Commercial Property was $115,000.00.2 Subsequently, on April 4, 2012, a satisfaction of the Commercial Property’s mortgage was recorded in the public records of Putnam County, Florida. Ten days later, on April 14, 2012, the bank holding the Defendant’s homestead mortgage recorded a satisfaction of the Defendant’s homestead mortgage. At his 341 meeting of creditors. Defendant testified that he used a portion of the money realized from the sale of the Commercial Property to pay off his homestead mortgage.

On October 29, 2012, Plaintiff commenced the instant adversary proceeding objecting to Defendant’s discharge under section 727 of the Bankruptcy Code,3 In Count I of the Complaint, Plaintiff alleges Defendant knowingly and fraudulently made false oaths in both the bankruptcy schedules and in the Statement of Financial Affairs. In addition, Plaintiff claims Defendant provided false testimony to the trustee while under oath at the 341 meeting. ' In Count II, Plaintiff alleges Defendant concealed, destroyed, mutilated, and/or falsified recorded information. Count III alleges Defendant fraudulently transferred non-exempt property (ie., cash proceeds from the sale of the Commercial Property) into exempt property (his homestead) with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors.

For his part, Defendant maintains the Complaint should be dismissed for lack of standing or, in the alternative, due to Plaintiff’s failure to plead sufficient facts to state a cause of action.

Discussion

I. Motion to Dismiss Standard

A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure tests the sufficiency of a complaint and asks the court to determine whether the complaint sets forth sufficient factual allegations to establish a claim for relief. When evaluating whether a plaintiff has [344]*344stated a claim, a court must determine whether the complaint satisfies Rule 8(a)(2), which requires “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief’ Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). To survive a Rule 12(b) motion, the complaint must contain enough factual matter (taken as true) to “raise [the] right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “[NJaked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement” will not satisfy Rule 8(a)(2)’s requirement of a short plain statement of the claim showing the pleader is entitled to relief. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955) (internal quotations omitted). A “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Id.

Thus, a plaintiff must plead “factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that defendant is liable for the conduct alleged.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. A mere possibility the defendant acted in contravention to the law will not suffice. Id. Although a court must accept all well pleaded facts as true, it is not required to accept legal conclusions, Sinaltrainal v. Coca-Cola Co., 578 F.3d 1252, 1260 (11th Cir.2009). A complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.

II. Standing

In the Motion to Dismiss, Defendant asserts Plaintiff lacks standing to bring an adversary proceeding objecting to his discharge. Pursuant to section 727(c)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, creditors have standing to object to the discharge of a debtor. Specifically, “[t]he trustee, a creditor, or the United States Trustee may object to the granting of a discharge....” 11 U.S.C. § 727(c)(1). Defendant argues that Plaintiff merely claims to be a creditor without indicating how or when his claim arose (Doc. 5 at 4). Defendant contends the Court must first determine whether the claim is an allowed claim under section 502(b)(1) of the Code prior to permitting Plaintiff to proceed on the Complaint.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
498 B.R. 340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matheny-v-maier-in-re-maier-flmb-2013.