McLean v. Greenpoint Credit LLC

515 B.R. 841, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117900, 2014 WL 4207629
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedAugust 25, 2014
DocketNo. 1:13-CV-925-WKW
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 515 B.R. 841 (McLean v. Greenpoint Credit LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McLean v. Greenpoint Credit LLC, 515 B.R. 841, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117900, 2014 WL 4207629 (M.D. Ala. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

W. KEITH WATKINS, Chief Judge.

Greenpoint Credit LLC and Green Tree Servicing, LLC (“Green Tree”) appeal the memorandum and order (Doc. #2-7) of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama in an Adversary Proceeding (No. 13-1008). The Bankruptcy Court found in favor of the plaintiffs, Eric Allen and Deborah Dianne McLean (“the McLeans”). Specifically, the Bankruptcy Court found that Green Tree had willfully violated the discharge injunction in the McLeans’ earlier bankruptcy proceeding. It awarded actual damages in the amount of $25,000.00, attorney’s fees (that, according to the parties’ briefs, were later determined to be in the amount of $18,355.16), and a sanction in the amount of $50,000.00. For the reasons to follow, the Bankruptcy Court’s order is due to be affirmed.

I.JURISDICTION AND VENUE

This court has jurisdiction to hear appeals from orders of the Bankruptcy Court. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). Venue is proper because an appeal “shall be taken only to the district court for the judicial district in which the bankruptcy judge is serving.” Id.

II.STANDARD OF REVIEW

A bankruptcy court’s findings of fact are reviewed for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo. Educ. Credit Mgmt. v. Mosley (In re Mosley), 494 F.3d 1320, 1324 (11th Cir.2007). A finding of fact “is clearly erroneous when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, N.C., 470 U.S. 564, 573, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985) (citation, internal quotation marks, and alterations omitted).

III.BACKGROUND

The parties do not dispute the Bankruptcy Court’s findings of facts or the procedural posture this case. They are briefly summarized here and discussed where necessary in the opinion.

The McLeans filed a voluntary Chapter 13 petition in 2006. Green Tree was an unsecured creditor for a deficiency balance of $11,018.00 owed on a sales contract for a mobile home. The Chapter 13 case was ultimately converted to a Chapter 7. The McLeans received a Discharge Order on January 6, 2009, and the Order t was sent to all creditors, including Green Tree. The McLeans filed a second Chapter 13 on June 18, 2012. On August 16, 2012, Green Tree filed a proof of claim in the 2012 bankruptcy seeking payment for the same deficiency balance owed on the mobile home sales contract that was the subject of Green Tree’s claim in the 2006 bankruptcy. Green Tree took no further action with respect to the discharged debt after filing the proof of claim. The McLeans filed an objection to the Green Tree claim on De[845]*845cember 13, 2012, due to the previous discharge of the debt. They initiated the adversary proceeding that is the basis of this appeal on January 7, 2013, seeking actual damages for emotional distress, legal fees, and punitive damages. Green Tree then moved to withdraw the claim on January 11, 2013. The Bankruptcy Court sustained the McLean’s objection on January 16, 2013.

The Bankruptcy Court held the trial in the adversary proceeding on October 15, 2013, and heard testimony from the Mc-Leans and Mr. Dalpiaz, a representative of Green Tree. Mr. McLean testified that he is a disabled veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) related to an injury sustained during his military service. His PTSD symptoms are treated with medication, but they worsen during what he calls his “anniversary period” in the fall and early winter of each year. After Green Tree filed its claim on the discharged debt in the current bankruptcy, Mr. McLean received notice from the Bankruptcy Court’s clerk’s office, who informed him that his monthly payment under the chapter 13 plan would increase. Mr. McLean testified that the monthly payment would nearly double, meaning it “would make him unable to complete the chapter 13 plan, and expose his family to creditors and the loss of their home and possessions.” (Doc. # 2-7, at 3.) This realization caused stress that exacerbated his symptoms for a few months. Mrs. McLean also testified about her husband’s symptoms and the stress she incurred due to worrying about her husband’s mental state.

The Green Tree representative testified that Green Tree had notice of the Discharge Order in the 2006 bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Court found that:

Green Tree was unsure how the filing of the 2012 claim occurred in light of the existing discharge injunction. Dalpiaz testified to Green Tree’s internal procedures for complying with discharge injunctions, as well as their procedures for initiating debt collection upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition. He further testified that although the McLeans’ internal file contained some notations that might have flagged it as a discharged debt, recent software changes had made the notations unreadable.

(Doc. # 2-7, at 3-4.) Green Tree emphasizes in briefing that filing the claim in 2012 was a computer error.

IV. DISCUSSION

Green Tree raises nine issues, but the gist of Green Tree’s appeal is a complete denial of liability and damages. The Mc-Leans respond to each issue. The court addresses the main arguments below.

A. Willfully Filing a Proof of Claim Violates the Discharge Injunction.
1. Filing a proof of claim is an act to collect.

Green Tree asserts that, as a matter of law, the mere filing of the proof of claim is not an act that would violate the discharge injunction. Green Tree’s position, however, is not supported by the express language of section 524(a)(2), its legislative history, or analogous case law.

The court first examines the statutory language of the discharge injunction. A discharge in bankruptcy “operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action, the employment of process, or an act, to collect, recover or offset any such debt as a personal liability of the debtor.” 11 U.S.C. § 524(a)(2). This discharge injunction is a permanent injunction against the enforcement of all discharged debts. United States v. White, 466 F.3d 1241, 1246 (11th Cir.2006). The [846]*846plain language of section 524(a)(2) is expansive. It clearly prohibits all acts, whether they involve a legal proceeding or not, to get the debt that was discharged in bankruptcy from the debtors.

To the extent the section 542(a)(2)’s language is ambiguous, the legislative history confirms the court’s interpretation of the language of the discharge injunction: “The injunction is to give complete effect to the discharge and to eliminate any doubt concerning the effect of the discharge as a total prohibition on debt collection efforts. This paragraph has been expanded ... and is intended to insure that once a debt is discharged, the debtor will not be pressured in any way to repay it.

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

Related

Todt v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (In re Todt)
2017 BNH 007 (D. New Hampshire, 2017)
Green Point Credit, LLC v. McLean (In Re McLean)
794 F.3d 1313 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)
Maddox v. Capital One, N.A. (In re Maddox)
530 B.R. 889 (M.D. Alabama, 2015)
Critten v. Quantum3 Group, LLC (In re Critten)
528 B.R. 835 (M.D. Alabama, 2015)
In re Luzier
580 B.R. 725 (N.D. Ohio, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
515 B.R. 841, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117900, 2014 WL 4207629, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mclean-v-greenpoint-credit-llc-almd-2014.