Mele v. Bank of America Home Loans (In re Mele)

486 B.R. 546
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJanuary 10, 2013
DocketBankruptcy No. 10-82567; Adversary No. 12-5031-BEM
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 486 B.R. 546 (Mele v. Bank of America Home Loans (In re Mele)) 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
Mele v. Bank of America Home Loans (In re Mele), 486 B.R. 546 (Ga. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BARBARA ELLIS-MONRO, Bankruptcy Judge.

A trial was held in this adversary proceeding on November 15, 2012. Plaintiff Connie Paulette Mele (“Plaintiff’) asserts that Bank of America Home Loans, N.A. (“Defendant”) violated the discharge injunction of 11 U.S.C. § 524 when it sent her certain correspondence and contacted her telephonically after entry of her Chapter 7 discharge. This is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I) and within this Court’s subject matter jurisdiction. [549]*549After carefully considering the pleadings, the evidence presented and the applicable authorities, the Court concludes that no violation of the discharge injunction occurred and enters the following findings of fact and conclusions of law in accordance with Fed. R. of Bankr.P. 7052.

1. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, case number 10-82567, on August 2, 2010 (the “Case”). Thereafter, Plaintiff converted the Case to one under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. (Doc. No. 13). The Chapter 7 Trustee filed a Report of No Distribution and on January 4, 2011, the Court entered an order discharging Plaintiff and closing the Case. (Doc. No. 35).

On December 23, 2011, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Reopen the Case (Doc. No. 41), and on January 17, 2012, Plaintiff filed this adversary proceeding. (Doc. No. 37). Plaintiffs original complaint was filed against Rubin, Lublin, Suarez, Suerrano LLC, Molly Sutter, U.S. Bank N.A., and Bank of America, N.A. After a hearing that began on January 19, 2012, and concluded on January 23, 2012, Judge Brizen-dine1 determined that Plaintiff could reopen the Case, but could only pursue “the portion of the complaint alleging a violation of the discharge injunction” against Defendant. (Main Case Doc. No. 43; AP Doc. No. 3). The Court dismissed all other defendants. (Main Case Doc. No. 43; AP Doc. No. 3). Thereafter, Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss (AP Doc. No. 40) that was denied on October 9, 2012. (AP Doc. No. 79).

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

Plaintiff filed bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure of her interest in her home and receive a “fresh start.” Plaintiff was not current on her mortgage when she filed the Case but she wanted to retain her home, which she thought she could do by converting the Case to Chapter 7. At the time she filed bankruptcy, Plaintiff had made only three, mortgage payments. Plaintiff did not reaffirm the debt secured by her home during the course of the bankruptcy. Plaintiff continues to reside at the property which is the subject of the mortgage held by Defendant2, and has not made any payments on the mortgage since she filed bankruptcy in August, 2010. Plaintiff does not believe that any money is owed for the property because of her discharge and/or some imperfection in Defendant’s rights so that foreclosure “wasn’t right” in her case. The loan secured by Plaintiffs house is fully insured by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”). FHA rules require that certain information be provided to borrowers prior to FHA insured loans entering foreclosure.

[550]*550The internal call log, which captures all calls made by and to Defendant, shows that Defendant did not make any telephone calls to the Plaintiff after August 2, 2010, but that Plaintiff called Defendant six times on November 8, 2011, and November 14, 2011. (Defendant’s Exhibit 17). Plaintiff made these calls to Defendant to investigate a foreclosure notice Plaintiff had received.

Defendant did send Plaintiff fifteen letters or forms after entry of her discharge. All correspondence identified by Plaintiff3 was sent to Plaintiff, by name, at the property address during the period of January 28, 2011 through June 21, 2012. Five of the fifteen pieces of correspondence provided information required by FHA rules.

The correspondence can be divided into four general types: (1) informational, (2) FHA information, (3) responses, and (4) statements. Each type of correspondence is discussed below.

(1) Informational

Plaintiff received four informational forms from Defendant. The first is dated March 13, 2011. (Defendant’s Exhibit 2). The form is titled, “FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES” and is in bold and capitalized. The first two sentences of the letter thank the recipient for being a “valued customer” and state that “[w]e would like to make you aware of important home loan fee information and required fee disclosures.” There is a second bold capitalized heading that states, “FEES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIAL SERVICES AND LOAN PAYOFF” followed by the sentence, “The following fees are the maximum fees that may apply if you request certain special services regarding your mortgage or home equity loan.” The form then details the fees for sending a verification of a mortgage, a faxed payoff statement and an expedited payoff service. The letter further details fees that may be incurred when paying off or refinancing a loan.

The second informational form is not dated but provides information regarding a change in the servicer for Plaintiffs loan effective on July 1, 2011. (Defendant’s Exhibit 3). The first line of the form is capitalized and in bold and states “IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR LOAN.” The form then states, “[w]e want to let you know that effective July 1, 2011, the servicing of home loans by our subsidiary — BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP, will transfer to our parent company — Bank of America, N.A.” The letter next states, again in bold capital letters, “WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU,” and describes to whom checks should be made payable after July 1, 2011, that Defendant will notify insurance carriers of the change in servi-cer and that no changes will be made to the loan account number or the terms of the loan. On the second page of the form in a section titled “Legal Notices,” the form advises the recipient that a “RESPA Servicing Transfer Notice and Notice to borrowers who are debtors in a current bankruptcy proceeding or approved bankruptcy plan” are included with the letter. The enclosures include a page titled, in bold capital letters, “IMPORTANT NOTICE TO BORROWERS WHO ARE DEBTORS IN A CURRENT BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING OR WHO HAVE RECEIVED A DISCHARGE CONCERNING THEIR HOME LOAN.” On this page a paragraph entitled “[w]e are aware of your bankruptcy rights” [551]*551states, “[t]his package of information, including any legally required notices, is to inform you about the transfer of the servicing of your mortgage loan.... If you are currently in a bankruptcy proceeding, or have received a discharge of the home loan debt, this package of information is for informational purposes only. This package of infoimation is not intended as an action to recover or enforce a claim, nor a demand for the payment of a debt....”

The third informational form is also undated and states, in bold capital letters, “IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR HOME LOAN.” (Defendant’s Exhibit 4). The form states, “[w]e recently notified you that effective July 1, 2011, the servicing of your home loan account noted above transferred from our subsidiary— BAC home Loans Servicing, LP, to our parent company, Bank of America, N.A. Based upon our records ... the ownership of your home loan account also transferred .... ” (emphasis in original).

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Bluebook (online)
486 B.R. 546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mele-v-bank-of-america-home-loans-in-re-mele-ganb-2013.