Moore v. Comenity Capital Bank (In re Moore)

521 B.R. 280, 72 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 704, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 4145
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 29, 2014
DocketBankruptcy No. 13-11325; Adversary No. 14-1011
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 521 B.R. 280 (Moore v. Comenity Capital Bank (In re Moore)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Comenity Capital Bank (In re Moore), 521 B.R. 280, 72 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 704, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 4145 (Tenn. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

SHELLY D. RUCKER, Bankruptcy Judge.

Defendant Comenity Capital Bank (“Bank”) and its agent, Quantum3 Group LLC (“Quantum3”), (collectively “Defendants”) move to dismiss this adversary proceeding. [Doc. No. 8].1 Plaintiff debtor [282]*282James Moore (“Plaintiff’ or “Debtor”) opposes the motion. [Doe. Nos. 20, 21]. The Debtor’s complaint asserts a claim for violation of 11 U.S.C. § 1328(c) and asks that this court declare the Defendants in contempt for willful violation of the court’s discharge order entered in the Debtor’s prior bankruptcy case, Bankr. Case No. 06-11736. [Doc. No. 1, Complaint]. The Debtor also alleges that the Defendants’ business practices constitute a repetitive abuse of process under 11 U.S.C. § 105. The Debtor seeks a finding of contempt, reimbursement of attorney’s fees, $15,000 in compensatory damages and $45,000 in punitive damages.

The court has reviewed the briefing filed by the Defendants and the Debtor, the pleadings at issue, and the applicable law and makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7052. For the reasons explained infra, the court concludes that the Defendants’ motion to dismiss will be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The Plaintiffs claim of contempt will be dismissed without prejudice, and leave will be granted to the Plaintiff to file a motion for contempt in the main bankruptcy ease. The court declines to dismiss the Plaintiffs abuse of process claim.

I. Background

The Debtor filed his Chapter 13 voluntary petition in bankruptcy on March 18, 2013. [Bankr. Case No. 13-11325, Doc. No. 1]. He had previously filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case in which he had listed an account debt owed to “Blair” for an account ending in numbers 6406. [Bankr. Case No. 06-11736, Doc. No. 1, p. 14]. An order of discharge was entered on August 29, 2011 in the Debtor’s prior bankruptcy case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a). [Bankr. Case No. 06-11736, Doc. No. 53]. When the Debtor filed the 2013 Chapter 13 case, neither “Blair” nor any unsecured debt identified with an account number ending in 6406 was listed on Schedule F. [Bankr. Case No. 13-11325, Doc. No. 21], The Bank, through its agent Quantum3, filed Proof of Claim No. 2 on April 22, 2013 in the amount of $654.07 for what appears to be the discharged, unsecured debt. [Bankr. Case No. 13-11325, Claim No. 2-1]. The proof of claim form listed the number by which the account could be identified as ending in 6406 and noted that the Debtor may have scheduled the account as “Blair.” The court entered an order confirming the Debtor’s Chapter 13 plan on August 26, 2013. [Bankr. Case No. 13-11325, Doc. No. 69]. The Debtor filed this Complaint on February 12, 2014, alleging that the filing of a proof of claim for a previously discharged debt is a violation of the discharge injunction under 11 U.S.C. § 524. [Doc. No. 1, Complaint].

The Debtor argues that these creditors have a business practice of using personal identifying information to file unenforceable claims such as Claim No. 2 in this case. Complaint, ¶¶ 11, 12. From that pattern, the Debtor contends that the Defendants are abusing the bankruptcy process and should be subject to sanctions and damages for their conduct pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 105.

The Defendants contend that no private right of action exists for violation of the discharge injunction, and that even if such a private right of action did exist, the filing of a proof of claim relating to a debt discharged in a prior bankruptcy case is not a violation'of the discharge injunction as a matter of law.

II. Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7012(b) states that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) applies to adversary proceedings. See Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7012(b). [283]*283Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) allows a party to move to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). In reviewing a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a court must “treat as true all of the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint.” Bower v. Federal Express Corp., 96 F.3d 200, 203 (6th Cir.1996). In addition, a court must construe all allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Bower, 96 F.3d at 203 (citing Sinay v. Lamson & Sessions, 948 F.2d 1037, 1039 (6th Cir.1991)).

The Supreme Court has explained “an accepted pleading standard” that “once a claim has been stated adequately, it may be supported by showing any set of facts consistent with the allegations in the complaint.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1969, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The complaint “must contain either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements to sustain a recovery under some viable legal theory.” Allard v. Weitzman (In re DeLorean Motor Co.), 991 F.2d 1236, 1240 (6th Cir.1993) (emphasis in original). The court will thus review the motion to dismiss by assuming the facts are as alleged by the Debtor. It will further consider whether any set of facts may exist, based on the allegations in the Complaint, that support the Plaintiffs legal claims sufficient to deny the motion to dismiss.

III. Issues

The first issue before the court is whether filing a proof of claim for a discharged debt can be a violation of the injunction imposed by 11 U.S.C. § 524(a)(2). If the act of filing a proof of claim to receive a distribution on account of a discharged debt is not a violation of the discharge injunction as a matter of law, then the filing of such claims, regardless of the number of times such claims are filed, cannot be an abuse of the bankruptcy process. But if such filings do violate the discharge injunction, then the intentional filing of such a proof of claim would be an act of contempt.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
521 B.R. 280, 72 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 704, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 4145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-comenity-capital-bank-in-re-moore-tneb-2014.