Ortiz v. US Department of Education (In re Ortiz)

544 B.R. 414
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJanuary 29, 2016
DocketCase No. 11-45842-659; Adversary No. 15-4050-659
StatusPublished

This text of 544 B.R. 414 (Ortiz v. US Department of Education (In re Ortiz)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ortiz v. US Department of Education (In re Ortiz), 544 B.R. 414 (Mo. 2016).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

KATHY A. SURRATT-STATES, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge

The matter before the Court is Plaintiffs Complaint to Determine Discharge-ability of Student Loan Debt, U.S. Department of Education’s Answer to Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Student Loan Debt, Navient Solutions, Inc.’s Answer to Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Student Loan Debt, and Education Credit Management Corporation’s Answer to Plaintiffs Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Student Loan Debt. A trial was held on October 6, 2015, at which Plaintiff appeared in person and by counsel and all three Defendants appeared by counsel. The matter was taken under submission. Upon consideration of the record as a whole, the Court issues the following FINDINGS OF FACT:

Belinda Gale Ortiz (hereinafter “Debt- or”) filed for relief under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on June 2, 2011, received a discharge on August 4, 2014, and her case was closed on September 8, 2014, Debtor filed a Motion to Reopen her Chapter 13 case on February 13, 2015 and on February 23, 2015, the Motion to Reopen was granted. On March 6, 2015, Debtor filed this adversary complaint against Defendants U.S. Department of Education (hereinafter “Department of Education”), Navient Solutions, Inc. (hereinafter “Navient”), and Education Credit Management Corporation (hereinafter “ECMC”) seeking to discharge her student loans under Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code. Debtor is 56 years old. She is single and has no minor dependents, although her 20 year-old son resides in her home. Debtor also has Hepatitis C, but her condition is stable and does not appear to affect her ability to gain or maintain employment.

Debtor’s relevant educational history begins on June 1,1990 when she received her General Equivalency Diploma (GED). From the 1990’s to the early 2000’s, Debt- or testified to working at various jobs such as a customer service representative, a receptionist, and then as an administrative assistant. After her employment termination by AIMCO in mid-2004, Debtor sought to increase her earning potential by pursuing higher education. During the summer of 2004, Debtor began her college studies at St. Louis Community College at Meramec (hereinafter “SLCC”) in a prebaccalaureate program. On July 29, 2008, [416]*416Debtor was granted an Associate degree from SLCC with a 2.81 cumulative-grade-point average. In January 2009, Debtor began classes at the University of Missouri at St. Louis (hereinafter “UMSL”); however, due to the length of time it would take to complete her bachelors degree at UMSL, Debtor decided to continue her education elsewhere. In May 2012, Debt- or completed a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in business administration and a minor in management at the St. Louis Campus of Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri (hereinafter “Columbia”). The student loans used to finance her education are the subject of this adversary proceeding.

On October 1, 2015, Debtor and Defendants in the above captioned case, filed a Joint Stipulation of Uncontested Facts which states that Debtor is indebted to the Department of Education in the amount of $57,668.88 ($53, 681.42 in principal and $3,987.46 in interest). To date, Debtor has paid $913.00 to the Department of Education which was applied to the interest on said loans.

In addition, the parties have stipulated that Debtor is indebted to Navient for an unpaid balance of $40,189.09 pursuant to the terms of four education loans with the following balances:

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Furthermore, the parties have stipulated that Debtor is indebted to ECMC with respect to four loans documented in two promissory notes. Debtor executed the first Federal Family Education Loan Program (hereinafter “FFELP”) Federal Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note on June 21, 2006. On July 23, 2007, Debtor executed a second FFELP Federal Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note. The ECMC Student Loans were disbursed on or about the following dates in the following original amounts and have the current balances and terms:

[417]*417Loan Date Loan Type Original Loan Amount Disbursed Balance as of 9/24/2015 Interest Rate Per Diem Interest 8/17/2006 FFELP Subsidized $3,500.00 $4,328.77 6.8% fixed $0.78 8/17/2006 FFELP Unsubsidized $4,000.00 $4,730.36 6.8% fixed $0.85 08/09/2007 FFELP Subsidized $4,500.00 $5,605.32 6.8% fixed $1.01 08/09/2007 FFELP Unsubsidized $4,000.00 $4,982.60 6.8% fixed $0.90 TOTAL $19,647.05 $3.551

On Debtor’s 2013 state and federal tax returns, Debtor reported wages of $36,166.00 and on Debtor’s 2014 state and federal tax returns, Debtor reported wages in the amount of $54,921.00. Debtor earned $27,045.39 between January 1, 2015 to May 31, 2015, and contributed $880.88 to her 401(k) retirement plan. Debtor’s most recent employment with Hiab USA, Inc. was terminated on August 18, 2015. Currently, Debtor’s only income source is her unemployment benefits which she receives monthly. Debtor’s total unemployment compensation is $1,386.67 as stated in her Amended Schedule I, filed September 28, 2015.

Debtor’s expenses are reported as the following pursuant to Debtor’s Amended Schedule J, filed September 28, 2015 and Joint Stipulation of Uncontested Facts, filed October 1,2015:

[418]*418[[Image here]]

Debtor and her 20-year-old son live in a two bedroom rental house. Debtor testified that she chose to rent this particular home based on the school district for her then dependent son. Now that her son is over the age of maturity, Debtor has testified that the location of her home is no longer a limiting factor. Debtor testified that in addition to her personal food and housekeeping expenses, she also pays for her son’s food and housekeeping expenses, which Debtor testified will end as her son is now working full-time and plans on leaving the home. Furthermore, Debtor testified that she subscribes to satellite television, a cellular phone with a data plan for herself and her son, internet service, and a land-line home phone. Debtor testified that her son contributes $20.00 per month towards the cellular phone plah service.

Debtor argues that because she is unable to obtain a job using her college degree, she is unable to maintain an income sufficient to make reasonable payments towards her student loan debt. Debtor argues that she has many barriers to obtaining employment requiring a bachelors degree such as multiple terminations, lengthy unemployment gaps, and the length of time that it took Debtor to complete her bachelors degree. Debtor is currently unemployed, receiving unemployment benefits as her only source of income. Defendants argue that Debtor is not suffering an undue hardship on the basis of economic insufficiency. Defendants assert that albeit unemployed, Debt- or has maintained an increase in salary year-over-year and has the present ability to repay her student loans.

JURISDICTION

This Court has jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 151, 157, and 1334 (2015) and 81-9.01(B) of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

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Bluebook (online)
544 B.R. 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ortiz-v-us-department-of-education-in-re-ortiz-moeb-2016.