Robertson v. Strickland (In Re Robertson)

333 B.R. 894, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 2210, 2005 WL 3086842
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 29, 2005
DocketBankruptcy No. 04-BK-01991-JAF. Adversary No. 04-277
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 333 B.R. 894 (Robertson v. Strickland (In Re Robertson)) 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
Robertson v. Strickland (In Re Robertson), 333 B.R. 894, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 2210, 2005 WL 3086842 (Fla. 2005).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

JERRY A. FUNK, Bankruptcy Judge.

This proceeding came before the Court upon an amended complaint filed by Evelyn R. Robertson (“Plaintiff’) alleging Darlene Strickland (“Defendant”) violated the chapter 7 discharge injunction, the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) (15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq.), the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 and the Florida usury law. The Court conducted a trial on April 19, 2005. In lieu of oral argument, the Court direct *898 ed the parties to submit memoranda in support of their respective positions. Upon the evidence and the arguments of the parties, the Court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Plaintiffs mortgagee obtained a final judgment of foreclosure and set the sale of Plaintiffs home for October 6, 2003. Plaintiff contacted Ronald Evans (“Mr.Evans”), a mortgage broker, to assist her with refinancing her home. Mr. Evans could not obtain refinancing for Plaintiff by means of a conventional loan before the foreclosure date. Mr. Evans asked Defendant, the owner of Premier Title Group, Inc., to provide a private loan to Plaintiff. Premier Title Group primarily provides title services, closing services, and title insurance for those seeking or providing mortgages. Defendant was not in the business of extending loans and in fact had not extended a private loan before extending the loan to Plaintiff.

On October 3, 2003 Mr. Evans and Plaintiff went to Defendant’s office to complete the transaction. Defendant did not attend the closing because of a prior engagement but she was represented. In preparation for the closing Defendant signed a Private Investor Disbursement dated October 3, 2003 and Plaintiff signed a Borrower Signature Authorization dated September 16, 2003. During the closing Plaintiff signed over her home to Defendant by signing a General Warranty Deed (“deed”) in favor of Defendant. Plaintiff signed the deed in exchange for a loan of $20,000.00 from Defendant. Defendant did not disclose to Plaintiff credit terms or rescission terms as required by the Truth and Lending Act (“TILA”) or the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (“HOEPA”) before or during the closing.

Defendant’s representative tendered Mr. Evans a check for $18,798.37. Mr. Evans promptly sent the check to Plaintiffs mortgage company and Plaintiff remained in possession of her home. The loan terms required Plaintiff to pay Defendant $20,000.00 within sixty days. Upon payment of the loan, Defendant would tender the deed to Plaintiff.

On October 7, 2003 Plaintiff signed a Mortgage Broker Contract, a Good Faith Estimate and a Residential Loan Application. The Good Faith Estimate lists the transaction costs for the loan as follows: 1) $300.00 for a loan discount; 2) $500.00 for the mortgage broker fee; 3) $266.63 for the closing or escrow fee; 4) $25.00 for recording fees; 5) $70.00 for the mortgage note stamps; and 6) $40.00 for the intangible tax. The transaction costs for the loan totaled $1,201.63. After the closing, Plaintiff paid the $500.00 brokerage fee directly to Mr. Evans without notifying Defendant, thereby reducing the debt Plaintiff owes Defendant to $19,500.00. 1

Mr. Evans intended to refinance Plaintiffs home in a relative’s name before the sixty days expired. However, the refinancing never occurred. On February 29, 2004 (the “Petition Date”) Plaintiff filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy relief. Plaintiff listed the $20,000.00 debt owed to Defendant as an unsecured claim. As of the Petition Date, the deed remained unrecorded in Defendant’s possession. Defendant did not participate in Plaintiffs chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding even though she knew Plaintiff filed for bankruptcy and knew she was listed as an unsecured creditor. On June 16, 2004 Plaintiff received her discharge.

*899 In the months following the loan transaction, Defendant demanded Plaintiff repay the loan. Plaintiff did not repay the loan. In fact Plaintiff did not tender any payments to Defendant. On August 19, 2004 Defendant recorded the deed to Plaintiffs home and instructed Plaintiff to vacate the home. On August 24, 2004 Plaintiff filed a complaint commencing this adversary proceeding.

On September 9, 2004 Plaintiff filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy relief. On December 30, 2004 Defendant filed a secured claim in Plaintiffs Chapter 13 case, which the clerk’s office designated as Claim 5. On February 15, 2005 Plaintiff filed an Objection to Claim 5. On February 18, 2005 Defendant filed a response. Based upon the similarity of issues, the Court combined the adversary proceeding with Plaintiffs Objection to Claim 5 in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. On August 25, 2005 the Court dismissed Plaintiffs Chapter 13 bankruptcy case based on Plaintiffs failure to make interim payments. Plaintiffs Objection to Claim 5 is therefore moot.

Plaintiff alleged in the amended complaint that Defendant’s actions: 1) violated the chapter 7 discharge injunction pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 524 and 727; 2) violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act because Defendant engaged in equity skimming; 3) violated TILA by failing to disclose specific terms of the loan as required by 15 U.S.C. § 1638; 4) violated HOEPA by failing to disclose specific terms of the loan as required by 15 U.S.C. § 1639; 5) extended her right to rescind the transaction pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1635; and 6) resulted in criminal usury pursuant to Florida Statute § 687.071.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Count I — Violation of the Discharge Injunction

Plaintiff concedes in her Post Trial Memorandum that Defendant holds a mortgage on her home. The parties agree the mortgage qualifies as a secured debt and the lien survives the chapter 7 discharge. Accordingly, the Court will enter judgment in favor of Defendant as to Count I of the amended complaint.

Count II — Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act Violation

The Court found insufficient evidence to support count II of Plaintiffs amended complaint after hearing the evidence presented at trial. Therefore, the Court will enter judgment in favor of Defendant as to Count II of the amended complaint.

Count III — TILA Disclosure Violations

In 1968 Congress enacted TILA in order to “assure a meaningful disclosure of credit terms so that the consumer will be able to compare more readily the various credit terms available to him and avoid the uninformed use of credit.” 15 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
333 B.R. 894, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 2210, 2005 WL 3086842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robertson-v-strickland-in-re-robertson-flmb-2005.