Ross v. AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union

530 B.R. 277, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59779, 2015 WL 2126987
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 7, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 15-00197; Bankruptcy No. 14-16866
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 530 B.R. 277 (Ross v. AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ross v. AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union, 530 B.R. 277, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59779, 2015 WL 2126987 (E.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

PAPPERT, District Judge.

Debtor/Appellant Raymond Ross (“Ross”) sought to voluntarily dismiss his Chapter 13 bankruptcy case after Appellee AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union (“Am-eriChoice”) moved to dismiss Ross’ case or convert it to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The day after Ross filed his motion, the Bankruptcy Court granted AmeriChoice’s motion, dismissed Ross’ case with prejudice, and enjoined Ross from filing a subsequent bankruptcy petition without the permission of the Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Court did not issue a written opinion, but specified that its reasons for granting AmeriChoice’s motion were stated in open court. Ross appeals to this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a), which gives district courts jurisdiction to hear appeals of final judgments, orders, and decrees of the bankruptcy courts.1

[280]*280Ross contends that the Bankruptcy Court erred in several respects. He first argues that the Bankruptcy Court erred in considering and granting AmeriChoice’s motion given the pendency of Ross’ own motion to voluntarily dismiss. He further argues that the Bankruptcy Court' erred in dismissing his case with prejudice and enjoining him from future filings. Finally, he argues that the Bankruptcy Court erred in not issuing a written opinion, findings of fact, or conclusions of law and stating in the order that a hearing was held on AmeriChoice’s motion even though no such hearing took place.

The Court affirms the' Bankruptcy Court’s order. Although the Bankruptcy Court erred in considering and granting AmeriChoice’s motion in the face of Ross’ motion to voluntarily dismiss, that error is harmless. Ross’ remaining arguments are without merit. The Bankruptcy Court was well within its discretion to dismiss Ross’ case with prejudice and enjoin him from future filings. Likewise, the Bankruptcy Court did not err in basing its decision on reasons stated in open court rather than issuing a written opinion. Finally, any error that may have occurred with regard to whether a hearing took place on Ameri-Choice’s motion is harmless.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

During the relevant time period, Ross owned and resided at a property located in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania (the “Property”). (See Appellant’s Br. at 7, Doc. No. 4.) AmeriChoice held a mortgage on the Property. (See id. at 9.) On May 23, 2012, AmeriChoice filed a mortgage foreclosure complaint against Ross and his wife Sandra Dixon-Ross in state court.2 (Id.) Am-eriChoice alléged that Ross and his wife were in default and owed a principal amount of $111,587. (Id.) The state court entered a default judgment in favor of AmeriChoice on June 4, 2013, and Ameri-Choice eventually scheduled a sheriffs sale of the Property for October 30, 2013. (Id.; Appellee’s Br. at 7, Doc. No. 6.)

Ross filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition the day before the scheduled sheriffs sale, thereby delaying that sale under the automatic stay provision of the Bankruptcy Code. (See Appellant’s Br. at 10.) Attorney Anthony Frigo initially represented Ross. (Id.) Several months after the petition was filed, however, Ross replaced Fri-go with attorney James Kutkowski. (Id. at 12.) '"Shortly after Kutkowski entered his appearance, the trustee filed a motion to dismiss the case. (Id. at 13.) The Bankruptcy Court granted the trustee’s motion on April 23, 2014. (Id.) Ross then filed- a pro se motion for relief from the order dismissing the case. (Id.) After the Bankruptcy Court held a hearing on Ross’ motion, Ross agreed to withdraw it based on a payment agreement he had come to with AmeriChoice. (Id.)

Proceedings continued in state court. AmeriChoice eventually rescheduled the sheriffs sale of the Property for August 27, 2014. (Appellee’s Br. at 7.) Ross submitted a number of filings in state court to avoid the sale. These filings were unsuccessful. Ross then filed a second Chapter 13 petition on the day the sale was scheduled, again delaying it under the automatic stay provision. (Chap. 13 Voluntary Pet., [281]*281Bankr.Doe. No. 1.) Ross, who filed the second petition pro se, failed to include a Chapter 13 plan and certain required statements and schedules with his petition. The Bankruptcy Court ordered Ross to file the missing documents within 14 days or risk having his case dismissed without additional notice or hearing. (Order dtd. Aug. 27, 2014, Bankr.Doc. No. 7.) The day before these documents were due, Ross moved for an extension of time, stating among other things that he had been unable to recover necessary documents from his former attorneys. (Mot. to Extend Time, Bankr.Doc. No. 10.) He later filed two amended motions for extension of time, both of which the Bankruptcy Court granted, giving Ross nearly an additional six weeks to file the necessary documents. (Am. Mots, to Extend Time, Bankr.Doc. Nos. 13, 22; Orders Granting Mots, to Extend Time, Bankr.Doc. Nos. 18, 24.)

In the interim, AmeriChoice filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay. (Mot. for Relief from Stay, Bankr.Doc. No. 16.) Ross opposed this motion. (Resp. in Opp’n, Bankr.Doc. No. 23.) The Bankruptcy Court heard oral argument on the motion. (Hr’g on Mot. for Relief from Stay, Bankr.Doc. No. 28.) At the hearing, AmeriChoice argued that Ross had filed his petition in bad faith to frustrate the sheriffs sale. (Hr’g. Tr. 8:21-9:7, Bankr. Doc. No. 31,) After the hearing, the Bankruptcy Court modified the automatic stay so that AmeriChoice could foreclose on its mortgage and proceed with the sheriff s sale. (Order Granting Mot. for Relief from Stay, Bankr.Doc. No. 29.)

One month after the Bankruptcy Court modified the automatic stay, AmeriChoice moved to havei the case'dismissed or converted to a Chapter 7 proceeding pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1307(c)3. (Mot. to Convert, Bankr.Doc. No. 41.) Once again, Ameri-Choice argued that Ross had filed his pétition in bad faith on the eve of a sheriffs sale and had engaged in post-filing bad faith conduct intended to delay the ultimate resolution of the case. (Id.) Ross filed a response in opposition to Ameri-Choice’s motion, simply denying Ameri-Choice’s allegations. (Resp.' in Opp’n to Mot. to Convert, Bankr.Doc. No. 47.) The Bankruptcy Court scheduled a hearing on this motion for December 17, 2014. Ross asked the Bankruptcy Court to postpone the hearing, but the Bankruptcy Court denied his request. (Mot. to Reschedule Hr’g., Bankr.Doc. No. 46; Order Denying Mot. to Reschedule Hr’g., Bankr.Doc. No. 50.)

The day before the hearing, Ross filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1307(b)4. (Mot. to Dismiss, Bankr.Doc. No. 55.) The following day, however, the Bankruptcy Court issued a final order granting Ameri-Choice’s motion, dismissing Ross’ case with prejudice, and enjoining Ross from filing another bankruptcy case without express permission from the Bankruptcy Court.5 (Order Dismissing Case with [282]*282Prejudice, Bankr.Doc. No. 53.) Ross then filed a timely notice of appeal of this final order. (Notice of Appeal, Bankr.Doc. No. 58.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
530 B.R. 277, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59779, 2015 WL 2126987, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-v-americhoice-federal-credit-union-paed-2015.