Tow v. Henley (In re Henley)

480 B.R. 708
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 28, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 11-33438; Adversary No. 11-03453
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 480 B.R. 708 (Tow v. Henley (In re Henley)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tow v. Henley (In re Henley), 480 B.R. 708 (Tex. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING: (1) PLAINTIFFS’ OBJECTION TO DISCHARGE UNDER 11 U.S.C. § 727(a); and (2) DEFENDANTS’ COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST PLAINTIFFS, JERRY CAROOM AND MARY CAROOM PURSUANT TO 11 U.S.C. § 362(k)

[Adv. Docket Nos. 1 & 10]

JEFF BOHM, Chief Judge.

I. Introduction

It would be a gross understatement to characterize the dispute in this adversary proceeding as acrimonious. The Plaintiffs, [718]*718who are the Chapter 7 Trustee and the two largest creditors in the main case, assert that the Defendants, who are the Debtors, committed numerous fraudulent acts, and therefore should not receive their discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)1 (the § 727 Action). The Debtors vehemently deny that they have done anything to justify the denial of their discharge; and, as counter-plaintiffs, contend that the two creditors orchestrated their arrest by a swat team, thereby violating the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(k) (the § 362 Action).

The Court has decided to issue this Memorandum Opinion for three reasons. First, all too frequently this Court hears debtors blame their attorneys when challenges are made to the accuracy of the debtors’ Schedules and Statements of Financial Affairs. In this particular suit, the Debtors do exactly that. In issuing this opinion, the Court wants to emphasize the following tenet: the more time a debtor’s counsel spends personally meeting with the debtor, the more difficult it will be for the debtor to escape responsibility by pointing the finger at counsel.

Second, the Court issues this opinion to highlight the need for debtor’s counsel to give notice of the bankruptcy filing — both oral and -written — to any known creditors’ counsel as soon as the petition is filed. Failure to give immediate notice can result in harsh consequences to debtors whose creditors are willing to aggressively seek and collect the debts owed to them. That is exactly what happened here. The creditors and their attorney, not having received timely and sufficient notice of the filing of the Debtors’ petition, took no action to stop the enforcement of an arrest warrant that was issued in the wake of a civil court in Arkansas holding the Debtors in contempt.

Finally, this Court publishes this opinion to alert the bar of its position on an issue about which there is split authority. Specifically, some courts have held that creditors who assist the appropriate officials in taking criminal action against debtors in order to collect debts owed to them are in violation of the automatic stay. See In re Dovell, 311 B.R. 492, 494 (Bankr.S.D.Ohio 2004). Other courts have held that regardless of whether a creditor assists in a criminal matter concerning the debtor, there is no violation of the stay. See In re Bartel, 404 B.R. 584, 590 (1st Cir. BAP 2009). This Court adopts the latter position.

Based upon the entire record, the Court now makes the following written findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 52, as incorporated into adversary proceedings by Fed. R. BanKR.P. 7052.2 For the reasons set forth herein, the relief which the Plaintiffs seek is granted: the Debtors’ discharge will be denied; and the relief which the Debtors seek is denied in its entirety: no damages will be awarded to them because the creditors did not violate the automatic stay.

II. Findings op Fact

1. David and Belinda Henley are the debtors in this Chapter 7 case (the Debt[719]*719ors). Belinda Henley (Ms. Henley) is a licensed general contractor specializing in construction and. interior design. [June 14, 2012 Tr. 52:4-18]. She is licensed by the American Society of Quality Control, is recognized as a quality engineer by the American Society of Quality Control, and obtained a degree in industrial management with an emphasis in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. [M]. Moreover, Ms. Henley has purchased between six and eight properties during her adult life. [Id. at 52:23-53:12], David Henley (Mr. Henley) holds a degree in business from Southern Arkansas State University. [Id. at 87:21-23].

2. The Debtors owned Henley Design & Construction, Incorporated (HDC, Inc.), a construction and design company in Hot Springs, Arkansas. [Tape Recording, 6/11/2012 Trial at 11:13:54-11:14:04 a.m.]; [Tape Recording, 6/27/2012 Trial at 6:51:00-6:52:13 p.m.]. They also owned Aqua-Lock Waterproofing, Inc. (Aqua-Lock). [June 14, 2012 Tr. 98:25-99:9]; [Caroom/Trustee Ex. No. 7].

3. Ms. Henley also operated an interior design business under the name of Henley Design. [Tape Recording, 6/27/2012 Trial at 6:23:00-6:23:13 p.m.]. Ms. Henley also claimed to own a jewelry design company. [Tape Recording, 6/27/12 Trial at 6:30:59-6:31:26 p.m.]. Mr. Henley also claimed to be in the business of buying old cars, repairing, and selling them.3 [June 15, 2012 Tr. 42:21-25],

4. In December 2007, Jim Henley, Mr. Henley’s brother, signed and recorded a quitclaim deed conveying residential property located at 3035 Marion Anderson Road (the Anderson Property) to the Debtors.4 [June 14, 2012 Tr. 58:8-11]; [Caroom/Trustee Ex.-No. 8, at 1-2].

5. On June 26, 2009, the Debtors submitted an asset/liability sheet (the Financial Statement) to Diamond Bank in which the Debtors listed the Anderson Property as their homestead. [June 14, 2012 Tr. 59:10-62:23]; [Caroom/Trustee Ex. No. 7, at 1], To obtain a loan from Diamond Bank, the Debtors included the Anderson Property on the Financial Statement. [June 14, 2012 Tr. 62:19-23].

6. Jim Henley deeded the Anderson Property to the Debtors on the condition that they obtain financing to buy the Anderson Property from Diamond Bank. [Tape Recording, 6/14/2012 Trial at 10:46:16-10:48:49 a.m.]. On June 19, 2009, the Debtors submitted a loan application to Diamond Bank, not to obtain financing for the purchase of the Anderson Property, but to gain financing to buy other real property. See [Caroom/Trustee Ex. No. 24]. The loan application was for $79,000.00. [M]. In that loan application, the Debtors purported to already own the Anderson Property — they checked the box marked “OWN” in the section next to the address query. [Caroom/Trustee Ex. No. 24].

[720]*7207. The Debtors lived on the Anderson Property from the spring of 2004 to June of 2010. [June 14, 2012 Tr. 63:5-10]. While living.on the Anderson Property, the Debtors made monthly payments to Jim Henley in the amount of $1,710.09 — the exact amount of the monthly payment under the note for which Jim Henley is liable; this note is secured by a mortgage on the Anderson Property. [Id. at 57:19-58:7]; [Debtors’ Ex. No. 96].

8. The Financial Statement included the balance sheet for Aqua-Lock. [June 14, 2012 Tr. 98:25-99:9]; [Caroom/Trustee Ex. No. 7]. As of May 31, 2009, the Financial Statement showed Aqua-Lock’s total value to be $548,685.00. [Caroom/Trustee Ex. No. 7, at 3].

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