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northern district of indiana

Freeland v. Edison Corp. (In re Consol. Indus. Corp.)

Ruling
Bankruptcy court properly avoided $30 million in dividend notes held by corporate debtor's parent.
Procedural posture

A corporate debtor filed an adversary proceeding against defendants, its corporate parent, a holding company, and five persons. The bankruptcy trustee was thereafter substituted as plaintiff. The parent appealed after the bankruptcy court entered a judgment against it. Although the bankruptcy court proposed to enter judgment in their favor, remaining defendants filed objections to its findings and holdings pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9033.

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opinion summary, case decided on October 31, 2006 , LexisNexis #1206-095

Boyer v. Gildea

Ruling
Rent payments were ordinary business expenses.
Procedural posture

Plaintiff bankruptcy trustee filed a complaint consisting of five claims that arose out of the bankruptcy of a debtor company. The primary defendant, the debtor's president and sole equity owner, filed a motion for summary judgment on all claims.

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opinion summary, case decided on October 05, 2006 , LexisNexis #1106-063

In re Hargrove

Ruling
Case dismissed without prejudice where debtor's counsel failed to electronically file required signature pages due to scanner malfunction.
Procedural posture

The debtors filed a motion to reinstate their bankruptcy case after its dismissal.

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opinion summary, case decided on October 03, 2006 , LexisNexis #1106-073

Wiseman v. Wiseman (In re Wiseman)

Ruling
Salary, insurance and 401(k) payments owed to former spouse as supplement to property settlement agreement was nondischargeable.
Procedural posture

Creditor, the former wife of chapter 7 debtor, brought a complaint against debtor, alleging that debtor's property settlement obligation to creditor was excepted from his discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(15).

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opinion summary, case decided on September 29, 2006 , LexisNexis #1106-123

In re Dienberg

Ruling
Court was not authorized to issue a "comfort order" where stay had terminated pursuant to section 362(h) rather than section 362(c).
Procedural posture

A secured creditor filed a motion pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(h) and (j), asking the court to issue an order confirming that the automatic stay in a chapter 7 debtor's bankruptcy case had terminated. The court, on its own initiative, held a hearing on the issue of whether section 362(j) applied when the alleged basis for termination of the stay was found in section 362(h) rather than in section 362(c), the subsection specifically referenced in section 362(j).

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opinion summary, case decided on August 30, 2006 , LexisNexis #1006-076

Loubser v. Pala (In re Loubser)

Ruling
Motion to dismiss or for abstention was denied since claims constituted estate property.
Procedural posture

Pro se plaintiff bankruptcy debtor brought an adversary proceeding against defendants, alleging that defendants defamed the debtor and that defendants refused to comply with a state court order to hold the debtor harmless under mortgages. Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction or for mandatory abstention under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(c)(2).

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opinion summary, case decided on July 31, 2006 , LexisNexis #0806-140

MCS Lasertec Inc. v. Kaminski (In re Kaminski)

Ruling
Creditor was granted summary judgment and debt was deemed nondischargeable since willful and malicious injury was proven in state court finding of criminal conversion.
Procedural posture

Plaintiff judgment creditors filed an adversary proceeding against defendant debtor seeking a declaration that the debtor's legal obligation to them, arising out of a state court judgment, was a nondischargeable debt under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) and (7). The creditors moved for summary judgment as to their nondischargeability claim.

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opinion summary, case decided on July 27, 2006 , LexisNexis #0806-127

Countryman v. Prue

Ruling
Court affirmed bankruptcy court finding that it did not have authority to waive filing fees for creditor.
Procedural posture

Appellant creditor brought an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy court denied the creditor's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis in the adversary proceeding and on appeal. The creditor appealed the denial of her motion.

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opinion summary, case decided on April 03, 2006 , LexisNexis #0606-068

Bohlen v. Tsikouris (In re Tsikouris)

Ruling
Unpaid employer ERISA contributions debt was deemed dischargeable since no fiduciary relationship was shown.
Procedural posture

Plaintiffs, employee benefit funds subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq., brought an adversary proceeding against defendant debtor, an employer, asserting that his debt for unpaid employer ERISA contributions was excepted from discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4). The benefit funds argued that a fiduciary relationship existed with respect to the unpaid contributions.

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opinion summary, case decided on March 30, 2006 , LexisNexis #0406-123

In re Harris

Ruling
Court sustained trustee's objection to creditor's late-filed proof of claim since creditor could not invoke Rule 5005(c)'s exception for erroneous filing or Rule 3002(c)'s equitable exception.
Procedural posture

The chapter 13 trustee objected to a claim filed by creditor because it was filed after the claims bar date. In response, the creditor contended that, for equitable reasons, the court should rely on Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5005(c) and treat the claim as having been timely filed or should consider it as an amendment to an earlier, informal proof of claim which related back to the earlier date.

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opinion summary, case decided on March 24, 2006 , LexisNexis #0606-034