Sampson Lumber Co. v. Tucci (In re Tucci)
Sampson Lumber Co. v. Tucci (In re Tucci)
Opinion of the Court
I. INTRODUCTION
The matters before the Court are the “Defendant Carl W. Tucci’s Motion for Summary Judgment Pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56” (the “Motion for Summary Judgment”) filed by the debtor, Carl W. Tucci (the “Debtor”) and the “Brief of Plaintiff, Sampson Lumber Co., Inc., in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendant, Carl W. Tucci” (the “Opposition”) filed by the plaintiff, Sampson Lumber Co., Inc. (the “Plaintiff’). Through the Motion for Summary Judgment, the Debtor seeks a determination that the Plaintiffs claim is dischargeable. Because the claim cannot satisfy the elements of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), I will grant the Motion for Summary Judgment.
II. PROCEDURAL MATTERS
Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1 (“Local Rule 56.1”) of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, adopted and made applicable to proceedings in the Bankruptcy Court by Massachusetts Local Bankruptcy Rule (“MLBR”) 7056-1, motions for summary judgment must include “a concise statement of material facts of record as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine issue to be tried, with page references to affidavits, depositions, and other documentation.”
The Debtor filed a statement pursuant to Local Rule 56.1, “Defendant Carl W. Tucei’s Concise Statement of Material Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment,” (the “Statement of Material Facts”) on September 14, 2011.
III. BACKGROUND
The Plaintiff is a seller of lumber and building supplies with its place of business in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
The Debtor purchased materials from the Plaintiff on credit, and then was unable to pay his credit account.
On June 11, 2010, the Plaintiff filed a complaint (the “Complaint”) against the Debtor and his wife, co-debtor Yvette Tuc-ci (collectively, the “Debtors”), seeking to establish the nondischargeability of the judgment awarded against the Debtor pur
On September 14, 2011, the Debtors each filed separate motions for summary judgment. The Motion for Summary Judgment addresses both 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) and 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B).
IV. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
The Debtor
The Debtor argues that the Plaintiff cannot establish the elements required for a determination of nondischargeability under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B). First, the Debtor contends that he never made any false statement.
The Plaintiff
The Plaintiff argues in its Opposition that the elements of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B) have been met, and accordingly a determination of nondischargeability is appropriate.
V. DISCUSSION
A. The Summary Judgment Standard
Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56, a “court shall grant summary judgment if the mov-ant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
A party asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by:
(A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials; or (B) showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.41
A genuine issue cannot be established by “conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation.”
B. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B)
A Chapter 7 debtor generally may obtain a discharge of his pre-bankruptcy filing debts.
There is disagreement among courts as to the definition of the phrase “financial condition” with respect to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B). Some cases within the First Circuit define the phrase narrowly, so that financial condition means “a balance sheet and/or profit and loss statement or other accounting of an entity’s overall financial health and not a mere statement as to a single asset or liability.”
Applying the narrow definition to the present case, the Statement of Ownership does not qualify as a statement of financial condition because it was a statement of ownership of a single asset, and not an assessment of the Debtor’s overall financial health. Accordingly, the Statement of Ownership does not satisfy the “financial condition” element of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B). The Plaintiff does not allege any other written statement made by the Debtor. Having found that it is impossible for the Plaintiff to satisfy the “financial condition” element required for a non-dischargeability determination under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(B), I need go no further in addressing the Plaintiffs other arguments.
VI. CONCLUSION
In light of the foregoing, I will enter an order granting the Motion for Summary Judgment.
. LR, D. Mass. 56. 1, adopted and made applicable to proceedings in the Bankruptcy Court by MLBR 7056-1.
. Id.
. Id.
. Id.
. Id.
. Statement of Material Facts, Docket No. 42.
. I take judicial notice of the docket in the present case, as well as those of related cases before this Court. See Rodi v. Southern New England School of Law, 389 F.3d 5, 17-19 (1st Cir. 2004) (citations omitted).
. Findings of Fact & Rulings of Law, Plymouth District Court, 200759CV00031 (August 1, 2008), Docket No. 1, Exhibit B.
. Statement of Material Facts, Docket No. 42 at ¶ 6.
. Id. at ¶ 8.
. Complaint, Docket No. 1, Exhibit A.
. Id.
. Statement of Material Facts, Docket No. 42 at ¶ 4.
. Findings of Fact & Rulings of Law, Plymouth District Court, 200759CV00031 (August 1, 2008), Docket No. 1, Exhibit B.
. Statement of Material Facts, Docket No. 42 at ¶ 11.
. Findings of Fact & Rulings of Law, Plymouth District Court, 200759CV00031 (August 1, 2008), Docket No. 1, Exhibit B.
. Complaint, Docket No. 1 at ¶ 9.
. Statement of Material Facts, Docket No. 42 at ¶¶ 16-17.
. Findings of Fact & Rulings of Law, Plymouth District Court, 200759CV00031 (August 1, 2008), Docket No. 1, Exhibit B.
. Complaint, Docket No. 1 at ¶ 12.
. Findings of Fact & Rulings of Law, Plymouth District Court, 200759CV00031 (August 1, 2008), Docket No. 1, Exhibit B.
. Id.
. Chapter 7 Voluntary Petition, Docket No. 1, Case No. 10-11451-WCH.
. Complaint, Docket No. 1.
. Id.
. Id. at ¶ 4.
. Motion for Summary Judgment Filed by Carl Tucci, Docket No. 41 at ¶ 1.
. 121 F.3d 781 (1st Cir. 1997).
. Opposition, Docket No. 50, FN 1.
. Statement of Material Facts, Docket No. 42 at ¶ 15.
. Motion for Summary Judgment Filed by Carl Tucci, Docket No. 41 at ¶ 1.
. Id. at ¶ 4.
. Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment Filed by Carl Tucci, Docket No 45 at 11.
. Id. at 10.
. Id. at 2.
. Opposition, Docket No. 50 at 1.
. Id. at 2.
. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a) made applicable in adversary proceedings by Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7056.
. Triangle Trading Co. v. Robroy Indus., Inc., 200 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 1999) (quoting Smith v. F.W. Morse & Co., 76 F.3d 413, 427 (1st Cir. 1996)).
. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); McCarthy v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 56 F.3d 313, 315 (1st Cir. 1995); Nereida-Gonzalez v. Tirado-Delgado, 990 F.2d 701, 703 (1st Cir. 1993).
. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1).
. Griggs-Ryan v. Smith, 904 F.2d 112, 116 (1st Cir. 1990) (quoting Medina-Munoz v. RJ. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir. 1990)).
. Nicolo v. Philip Morris, Inc., 201 F.3d 29, 33 (1st Cir. 2000).
. See 11 U.S.C. § 727.
. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2).
. Bal-Ross Grocers, Inc. v. Sansoucy (In re Sansoucy), 136 B.R. 20, 23 (Bankr.D.N.H. 1992); See also Zimmerman v. Soderlund (In re Soderlund), 197 B.R. 742 (Bankr.D.Mass. 1996); Benjelloun v. Robbins (In re Robbins), 178 B.R. 299, 304 (Bankr.D.Mass. 1995).
. Connecticut Nat’l Bank v. Panaia (In re Panaia), 61 B.R. 959, 960 (Bankr.D.Mass. 1986).
. In re Soderlund, 197 B.R. at 745-746.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re Carl W. TUCCI and Yvette G. Tucci, Debtors. Sampson Lumber Co., Inc. v. Carl W. Tucci and Yvette G. Tucci
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published