Beiter v. Chase Home Fin., LLC (In re Beiter)
Beiter v. Chase Home Fin., LLC (In re Beiter)
Opinion of the Court
This matter is the latest development in the legal saga that began almost a decade ago when Rebecca J. Beiter ("Plaintiff") filed for protection under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. Since that time, Plaintiff's Chapter 13 plan was confirmed, an order discharging her debts was entered, and her case was closed, only to be reopened for the purpose of filing a class action complaint (the "Complaint") against her home mortgage creditor, JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. ("Defendant"). In the original Complaint, Plaintiff asked the Court to hold Defendant in contempt for violating the discharge injunction.
In the amended complaint (the "Amended Complaint") filed June 26, 2018, Plaintiff seeks to hold Defendant in contempt for violating not only the discharge injunction, but also the Order Granting Trustee's Motion to Deem Mortgage Current (Doc. # 64) (the "Deem Mortgage Current Order"), and sections 541 and 1306 of the Bankruptcy Code. In addition, she alleges that Defendant violated Rule 3002.1 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint (Doc. # 170) (the "Motion") on July 17, 2018. Defendant urges the Court to dismiss each count of the Amended Complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Plaintiff filed her Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (Doc. # 175) (the "Response") on August 7, 2018. Defendant filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint (Doc. # 176) (the "Reply") on August 14, 2018. The Court, having considered the record and the arguments of the parties, issues the following opinion and order granting the Motion with respect to Count One but denying the Motion with respect to the remaining claims.
II. JURISDICTION
The Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to
III. BACKGROUND
The Amended Complaint alleges the following facts: On or around May 25, 2004, Plaintiff executed a note and mortgage *450(the "Mortgage Loan") with Defendant. On February 13, 2009, Plaintiff filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. Plaintiff's Chapter 13 plan was confirmed on April 28, 2009, and pursuant to the confirmed plan, payments on the Mortgage Loan were made by "conduit" through the Chapter 13 Trustee. In 2011, Defendant admittedly misapplied five of Plaintiff's payments, which resulted in significant errors to her Mortgage Loan account. Defendant also "increased Plaintiff's monthly mortgage payment without notifying the Court or obtaining permission" in January, 2014. (Am. Compl. ¶ 45, ECF No. 162).
On March 13, 2014, after completion of the plan and upon motion of the Trustee, the Court entered the Deem Mortgage Current Order. The Deem Mortgage Current Order directed Defendant to adjust the Mortgage Loan balance to reflect the balance delineated in the original amortization schedule as of February 2014. It further ordered that "[a]ny amounts in excess of that balance, including any alleged arrearages, costs, fees or interest" were discharged. (Am. Compl. ¶ 41, ECF No. 162). On March 13, 2014, the Court entered an order granting Plaintiff a discharge pursuant to
With the exception of one payment in July 2014-which Plaintiff eventually made-Plaintiff made all monthly mortgage payments after the Deem Mortgage Current Order and discharge were entered. Since her discharge, Plaintiff has received incorrect and inconsistent mortgage statements from Defendant every month that contained unexplained late fees and indicated Plaintiff is past due on payment of thousands of dollars on her Mortgage Loan despite having made all of her monthly payments. In October 2014, Plaintiff's bankruptcy attorney directly contacted Defendant to advise that Plaintiff had completed her Chapter 13 plan and received a discharge, and to request that her Mortgage Loan account be updated accordingly. As late as July 2015, Plaintiff's mortgage statements indicated that her Mortgage Loan account was still in "active bankruptcy" and not current, even though she had completed the plan and received her discharge.
On June 26, 2018, Plaintiff purportedly on behalf of herself and others similarly situated, filed the Amended Complaint. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant: (1) violated
IV. STANDARD OF REVIEW
"To survive a motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must allege facts that if accepted as true, are sufficient to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face."
*451Majestic Building Maint., Inc. v. Huntington Bancshares, Inc. ,
V. DISCUSSION
A. Plaintiff's "Property of the Estate" Claim Must Be Dismissed
In Count One of the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff seeks to hold Defendant in contempt for violating
Count One must be dismissed because Plaintiff fails to allege that Defendant violated a "definite" and "specific" court order. Section 105 authorizes bankruptcy courts to find a party in contempt for failure to comply with a court order or injunction. That section provides in relevant part:
The court may issue any order, process, or judgment that is necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this title. No provision of this title providing for the raising of an issue by a party in interest shall be construed to preclude the court from, sua sponte, taking any action or making any determination necessary or appropriate to enforce or implement court orders or rules, or to prevent abuse of process.
Sections 541 and 1306 simply delineate the scope of the bankruptcy estate. Understanding what constitutes property of the estate is important when determining whether property is subject to turnover or protected by the automatic stay. See
Even if Plaintiff alleged some other claim related to property of the estate, for example, that Defendant violated the automatic stay by misapplying payments and impermissibly holding the accumulated funds in the suspense account, such claim would also fail because the funds were not property of the estate once remitted to Defendant. Property of the estate includes "all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case" and "property that the debtor acquires" during the case and "earnings from services performed by the debtor" during the case.
B. The Decision in Beiter is the "Law of the Case" as to Whether Plaintiff Must File a Motion to Assert Her Contempt Claims
Defendant, citing the Sixth Circuit's decision in Pertuso v. Ford Motor Credit Co. ,
The "law of the case" doctrine stands for the proposition that "when a court decides upon a rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages in the same case." Arizona v. California ,
None of these exceptional circumstances are present. Defendant does not point to any new evidence alleged by Plaintiff that would warrant deviating from the decision in Beiter . Nor is there any new controlling legal authority. Defendant argues that "in the time since the parties briefed the motion to dismiss the original complaint, numerous other courts have weighed in on this issue, and the vast majority of courts recognize the distinction between an adversary proceeding and a contempt motion in the bankruptcy case." (Def.'s Mot. Dismiss 15, ECF No. 170). Indeed, Defendant cites numerous cases interpreting Pertuso as prohibiting a plaintiff from asserting class action contempt claims in an adversary proceeding. But none of the cases Defendant cites are binding on this Court.
Finally, reconsideration of Beiter is not necessary to prevent manifest injustice.
If Plaintiff had asserted her contempt claims by filing a motion in the underlying bankruptcy case, the Court would have allowed her to move for class certification because doing so would not cause any procedural or substantive harm to Defendant. See , e.g. , McNamee v. NationStar Mortg., LLC (In re McNamee) , No. 14-3027,
C. Plaintiff States a Plausible Contempt Claim for Violation of the Deem Mortgage Current Order
The Court now turns to Plaintiff's claim that Defendant violated the Deem Mortgage Current Order. The Deem Mortgage Current Order specifically directed Defendant to "adjust its loan balance to reflect the balance delineated in the original [Mortgage Loan] amortization schedule as of the Final Payment Date." (Am. Compl. ¶ 41, ECF No. 162). It further ordered that "[a]ny amounts in excess of that balance, including any alleged arrearages, costs, fees or interest" were discharged. (Id. ) Defendant suggests that the only harm Plaintiff could have suffered from Defendant's violation of the Deem Mortgage Current Order would have been from Defendant's attempts to collect amounts that had been discharged. Thus, Count Three "amounts to just another way of claiming that [Defendant] violated the discharge injunction, and Plaintiff should not be permitted to pursue separate claims seeking redundant relief." (Def.'s Mot. Dismiss 13, ECF No. 170). Defendant's argument misses the mark.
The "purpose of civil contempt is to coerce an individual to perform an act or to compensate an injured complainant." United States v. Bayshore Associates, Inc. ,
D. Plaintiff States a Plausible Claim for Violation of Rule 3002.1 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
One of the benefits afforded debtors who file for protection under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code is the opportunity to cure home mortgage defaults and maintain regular mortgage payments through the plan.
The rule applies in Chapter 13 cases to claims "(1) that are secured by a security interest in the debtor's principal residence, and (2) for which the plan provides that either the trustee or the debtor will make contractual installment payments ...." FED. R. BANKR. P. 3002.1(a). The rule provides in relevant part that "[t]he holder of the claim shall file and serve on the debtor, debtor's counsel, and the trustee a notice of any change in the payment amount, including any change that results from an interest rate or escrow account adjustment, no later than 21 days before a payment in the new amount is due." FED. R. BANKR. P. 3002.1(b). If the holder of a secured claim fails to provide such notice, "the court may, after notice and hearing," either prevent the creditor from presenting any omitted information into evidence or "award other appropriate relief, including reasonable expenses and attorney's fees caused by the failure." FED. R. BANKR. P. 3002.1(i).
Plaintiff alleges that Defendant changed her monthly mortgage payment in January 2014 without filing a PCN, which resulted in Defendant "overcharg[ing] Plaintiff's account by $69.81." (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 155, 157, ECF No. 162). She also alleges that Defendant "has a pattern and practice of changing a debtor's payment without filing the necessary notice pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3002.1(b)" and asks for an award of sanctions, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 154, 160, ECF No. 162). Defendant admits that it failed to file a PCN in January 2014, but argues that it was precluded from filing pursuant to the terms of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice's United States Trustee Program. Defendant also argues that the Amended Complaint fails to allege facts that would warrant the relief Plaintiff requests. Both of Defendant's arguments fail.
Attached to the Amended Complaint is a copy of an order approving a settlement between Defendant and the United States Trustee Program ("Order Approving Settlement"), which was entered by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for *456the Eastern District of Michigan on March 9, 2015. The terms of the settlement required Defendant to change its policies with respect to the filing of PCNs. The settlement describes a "moratorium" on Defendant filing PCNs that began on November 19, 2013 and ended on October 31, 2014. The moratorium was in place at the time Defendant failed to file a PCN in Plaintiff's case. But it is not clear whether the Order Approving Settlement prohibited Defendant from filing PCNs during the moratorium because it appears that Defendant agreed to enter into the moratorium, voluntarily, prior to approval of the settlement by the Michigan bankruptcy court. See Saglioccolo v. Eagle Ins. Co. ,
Next, Defendant points to Exhibit H, attached to the Amended Complaint, which shows that Defendant refunded $69.81 to Plaintiff's account in July 2015. Defendant argues that Plaintiff's claim should therefore be dismissed because she suffered no harm as a result of Defendant's failure to file a PCN. Again, the Court disagrees. While a lack of evidence of monetary harm is likely to be a significant barrier to sanctions ultimately being imposed against Defendant,
VI. CONCLUSION
In accordance with the foregoing, it is hereby *457ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint (Doc. # 170) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Defendant's request that Count One of the Amended Complaint be dismissed for failure to state a claim is GRANTED . Defendant's request for dismissal of the remaining counts of the Amended Complaint is DENIED .
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 is applicable to adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7012.
Like the original Complaint, the Amended Complaint includes a claim that Defendant violated the discharge injunction under
And this Court does not read Pertuso so broadly. The takeaway from Pertuso is that there is no private right of action for violation of the discharge injunction. Because there is no such right, the plaintiffs in Pertuso were required to file contempt proceedings in the bankruptcy court-the court that issued the discharge injunction-instead of a "lawsuit such as this one"-i.e. a lawsuit in the district court. Pertuso ,
"Manifest Injustice is defined as 'an error in the trial court that is direct, obvious, and observable, such as a defendant's guilty plea that is involuntary or that is based on a plea agreement that the prosecution rescinds.' " Volunteer Energy Servs. v. Option Energy, LLC ,
See also Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3002.1 Advisory Committee Notes to 2011 Rule Adoption (If the holder of a secured claim seeks to recover amounts that were not disclosed, the debtor "may move to have the case reopened in order to seek sanctions against the holder of the claim under subdivision (i).").
Any remedy sought under Rule 3002.1 must bear a "rational relationship" to the violation of the rule; a debtor cannot receive a windfall for a technical violation of the rule that caused no harm. In re Tollios ,
A related issue-which the Court may decide at a later time, if necessary-is whether punitive sanctions may be imposed against Defendant for its alleged violation of Rule 3002.1. Plaintiff cites In re Gravel ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE Rebecca J. BEITER, Debtor. Rebecca J. Beiter v. Chase Home Finance, LLC and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published