Atayde v. Feco (In re Atayde)

Summarized by Samuel Schwartz , Schwartz Law, PLLC
12 years 2 months ago

Citation:

In re Atayde, 2013 WL 6439712 (9th Cir. BAP (Cal.))

Tag(s):

Ruling:

The United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed the holding of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, finding the lower court did not abuse its discretion when it: a) awarded the Debtor $300 for actual damages, $3,000.00 in attorneys’ fees and $390 in costs; and b) found although the Debtor’s real estate agent was a petition preparer, the real estate agent’s broker was not, and thus, not a proper defendant.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California’s. The United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit reviewed the Bankruptcy Court’s conclusions of law de novo, its factual findings for clear error, and its exercise of discretion for abuse thereof.

Facts:

After Melva Atayde (“Debtor”) became delinquent on her payments for her residence (“Property”), the secured lender against the Property filed a notice of sale (“Sale”). Prior to the Sale, the Debtor contacted Lane Scott Yudell (“Yudell”), a real estate agent for KNB Capital, Inc. (“KNB”) to discuss a short sale. D. Brandon Feco (“Feco”) is the owner of KNB and Yudell’s supervising broker. Yudell suggested the Debtor file a bankruptcy to avoid the Sale, and sent her the necessary bankruptcy petition forms, which the Debtor completed. On July 6, 2010, Yudell’s assistant filed the bankruptcy petition on the Debtor’s behalf. After several notices were sent to the Debtor advising that the forms were incomplete and/or deficient, the Debtor’s bankruptcy case was dismissed. After the dismissal, however, the Property sold at a foreclosure sale for an amount less than the amounts owed against the Property, and the Debtor filed an adversary proceeding against Yudell and Feco for damages as a result of the sale.

Judge(s):

Honorable Judge Charles E. Rendlen III and Honorable Maureen Tighe

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