Betancourt v. Ballmer (In re Betancourt)

Summarized by Bruce Weiner , Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner
10 years 9 months ago

Citation:

BAP No. CC-14-1010

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Decision of bankruptcy court that debtor's debt to plaintiff was non-dischargeable because the debtor willfully and maliciously injured the plaintiff when she transferred property to allegedly prevent plaintiff from collecting on his judgment, was vacated and remanded to the bankruptcy court for further findings. The lower court failed to make the finding of subjective intent by the debtor to intentionally cause injury to plaintiff or that debtor believed that injury was substantially certain to occur because of her deliberate conduct. No findings as to her state of mind were made. The BAP also remanded for findings on whether the debtor's conduct in transferring property actually caused an injury to plaintiff.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Facts:

Debtor hired plaintiff, a real estate broker, to help her with some property issues. Debtor failed to pay plaintiff, he sued to collect, and obtained a judgment against the debtor. The debtor transferred properties and then filed for bankruptcy. After the debtor filed, plaintiff commenced a non-dischargeabiliy proceeding.

Judge(s):

Kirscher, Kurtz, & Davis

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