The Golden 1 Credit Union v. Hopper (In re Ahrens)

Summarized by Laura Coordes , Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
9 years 4 months ago

Citation:

The Golden 1 Credit Union v. Hopper (In re Ahrens), Case No. EC-16-1065-JuKuMa/EC-16-1117-JuKuMa (consolidated) (9th Cir. B.A.P. Oct, 27, 2016) (unpublished)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Bankruptcy court orders (1) sustaining chapter 7 trustee's objection to creditor's proof of claim, (2) disallowing unsecured portion of creditor's proof of claim, (3) awarding attorney's fees and costs in favor of trustee, and (4) estimating creditor's deficiency claim at $0 affirmed.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California, reviewed de novo (for legal issues), under the clearly erroneous standard (for factual issues), and for abuse of discretion (for bankruptcy court's estimation of claim and award of attorney's fees and costs).

Facts:

Creditor filed a proof of claim in debtor's chapter 7 bankruptcy case, representing the balance owed to creditor for debtor's purchase of a car. Although debtor indicated an intent to reaffirm the debt, she did not do so; however, debtor made timely installment payments (which creditor accepted) and received her discharge. Creditor never declared the contract to be in default. Chapter 7 trustee objected to unsecured portion of creditor's POC, claiming insufficient evidence regarding the deficiency amount. Trustee also claimed that he was entitled to attorney's fees and costs based on the sale contract and a California statute regarding reciprocal attorney fee clauses.

Judge(s):

Jury, Kurtz, Martin

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