Nordin v. Galaba (In re Nordin)
- Citation:
- Nordin v. Galaba, No. 10-35841 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. Mar. 12, 2013) (unpublished)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The 10th Cir. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the bankruptcy court's order denying conversion from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13 because the debtor failed to carry his burden to prove that he was proceeding in good faith. Instead, there was ample evidence in the record to suggest that the debtor was proceeding in bad faith as pleadings were "replete with omissions, half truths and inaccuracies, and during his case he [the debtor] asserted inconsistent and meritless positions in an attempt to maneuver his case for his sole benefit." The ruling is in accord with Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, 549 U.S. 365 (2007), which held that a debtor does not have an absolute right to convert a case from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13, especially when there is evidence of bad faith.
- Procedural context:
- Affirmed the decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado.
- Facts:
- Debtor filed Chapter 7, and prior to meeting of creditors, the Trustee found out that information in the petition was inaccurate and that the debtor has asserted full ownership of a piece of real property in Breckenridge, CO when in fact that he actually only owned 48% of the parcel. An additional piece of the debtor's real property had previously been sold at foreclosure, and this too wasn't disclosed on the debtor's schedules. Although the debtor received a discharge in his Chapter 7 case, the 52% owner of the parcel in Breckenridge approached the Trustee with an offer to purchase the Estate's interest in the property. To facilitate this sale, the Trustee moved to withdraw his prior Report of No Distribution, and set off a chain of events that eventually resulted in the debtor seeking to convert his case to Chapter 13 in an effort to preserve his ownership stake in the Breckenridge property.
- Judge(s):
- Karlin, Somers, Mosier
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