Owens v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC (In re Owens)

Summarized by Lynn Hinson , Dean Mead Egerton Bloodworth Capouano & Bozarth PA
14 years 2 weeks ago

Citation:

11th Circuit Court of Appeals case number 11-12061 (unpublished)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

The United States District Court did not abuse its discretion when it dismissed the Debtor's appeal for failure to pay the filing fee or to seek leave to proceed in forma pauperis.

Procedural context:

The pro se Debtor filed a Chapter 13 case, and failed to pay the filing fee until the Bankruptcy Court issued a deficiency notice. Thereafter, the Court refused to confirm the Chapter 13 plan, and dismissed the case. The Debtor then filed an appeal to the United States District Court. The District Court dismissed the appeal for failure to pay the required filing fee and failed to seek leave to proceed in forma pauperis, and the Debtor filed an appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's dismissal of the appeal.

Facts:

The Debtor, acting pro se, filed a Chapter 13 case. She failed to pay the filing fee until the Bankruptcy Court issued a deficiency notice. Thereafter, the Bankruptcy Court refused to confirm the Debtor's plan and dismissed the case. The Debtor filed an appeal from the Bankruptcy Court's order to the United States District Court. However, the Debtor failed to pay the appeal filing fees to the Bankruptcy Court and the District Court. The District Court dismissed the appeal based on the Debtor's failure to pay the requred filing fees despite her knowledge that the filing fees were required, and also failed to file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. The Debtor then filed an appeal to the 11th Circuit. The 11th Circuit affirmed the District Court's order dismissing the appeal. The unpublished decision was predicated, in part, on the Debtor's knowledge that she had to pay the filing fees for the appeal to the United States District Court, but failed to do so. In addition, she failed to seek leave to proceed in forma pauperis.

Judge(s):

Circuit Judges Wilson, Pryor and Fay

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