White v. MAS Financial (In re White)
- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Reversed and Remanded
- Citation:
- CC-16-1067-TaKuKi (9th Circuit, Dec 02,2016) Not Published
- Tag(s):
- Ruling:
Bankruptcy court's order denying debtor's fee motion is vacated, and case is remanded to determine whether adversary proceeding was an action on a sales contract and whether attorney's fees are appropriate.
- Procedural context:
Appeal from the bankruptcy court for the Central District of California denying debtor's motion for attorney's fees; reviewed for abuse of discretion.
- Facts:
After debtor defaulted on her installment sales contract for her car, creditor sought to repossess the car. Creditor was unsuccessful, and after debtor filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, creditor commenced an adversary proceeding seeking to except its claim from discharge under § 523(a)(6). The parties later stipulated to dismiss the adversary proceeding. Debtor then sought to recover her attorney's fees and costs under California law. Creditor opposed debtor's motion, and the bankruptcy court denied the fee motion, reasoning that there was no prevailing party under California law and no reasonable amount of attorney fees given the tasks performed.
- Judge(s):
- Taylor, Kurtz, Kirscher