Zizza v. Pappalardo

Summarized by Bodie Colwell , Preti Flaherty LLP
12 years 4 months ago

Citation:

Zizza v. Pappalardo, BAP No. MW 13-008 ( B.A.P. 1st Cir. Oct. 18, 2013)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (the "BAP") affirmed the bankruptcy court's order converting the debtor's case from chapter 13 to chapter 7. The BAP found that the record established sufficent bad faith on the part of the debtor to warrant conversion.

Procedural context:

The debtor, Kimberly Zizza, appeals from an order of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts converting her chapter 13 case to chapter 7.

Facts:

The debtor, an attorney, failed to include two pending personal injury lawsuits on her schedules. As her bankruptcy case progressed, she did not disclose the lawsuits at the 341 meeting and did not include them on an amended schedule B. Additionally, the debtor did not seek bankruptcy court approval when retaining a personal injury attorney. After the debtor failed to make plan payments, the chapter 13 trustee moved to dismiss the case on those grounds. It was at this time, a year and a half after filing, that she informed the chapter 13 trustee of the pending lawsuits and subsequently amended her schedule B and schedule C to include them and claim the lawsuits as exempt property. In response, the chapter 13 trustee moved to convert the case to chapter 7 for lack of good faith. Applying a totality of the circumstances test to determine whether the debtor filed the petition in good faith, the BAP affirmed the bankruptcy court’s order converting the case as the record “firmly establishes sufficient indicia of bad faith to warrant conversion.”

Judge(s):

Lamoutte, Haines and Deasy

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