Tetzlaff v. Educational Credit Management Corp.

Summarized by Elizabeth Gunn , United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Columbia
10 years 7 months ago

Citation:

Tetzlaff v. Edud. Credit Mgmt. Corp., Case No 14-3702 (7th Cir. July 22, 2015)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Debtor was not entitled to an undue hardship discharge of student loan debt under 11 U.S.C. section 523(a)(8) because he did not meet either the "additional circumstances" or "good faith" prongs of the Brunner test.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin affirming the bankruptcy court's judgment that debtor failed to show repaying his student loans would constitute an undue hardship under 11 U.S.C. section 523(a)(8).

Facts:

Chapter 7 debtor with approximately $260,000 of student loans related to an MBA and law degree filed an adversary complaint seeking to discharge his student loan debt. Debtor was found to meet the "minimal standard of living" first prong of Brunner. Despite debtors claims of depressing, alcohol abuse, and domestic disputes causing difficulty in finding employment, the court found that he had an MBA, was a good writing, intelligent, other issues largely over and therefore able to earn a living. The bankruptcy court excluded expert testimony sought to be admitted over 6 months after expiration of the disclosure deadline. The court was not required to consider debtors payment on loans to one institution (to obtain release of degree and transcripts) over payments on the loans in question in determining good faith effort to repay.

Judge(s):

Flaum, Manion, and Hamilton, Circuit Judges

ABI Membership is required to access the full summary. Please Sign In using your ABI Member credentials. Not a Member yet? Join ABI now - it is absolutely worth it!