Opinion
Case No. 14-00227
06-05-2014
In re BYRON WEBSTER JORDAN and HELEN MONIQUE HOLT-JORDAN, Debtors.
The document below is hereby signed.
__________
, Jr.
United States Bankruptcy Judge
(Chapter 7)
Not for publication in
West's Bankruptcy Reporter.
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER RE
DEBTORS' SCHEDULES AND RELATED PAPERS
Caliber Home Loans, Inc. is a creditor in this case. It filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay on May 6, 2014, with respect to a mortgage that was apparently previously held by Bank of America. Caliber Home Loans, Inc., and its attorney, Michael T. Freeman (who filed the motion for relief from the automatic stay), were not listed on the debtors' List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix filed with the petition on April 17, 2014. Caliber Home Loans, Inc. was not listed on the debtors' Schedule D filed on May 15, 2014. Bank of America was listed on both the List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix and Schedule D. The debtors listed Michael T. Freeman as an attorney with respect to the listing of Bank of America on Schedule D. Instead of doing that, the debtors should have listed Caliber Home Loans, Inc. as a creditor on Schedule D, with Michael T. Freeman included on that listing as that creditor's attorney.
Moreover, no Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix to Add Previously Unlisted Entity or Entities was submitted with the amended Schedule D to list Michael T. Freeman as required by LBR 1007-2. Things got worse. After the clerk's office gave notice of that deficiency to the debtors' attorney, the debtors' attorney filed on May 19, 2014, a Cover Sheet and Certificate Pursuant to Local Rule 1009-2 (part of Dkt. No. 34):
• stating that the Schedules "do not add any entities, rather, the missing address for one creditor is added, and an attorney as counsel of record to such creditor has been added;" andThis is frustrating to the court because:
• attaching a supplemental mailing matrix that listed Caliber Home Loans, Inc. and Michael T. Freeman as entities, even though Caliber Home Loans, Inc. had not been scheduled as a creditor.
• No address had been missing for Bank of America - the same address appears on Schedule D as appeared on the List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix.It is thus
• Michael T. Freeman is the counsel of record for Caliber
Home Loans, Inc., not Bank of America.
• Caliber Home Loans, Inc. (whose creditor role was no secret because it had filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay) was not included on the schedules.
• The supplemental mailing matrix did not comply with LBR 1009-2 as it failed to include the form of cover sheet, specifically the Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix to Add Previously Unlisted Entity or Entities coversheet, prescribed by the Clerk and posted on the court's website, and was not executed by the debtors under penalty of perjury.
Because Freeman is the attorney for a creditor not yet scheduled, the listing of Freeman triggered the $30 fee under item 4 of the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule for filing an amendment to the debtors' schedules of creditors, lists of creditors, or mailing list. The court does not waive the fee: the debtors' attorney's handling of this aspect of the case has been sloppy and burdened the court.
ORDERED that the Cover Sheet and Certificate Pursuant to Local Rule 1009-2 (part of Dkt. No. 34) and its attachment are stricken. It is further
ORDERED that within 14 days after entry of this order, the debtors' attorney shall pay the filing fee for filing the Schedule D that included an attorney for a creditor (Caliber Home Loans, Inc.), who had not been scheduled, and who had not been listed on the List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix. It is further
ORDERED that within 14 days after entry of this order, the debtor shall file:
• an Amended Schedule D that lists Caliber Home Loans, Inc. as a creditor (with Michael T. Freeman listed as its attorney);and shall pay the filing fee for filing the Amended Schedule D and the Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix to Add Previously Unlisted Entity or Entities.
• an Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix to Add Previously Unlisted Entity or Entities (adding Caliber Home Loans, Inc., and Michael T. Freeman as entities); and
• a LBR 1009-2(e) Certificate of Service of Papers Required to Be Mailed to Entities Affected by Amendment of List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix, showing that LBR 1009-2(e) has been complied with regarding Caliber Home Loans, Inc.,
The debtors are warned to file both the amended Schedule D and the required Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix to Add Previously Unlisted Entity or Entities relating thereto on the same date, lest two $30 fees be incurred.
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[Signed and dated above.] Copies to: Debtor; recipients of e-notification.