Opinion
Case No. 99-13700 Chapter 13
August 20, 2001
Timothy Latimer, Attorney for Debtor, Jackson, TN.
Joseph Barton, Attorney for Karl Mashburn, Millington, TN.
Tim Ivey, Chapter 13 Trustee, Jackson, TN.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER RE (1) MOTION TO DISMISS FILED BY KARL MASHBURN AND (2) AMENDED OBJECTION TO CONFIRMATION FILED BY KARL MASHBURN
The Court conducted a hearing on Karl Mashburn's Motion to Dismiss and Amended Objection to Confirmation on July 19, 2001. FED. R. BANKR. P. 9014. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2), this is a core proceeding. After reviewing the testimony from the hearing and the record as a whole, the Court makes the following findings of facts and conclusions of law. FED. R. BANKR. P. 7052.
The debtor in this case, Ledora Lewis, ("Lewis"), originally filed for Chapter 7 relief on November 13, 1999. The case was converted to Chapter 13 on May 16, 2000, but was subsequently dismissed on June 7, 2000, for failure to satisfy the filing requirements. Said dismissal was set aside and the case was reinstated on August 31, 2000.
One of Lewis' creditors, Karl Mashburn, ("Mashburn"), filed an Objection to Confirmation of Lewis' Chapter 13 plan on October 25, 2000 and an Amended Objection to Confirmation on October 30, 2000. Lewis' Chapter 13 plan was confirmed on November 30, 2000. Mashburn filed an Amended Objection to Confirmation on February 6, 2001, at which time he alleged that his address was listed incorrectly on the petition and had not been receiving proper notice of the hearings in the case. In all three of his objections, Mashburn alleged that "the debtor, . . . has not complied with the requirement of listing all of the property she and her husband own, has failed to list all real property assets, and has listed property she and her husband no longer own as liablities."
In addition to the Objections to Confirmation previously filed in the case, Mashburn filed a Motion for Dismissal of Lewis' case on May 3, 2001. In the motion and at the hearing thereon, the thrust of Mashburn's allegations was that Lewis had owned and sold several pieces of property which had significant equity during the pendency of her case. All of the properties at issue had been listed in Lewis' bankruptcy petition schedules A and C. On the latter schedule, Lewis claimed a $10 exemption in each of the properties, with the exception of 1846 South Highland, in which she claimed a $5,000 exemption.
At the hearing on Mashburn's Objection to Confirmation and Motion to Dismiss, no proof was presented to the Court that Lewis had ever held any ownership interest in any of the properties which had been sold. In fact, the only time Lewis' name appeared on any of the warranty deeds was when she signed away any marital interest she may have had in one of the properties which her husband owned by himself. Lewis herself testified that the only reason the properties were listed in her schedules was out of an abundance of caution. As a result of this lack of evidence and/or proof, the Court is unable to find any wrongdoing on Lewis' part which would necessitate either a dismissal of her case or a revocation of confirmation of her plan.
ORDER
It is therefore ORDERED that the "Motion to Dismiss" filed by Karl Mashburn is DENIED.
It is FURTHER ORDERED that the "Amended Objection to Confirmation" filed by Karl Mashburn is OVERRULED.
It is so ordered.