Fin. Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Thayer

• Decision Date: 30 September 2016
• Docket Number: Civil No. 15-6644(NLH)
• Citation: 559 B.R. 102
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey
• Parties: Financial Casualty & Surety Co Inc., Appellant, v. Stephen C. Thayer, Appellee.

559 B.R. 102

Financial Casualty & Surety Co Inc., Appellant,

v.Stephen C. Thayer, Appellee.

Civil No. 15-6644(NLH)

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

Signed September 30, 2016

Filed October 3, 2016

SAMUEL M. SILVER, 2050 ROUTE 27, SUITE 106, BRUNSWICK PLAZA, NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ 08902, On behalf of appellant.

STEPHEN C. THAYER, 1074 BUCKINGHAM DR., WEST DEPTFORD, NJ 08086, Appellee appearing pro se.

OPINION

HILLMAN

, District Judge

Presently before the Court is the appeal by Financial Casualty & Surety Company, Inc. (FCS) of the bankruptcy court's August 24, 2015 Opinion and Order granting summary judgment in favor of the debtor, Stephen C. Thayer. FCS's adversary complaint contested the dischargeability of a judgment it obtained against Thayer arising from bail bond forfeitures. For the reasons expressed below, the bankruptcy court's decision will be reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.

BACKGROUND

A. Jurisdiction and Standard

This Court has jurisdiction over the appeal from the bankruptcy court's August 24, 2015 Opinion and Order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)

, which provides in relevant part: “The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction to hear appeals from final judgments, orders and decrees ... of bankruptcy judges entered in cases and proceedings referred to the bankruptcy judges under section 157 of this title. An appeal under this subsection shall be taken only to the district court for the judicial district in which the bankruptcy judge is serving.”

In reviewing a determination of the bankruptcy court, the district court assesses the bankruptcy court's legal determinations de novo , its factual findings for clear error, and its exercise of discretion for abuse. In re Trans World Airlines, Inc., 145 F.3d 124, 131 (3d Cir. 1998)

.

B. Procedural History

In 2011, FCS filed an amended complaint that added Thayer and other bail bond agents to a civil action in this district. (Civil Action No. 1:11–04316.) FCS sought to recover from Thayer and other commercial bail bond agents unpaid premium, expenses, and for bail bond forfeiture liability. FCS served Thayer with a summons and copy of FCS's complaint on February 13, 2012. Because Thayer did answer or otherwise appear in the suit, in May 2012, the district court clerk entered a default against Thayer. On January 11, 2013, the district court executed a Final Default Judgment against Thayer for $192,985.41 ($17,698.30 in unpaid premium bail bond powers entrusted to Nicole Thayer, Stephen C. Thayer, and Shamrock Bail Bonds Limited Liability Company; $165,500.00 in bond forfeiture judgments; $3,172.70 in costs and fees associated with bond judgments; and $6,614.41 in reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and expenses).

On May 4, 2013, Thayer filed for protection under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. In his Petition, Thayer identified 18 creditors, including those holding secured and unsecured claims, along with their respective claims against Thayer's bankruptcy estate. Thayer failed to list FCS as a creditor. When Thayer filed an Amendment to his Schedules on May 22, 2013 and identified additional unsecured creditors, Thayer did not identify FCS as a judgment creditor.

In August 2013, BGM Financial, LLC (“BGM”) (an unsecured creditor identified in Thayer's Schedule F) successfully challenged the dischargeability of its claims for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty against Thayer. BGM sought to recover money damages from Thayer based on Thayer's role as BGM's sub-producer. BGM served as FCS's general agent for issuing bail bonds, and, in turn, Thayer served as FCS's sub-agent.

On August 23, 2013, the bankruptcy court closed Thayer's bankruptcy. In April 2014, Thayer moved to re-open his bankruptcy to amend Schedules A and C with the intent to discharge FCS's judicial lien. The bankruptcy court granted Thayer's request to re-open the proceedings and invited FCS to file an Adversary Complaint. On June 24, 2014, FCS filed its Adversary Complaint in which it alleged that $165,000.00 of its total claim and attributable to bail bond forfeitures was nondischargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(7) as a debt “for fine, penalty, or forfeiture payable to and for the benefit of a governmental unit, and is not compensation for actual pecuniary loss, other than a tax penalty.” FCS also alleged $11,299.30 of unremitted premium for reported bail bond powers, and $6,399.00 in premium for unreported bail bond powers of attorney, were nondischargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(4) because the debt was based on “fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, embezzlement, or larceny.” FCS later argued § 523(a)(4) as an additional ground to deny discharge of the forfeiture debt as well. Thayer timely filed an answer.

FCS sought summary judgment to avoid discharge of the bail bond forfeitures and unpaid bail bond premium Thayer owed FCS. After a hearing and the filing of supplemental memoranda, the bankruptcy court denied FCS's Motion for Summary Judgment, granted summary judgment in favor of Thayer, and discharged Thayer's debt to FCS. FCS filed the instant appeal.

C. Background Facts

This Court restates the background facts from the bankruptcy court's Opinion, as most of these facts are not in dispute on appeal.¹ (See Docket No. 3–5 at 3–8, internal citations omitted.)

As noted above, FCS's claims stem from a pre-petition judgment obtained by default against Debtors in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in the amount of $192,985.414 (the “Judgment”). The judgment arose from breach of a sub-producer bail bond agreement (the “Contract”). The parties to the contract were:

• FCS as “Company”;

• James V. Mascola, Genevieve A. Steward and Bail Group Management, LLC as General Agent (collectively, “BGM”);

• Mr. Thayer and/or Shamrock Bail Bonds as Sub-Producer; and

• Mrs. Thayer as Sub-Producer Indemnitor.

The Contract, dated June 7, 2008, provided that the General Agent would supply bail bond powers of attorney to the Debtor. FCS acted as surety. The Contract further provided that the Debtor “occupies a fiduciary relationship with Company and General Agent in relation to the conduct of its business.” As is the nature of the business, the Contract contemplated the possibility of bail bond forfeitures. Bail bonds are forfeited when a defendant, for whose benefit the bond is issued, fails to appear for a court date. Regarding bail bond forfeitures, the Contract provided that the Debtor:

shall be solely responsible for satisfying bail bond forfeitures; for investigation of bail bond principals and prospective bail bond principals; for negotiation, settlement, and/or satisfaction of claims against Company and/or General Agent/Sub-Producer by bail bond principals, courts, and/or others; and/or for any and all other matters of bail bond administration hereunder. Sub-Producer will make or cause to be made any and all necessary and warranted legal motions to preserve, reinstate, and exonerate bonds at Sub-Producer's sole expense.

Thus, after a forfeiture, the Debtor could mitigate a loss by ensuring that a defendant later appears or is delivered to the court. If a defendant is not delivered, a bail bond judgment is entered. The Debtor and FCS are equally obligated to pay the state for the bond forfeiture judgments.² If the Debtor does not pay the debt, FCS must pay the debt if it wants to continue to do business in New Jersey. Thereafter, its remedy is to seek indemnification from the Debtor.

As security for indemnification under paragraphs 17 and 18, the Contract provided for contribution by the Debtor to an indemnity fund. The use of the indemnity fund was in FCS's discretion, and the balance of the fund would be returned to the Debtor upon termination of the Contract, subject to all other expenses being paid. The indemnity fund could be used by FCS to reimburse itself (offset) for any forfeitures and unpaid bail bond premiums. FCS has invoked this right of setoff under the Contract. The parties sometimes refer to this indemnity fund as a Build-Up Fund, or BUF. The Debtor submitted a document titled “Trust Account Details” for Thayer/Shamrock Bail Bonds. This document reflects a continued build-up of the Debtor's BUF account with FCS during the tenure of the parties' relationship.

The Contract had a specific provision regarding bail bond forfeitures, as follows:

As a courtesy, Company and/or General Agent shall make an effort to notify Sub-Producer of receipt of any bail bond forfeitures, whether threatened or declared, that Company receives from the Courts in relation to Sub-Producer's forfeitures. However, in all instances it shall be Sub-Producer's sole responsibility and duty to monitor properly the status and forfeitures of all bonds posted with bail bond Powers of Attorney entrusted to Sub-Producer by Company and/or General Agent ... Sub-Producer shall take any and all necessary and lawful steps to terminate forfeiture liability within the applicable statutory time frame. When or if it is deemed necessary that such forfeiture or resulting judgment be paid, then, in addition to any other rights and remedies it may have under this Agreement, at law and/or equity, Company shall have the right to do any one or more of the following:

(a) Direct any party hereto indemnifying Company from forfeiture to pay any part or all thereof;

(b) Pay part or all of the forfeiture judgment from the indemnity Fund(s);(c) Pay and/or direct payment of part of all of the forfeiture judgment from any forfeiture collateral held for such bond;

(d) Direct the bond principal and/or anyone guaranteeing, assuring, or indemnifying Company and/or any other party hereto against loss by reason of the bond principal's noncompliance to pay part or all of the forfeiture judgment; and/or

(e) Company may pay part or all of the forfeiture judgment and reimburse itself in accordance with (a), (b), (c) and/or (d) of paragraph 20. All such rights of Company to

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