Engler v. Van Steinburg
| Decision Date | 01 October 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-1189,84-1189 |
| Citation | 744 F.2d 1060 |
| Parties | 11 Collier Bankr.Cas.2d 1190, 12 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 466, Bankr. L. Rep. P 70,054 Robert ENGLER, Appellant, v. Louis Edward VAN STEINBURG, Appellee. In re Louis Edward VAN STEINBURG, Jr., a/k/a Edward L. Van Steinburg, and Dorothy M. Van Steinburg, Debtors. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
James W. Stone, Hagerstown, Md. (Miller, Oliver & Beachley, Hagerstown, Md., on brief), for appellant.
Charles A. Castle, Frederick, Md., on brief), for appellee.
Before WINTER, Chief Judge, SPROUSE, Circuit Judge, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.
Robert Engler appeals an order in bankruptcy discharging a debt owed to him by Louis Van Steinburg, a bankrupt. By consent of the parties, the case was appealed directly to this court. We affirm.
Engler loaned Van Steinburg $5,500, taking a security interest in livestock and farm implements. Van Steinburg assured Engler orally throughout the loan negotiations that Engler would have a first priority security interest in the property, even though Van Steinburg knew that other creditors had superior liens. All statements in the mortgages securing Engler were accurate.
The Bankruptcy Act provides that a debtor may not discharge debts for money obtained by false pretenses, false representations, or fraud, except that false statements "respecting the debtor's ... financial condition" must be in writing in order for the debt to be nondischargeable. 11 U.S.C. Secs. 523(a)(2)(A), 523(a)(2)(B).
The bankruptcy court held that the debtor's oral misrepresentations that he owned the property free and unencumbered related to his financial condition. We find no error in the court's application of the statute to the facts in this case.
Engler relies on In re Pollina, 31 B.R. 975 (D.C.D.N.J.1983), which held that a debtor's false representations that he owned certain collateral free and clear of all liens barred discharge of the debt pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Sec. 523(a)(2)(A). The representations were in writing, and according to our interpretation of the statute they would bar discharge under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 523(a)(2)(B), so we do not differ from the result reached by the Pollina court. Pollina, however, went on to say that a statement respecting the debtor's financial condition means a formal financial statement, such as a typical balance sheet or a profit and loss statement, and not a statement that specific...
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In re Bowden
...Section 523(a)(2)(A). The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has spoken to the issue of property ownership in Engler v. Van Steinburg (In re Van Steinburg), 744 F.2d 1060 (4th Cir.1984), and teaches that assertions as to property ownership may constitute statements regarding financial conditio......
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Centier Bank v. Ransom (In re Ransom)
...to any meaningful inferences about it.The Credit Union nonetheless asserts that this case is similar to Engler v. Van Steinburg (In re Van Steinburg), 744 F.2d 1060 (4th Cir. 1984), where an individual loaned the debtor $5,500 and obtained in exchange a security interest in the debtor's liv......
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...because fraud claims based on this kind of representation are not relevant under ? 523(a)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code. In re Van Steinburg, 744 F.2d 1060 (4th Cir.1984). The court finds as a fact that, at the time the money was borrowed, the debtor intended to repay it. The court finds no ......
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Rutili v. O'Neill (In re O'Neill)
...very heart of a [debtor's] financial condition” and have held that the term “financial condition” requires a writing. Engler v. Van Steinburg, 744 F.2d 1060 (4th Cir.1984); In re Redburn, 202 B.R. 917, 928 (Bankr.W.D.Mich.1996). In an action under § 523(a)(2)(A), the statute expressly exclu......
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Bankruptcy
...848 F.3d 953 (11th Cir. 2017).273. Id. at 957.274. Id. at 955-56.275. Id. at 956.276. Id. 277. E.g., compare Engler v. Steinburg, 744 F. 2d 1060, 1061 (4th Cir. 1984) with In re Bandi, 683 F.3d 671, 676 (5th Cir. 2012).278. Appling, 848 F.3d at 957.279. Id. at 958.280. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)......
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Debtors as Predators: the Proper Interpretation of "a Statement Respecting the Debtor's . . . Financial Condition" in 11 U.s.c. § 523(a)(2)(a) and (b)
...See, e.g., Bandi v. Becnel (In re Bandi), 683 F.3d 671 (5th Cir. 2012).2. See, e.g., Engler v. Van Steinburg (In re Van Steinburg), 744 F.2d 1060 (4th Cir. 1984).3. See Anthony Michael Sabino, Preventing an Alchemy of Evil: Preserving the Nondischargeability of a Debt Obtained by Fraud, 12 ......