In re Brown
| Decision Date | 05 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | Bankruptcy No. 00-12915-7.,Adversary No. 06-00138. |
| Citation | 363 B.R. 591 |
| Parties | In re Daniel Edward BROWN, and Shirley Ann Brown, Debtors. Thomas E. Boland, Plaintiff, v. Darcy M. Crum, Joseph V. Womack, Richard J. Samson, William M. Kebe, Jr., Ross P. Richardson, Gary S. Deschenes, Donald W. Torgenrud, Jr., Robert G. Drummond, Daniel Edward Brown, Shirley Ann Brown, James A Patten, Sharon R. Pruitt, Earl D. Pruitt, Laura J. Sandstrom, Clayton J. Arceneaux, Kenneth Johnson, Brandi L. Hazen, Gayle Ridenour, Darrel S. Arensmeyer, Edward Hanel, Gary Lee Hansen, Donald Lester Bailey, Patricia Ann Roberts, Lynne M. Johnston, Deborah Gay Hardy, Shawn Rogers, John Henry Jones, Lucille L. Haughton, William John Kasun, Kevin Dean Hayworth, Karen Lee Baker, Robert L. Sandstrom, Ronald Jay Nelson, Steven Frank Hegar, Paul Earl Keller, Kenneth J. Herman, Eddie Heath Kimmel, Oliver E. Kingrey, Wendy Lee Hertz, James M. Barry, Thomas Schafer, Delores Mae Noralez, Marsha Lynne Kirchner, Sherryl Ann Hess, Chrystal M. Pope, Anthony Joseph Battello, Vickie Lynn Heuscher, Darcy L. Kohles, Shirley M. Schliep, Marlene Sharkey, Charles Thomas Kopp, Beverly J. Hicks, Kerwin Nick Kostelecky, Susan Rae Hightower, Iris M. Laffoon, Duane Arthur Hovland, Kathy I.Olson, Barbara A. Orr, Rodney Lee Hunt, Dale P. Jacobs, Marilynne K Lafley, William F. Jaszkowiak, Donald Ray Larson, Gertrude Jean Pulst, Isabella Margaret Page, Timothy Watson Page, Donna J Lawson, Denise Johnson, Robert Clyde Birch, Sharon K Blackhall, Andrea Jean Blanchard, Gary Bolton, Janice L. Legresley, Aditya Pamulapati, Debra Kay Shea, Tina L Sims, Gerald Thomas Sisler, David Lloyd Smerkol, Cheryl L Rasmussen, Jerry Leprowse, Joe G. Paranteau, Thomas O. Parker, Daniel V. Rau. |
| Court | U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of Montana |
Jon E. Doak, Billings, MT, for Plaintiff.
Steven M. Johnson, Great Falls, MT, James A. Patten, Billings, MT, M. Penny Leatzow, Kalispell, MT, Lino A. Marsillo, Missoula, MT, John L. Mohr, Laurel, MT, Amber L. Summers, Butte, MT, for Defendants.
Joseph V. Womack, Billings, MT, pro se.
Gary S. Deschenes, Deschenes Law Office, Great Falls, MT, pro se.
Robert G. Drummond, pro se.
James A. Patten, pro se.
Clayton J. Arceneaux, pro se.
Kenneth Johnson, pro se.
Brandi L. Hazen, pro se.
Gayle Ridenour, pro se.
Edward Hanel, pro se.
Gary Lee Hansen, pro se.
Patricia Ann Roberts, pro se.
Lynne M. Johnston, pro se.
Deborah Gay Hardy, pro se.
Shawn Rogers, pro se.
John Henry Jones, pro se.
Lucille L. Haughton, pro se.
William John Kasun, pro se.
Kevin Dean Hayworth, pro se.
Karen Lee Baker, pro se.
Robert L. Sandstrom, pro se.
Ronald Jay Nelson, pro se.
Steven Frank Hegar, pro se.
Paul Earl Keller, pro se.
Eddie Heath Kimmel, pro se.
Oliver E. Kingrey, pro se.
Wendy Lee Hertz, pro se.
James M. Barry, pro se.
Delores Mae Noralez, pro se.
Sherryl Ann Hess, pro se.
Chrystal M. Pope, pro se.
Anthony Joseph Battello, pro se.
Vickie Lynn Heuscher, pro se.
Shirley M. Schliep, pro se.
Marlene Sharkey, pro se.
Beverly J. Hicks, pro se.
Kerwin Nick Kostelecky, pro se.
Susan Rae Hightower, pro se.
Iris M. Laffoon, pro se.
Duane Arthur Hovland, pro se.
Kathy I. Olson, pro se.
Barbara A. Orr, pro se.
Rodney Lee Hunt, pro se.
Dale P. Jacobs, pro se.
Marilynne K. Lafley, pro se.
Donald Ray Larson, pro se.
Gertrude Jean Pulst, pro se.
Isabella Margaret Page, pro se.
Timothy Watson Page, pro se.
Donna J. Lawson, pro se.
Denise Johnson, pro se.
Robert Clyde Birch, pro se.
Sharon K. Blackhall, pro se.
Andrea Jean Blanchard, pro se.
Janice L. Legresley, pro se.
Aditya Pamulapati, pro se.
Debra Kay Shea, pro se.
Gerald Thomas Sisler, pro se.
David Lloyd Smerkol, pro se.
Cheryl L. Rasmussen, pro se.
Jerry Leprowse, pro se.
Joe G. Paranteau, pro se.
Thomas O. Parker, pro se.
Daniel V. Rau, pro se.
Kelly Shawn Liscum, pro se.
Cora Bonney, pro se.
Max J. Bonney, pro se.
Michael Allen Brost, pro se.
Tamara Pelletier, pro se.
James M. Reinstra, Sr., pro se.
Richard Dean Souders, Jr., pro se.
Mary Jane Staats, pro se.
Renee Jaylin Staker, pro se.
Gerald Edward Stephens, pro se.
Betty J. Stevens, pro se.
William D. Marceau, pro se.
Billy Walker Matthews, pro se.
Joe E. Richie, pro se.
Sally Carroll, pro se.
Mark R. Case, pro se.
Frances J. McCormick, pro se.
Lyle Ray Pettit, pro se.
Pershing Clarence Phillips, pro se.
Larry Eugene McGaha, Sr., pro se.
Katherine E. Vitt, pro se.
William Robert Clark, pro se.
Janet Corpron, pro se.
Letty Crowley, pro se.
Reva Ann Custer, pro se.
Donna M. Pierce, pro se.
Delores A. Pogreba, pro se.
Timothy T. McKay, pro se.
Larry C. Stevens, pro se.
Susanne C. Stockton, pro se.
Anthony J. Telles, pro se.
James L. Terry, pro se.
Robert M. Medina, pro se.
Richard Walter, pro se.
Jack H. Merritt, pro se.
Ronald J. Migneault, pro se.
John Alfred Wartick, pro se.
Dennis Ray Morelock, pro se.
Gary P. Thibert, pro se.
Barbara Lynne Thom, pro se.
Amy Marie Van Hoozer, pro se.
Ruby Faye Mullendore, pro se.
Maryann Wegner, pro se.
Joseph J. Murphy, pro se.
Pearl J. Murrell, pro se.
Gerald J. Weidner, pro se.
Ronald Jon Wemple, pro se.
Marcella Y. Dahl, pro se.
Paul David Daines, pro se.
Ruth V. White, pro se.
Thomas J. Davis, pro se.
Mary E. Whitney, pro se.
Marco A. Demers, pro se.
Susan B. Whittaker, pro se.
Frank A. Dengel, pro se.
Michael Desmond, pro se.
Jon L. Williams, pro se.
Kathleen Diane Downing, pro se.
Leonard O. Wortman, pro se.
Medwin R. Eastwood, pro se.
Timothy D. Enrooth, pro se.
Carol L. Etheridge, pro se.
Cynthia M. Wright, pro se.
Jerry D. Wright, pro se.
William R. Etheridge, pro se.
Rosemary Lynn Evenson, pro se.
Dan J. Wyant, pro se.
Jay Allen Yarn, pro se.
Virginia L. Ewing, pro se.
Linda Flynn, pro se.
George L. Frisby, Jr., pro se.
Thomas W. Furr, pro se.
John Lawrence Gallagher, pro se.
Julius Galvan, Jr., pro se.
Linda Elaine Greaves, pro se.
Susan Hackney, pro se.
Bradley A. Halter, pro se.
Arliss Marie Halvorson, pro se.
Edward Ray Hampton, pro se.
Doris Hanel, pro se.
Richard George Pope, pro se.
Before the Court in this Adversary Proceeding is the filed on January 29, 2007, by counsel for the Defendant/Trustees, Darcy M. Crum, Joseph V. Womack, Richard J. Samson, William M. Kebe, Jr., Ross P. Richardson, Gary S. Deschenes, and Donald W. Torgenrud, Jr. This Adversary Proceeding was commenced on December 5, 2006, when the Plaintiff filed a Complaint in Interpleader. The following day, the Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint in Interpleader. Plaintiff was Class Counsel in a class action lawsuit captioned Wombold v. Associates Financial Services Company of Montana, Inc. et al., Case No. BVD 00-888, which was filed on or about October 2, 2000, in the Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County (hereinafter, "the Wombold Class Action"). Defendants Darcy M. Crum, Joseph V. Womack, Richard J. Samson, Ross P. Richardson, William M. Kebe, Jr., Gary S. Deschenes, and Donald W. Torgenrud, Jr. are each Chapter 7 Panel Trustees in the District of Montana; and Defendant Robert G. Drummond is the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the District. Such Defendants, hereinafter referenced collectively as "the Trustees", are the Trustees in certain Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases filed in the District of Montana.
The Debtor/Defendants, Daniel Edward Brown and Shirley Ann Brown ("Brown"), are individuals who have previously filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding in the District of Montana, and are also Plaintiff class members in the Wombold Class Action. Those individuals listed on Exhibit A, attached to the Plaintiffs Amended Complaint in Interpleader, have each, prior to January 1, 2006, filed a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana, are also Plaintiff class members in the Wombold Class Action, and are thus persons similarly situated with the Brown Defendants. Such persons (including the Browns) are hereinafter referenced collectively as "the Debtors."
The Wombold Class Action was brought on behalf of all persons who entered into loan agreements with Associates Financial Services Company of Montana ("Associates") during a specified class time period. All of the individuals identified on Exhibit A, attached to the Amended Complaint in Interpleader, were members of the class of borrowers that was certified by the Montana District Court in the Wombold Class Action. As explained in more detail by counsel for the Trustees, in October of 2000, James R. and Elizabeth Ann Wombold filed an action in the Montana Eighth Judicial District Court challenging Associates' policies and practices in marketing and making consumer loans in Montana. On or about September 25, 2002, the state district court certified the Wombolds' case as a class action to include all persons to whom Associates made a loan which was originated in the State of Montana during the time frame of January 1, 1995, through December 31, 2000. Stipulation for Settlement, ¶ 2, Appendix B, p. 49.
The state district court granted the class action plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment on October 27, 2003, finding that Associates had violated the Montana Consumer Loan Act ("MCLA") [§§ 32-5-101 to -506], with respect to all second mortgage loans from January 1, 1995, through December 31, 2000, and those first mortgage loans made by Associates to Sub-Class members from January 1, 1995, through October 1, 1997. Associates appealed the judgment of the state district court to the Montana Supreme Court. In a decision entered December 30, 2004, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district court's summary judgment ruling and remanded the case for a determination of the proper remedy to be...
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...Judgment (Docket No. 12). EMC moves for summary judgment on Counts Four and Five. The following excerpt from Boland v. Crum (In re Brown), 363 B.R. 591, 603-04 (Bankr. D.Mont.2007) sets out the standard which applies to all three pending motions for summary Summary judgment is governed by F......
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