Ward v. No (In re Ward)

• Decision Date: 15 January 2020
• Docket Number: Bankruptcy No. 19-70647-JAD
• Citation: 610 B.R. 804
• Parties: IN RE: Linda M. WARD, Debtor. Linda M. Ward, Movant, v. No Respondent.
• Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

610 B.R. 804

IN RE: Linda M. WARD, Debtor.Linda M. Ward, Movant,

v.No Respondent.

Bankruptcy No. 19-70647-JAD

United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed January 15, 2020

Glenn R. Bartifay, Murrysville, PA, for Debtor.

MEMORANDUM ORDER (A) DENYING MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE SCHEDULES, DECLARATIONS, STATEMENTS AND PLAN, and (B) SETTING RULE TO SHOW CAUSE AS TO WHAT SANCTIONS SHOULD BE ISSUED FOR DEBTOR'S FAILURE TO ADHERE TO DEBTOR'S DUTIES

The Honorable Jeffery A. Deller, United States Bankruptcy Judge

On January 14, 2020, the above captioned Debtor, through counsel, filed a motion styled as a Motion for Extension of Time to File Schedules, Declarations, Statements and Plan (the "Motion to Extend Time to Comply"). This is the 7^th time in this case whereby the Debtor seeks additional time to file documents required by applicable rules of bankruptcy procedure. See Fed.R.Bankr.P. 1007.

The record reflects that the Debtor commenced her bankruptcy case nearly 3 months ago. Her filing was a "bare bones" filing with no schedules of assets and liabilities, no statement of financial affairs, and no chapter 13 repayment plan having been filed. There may be other documents that have not been filed, but the preceding list describes the essence of the Court's observation. That is, the Debtor really has not filed anything that she is required to do pursuant to both Fed.R.Bankr.P. 1007 and applicable statutes mandating that the Debtor file such papers. See 11 U.S.C. §§ 521 and 1321.

The net effect of the Debtor's failure to adhere to her duties is that to date no meeting of creditor's has occurred despite one being required by 11 U.S.C. § 341. The consequence of this failure is that the Chapter 13 Trustee and creditors have been deprived of the opportunity to examine the Debtor under oath. In addition, creditors and the Chapter 13 Trustee have been deprived of an opportunity to examine the Debtor's assets and liabilities in order to determine whether this case has been filed in good faith and whether creditors will receive any meaningful distribution. Furthermore, inasmuch as no Chapter 13 plan has been filed, no payments have been tendered to the Chapter 13 Trustee and a fortiori is that creditors have received nothing in this case to date.

This record reflects that this case has been prosecuted in a "one sided" manner. That is, it appears that the Debtor merely filed this case for the sole purpose of invoking the automatic stay, which is a statutory injunction set forth in 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), which keeps creditors from pursuing collection remedies against the Debtor. At the same time, despite the enormous benefit of bankruptcy, the Debtor is not adhering to her countervailing obligations under applicable statutes and rules. The Debtor's failure to adhere to statutory duties now causes the Court to issue this Memorandum Order.

It is true that some debtor's need time to get his or her papers and things in order. Certainly affording a debtor time to do so is consistent with the "breathing spell" afforded by bankruptcy. However, this case appears on its face to be a garden variety Chapter 13, and more than 3 months to file papers required by the law seems to be enough time to do so.

Fed.R.Bankr.P. 1007(a)(5) provides that a debtor may be awarded additional time to file documents for "cause shown." As set forth above, the Debtor has been awarded 6 extensions of time already to file documents which are mandated by law. An examination of the Motion to Extend Time to Comply reveals that it gives nary a reason for such extensive delays, and on its face alleges no real "cause" supporting the requested extension. All that the motion alleges is that the Debtor "has not had sufficient time" to do what she is required to do by law.

This record indicates that the Motion to Extend Time to Comply should be denied for failure to allege "cause shown." Moreover, 11 U.S.C. § 1307(c) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that a bankruptcy case may be dismissed "for cause," which includes "unreasonable delay by the debtor that is prejudicial to creditors," the "failure to file a plan timely," and the "failure to commence making timely payments."

The record sub...