Ruling on Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency’s ("Defendant") Motion for Summary Judgment, the Court stated that Education Credit Management Corp. v. Carter (In re Carter), 279 B.R. 872 (M.D. Ga. 2002), set a very high standard for undue hardship. However, the Court could not make such a determination as a matter of law because there were genuine issues of material fact which remained in dispute. The Court denied Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Opinions
The Middle District of Georgia offers opinions in PDF format, listed by year and judge. For a more detailed search, enter the keyword or case number in the search box above.
Please note: These opinions are not a complete inventory of all judges' decisions and are not documents of record. Official court records are available at the clerk's office.
Judge John T. Laney, III
On a motion for summary judgment, the court held that statutes in derogation of common law must be strictly complied with. The court ruled against Speedee Cash of Columbus, Inc. ("Defendant") because the title pawn contract did not strictly comply with the Georgia Pawnshop Act. Since Defendant’s contract was not in strict compliance, it was not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.
The court was asked to consider whether, under Banks v. Sallie Mae Servicing Corporation (In re Banks), 299 F.3d 296 (4th Cir. 2002), Debtors’ adversary proceeding should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Reserving judgment on whether Banks was applicable and should be followed, the court ruled that the record and admitted pleadings did not provide grounds to dismiss the adversary proceeding.
The court was asked to reconsider an order dated September 3, 2002 in which the court ruled that Deere Credit, Inc. did not have a security interest in a 548G skidder that had been mislabeled on both the security agreement and the financing statement. Upon reconsideration, the court held that it was correct in the September 3, 2002 order and did not change its ruling. While the serial number and model number were both off by just one digit, the combination of both incorrect numbers did not raise a red flag to a third party. Therefore, the description of the collateral did not meet the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 11-9-108(a).
Two judgment creditors made objections to Debtor’s proposed Chapter 13 plan. The court ruled that Debtor bears the burden to prove that his Chapter 13 plan is in conformity with the statutory requirements for confirmation. Debtor had to overcome both objections or he would be required to modify his Chapter 13 plan. In failing to provide court with proper evidence and case law to overcome the creditors’ objections, the objections were sustained and Debtor was ordered to modify his Chapter 13 plan to give the creditors’ claim proper treatment.
Zlatava Davidova, Trustee of LET, a.s. ("Movant") asked the court to reconsider its August 21, 2002 Memorandum Opinion and Order regarding the validity, priority, and extent of liens or competing interests in an aircraft and its two engines. Upon reconsideration, the court found that Movant did meet its burden to prove Czech Republic law. Thus, the court applied the facts to the applicable Czech Republic law. Accordingly, the court found that the purported transfer of the L610-301 aircraft from LET, a.s. to Ayres Aviation Holdings ("Debtor") was not effective pursuant to the Czech Civil Aviation Act. However, the court found that the purported transfer of the 002 engine from LET a.s. to Debtor was valid and First National Bank of South Georgia does have a valid perfected security interest in the 002 engine. The court did not change its holding that the 998 engine belonged to General Electric. Nor did the court change its holding denying relief from the stay as to GATX Capital Corporation.
Robert F. Hershner, Jr. (Retired)
Chapter 7 debtor claimed as exempt his stock in several corporations. Debtor listed the value of the claimed exemption as $10. The trustee was concerned that the stock may increase in value and argued that the exemption should be limited to the amount claimed, $10. The Court rejected the trustee's argument that the trustee should be entitled to any post-petition appreciation in value of the stock.
Judge James D. Walker Jr. (Retired)
When a secured creditor repossesses and sell collateral following a grant of stay relief, it must file an amended claim. If the creditor fails to do so within the time period prescribed by Court order, that order will provide for designation of the claim as fully satisfied.
When several pieces of sevarable collateral secure a single debt, a Chapter 13 debtor may satisfy Section 1325(a)(5) by retaining a portion of the collateral and surrendering a portion of the collateral.
The creditor repossessed a vehicle three days before the debtor filed for Chapter 13 relief. The creditor refused to turn over the vehicle, contending that the vehicle was not property of the bankruptcy estate. The creditor relied upon Bell-Tel Federal Credit Union v. Kalter (In re Kalter), 292 F.3d 1350 (11th Cir. 2002) (under Florida law, ownership in vehicle terminated upon repossession). The Court concluded that repossession, by itself, is not sufficient to terminate ownership under Georgia law. The Court ordered the creditor to turn over the vehicle contingent upon the debtor providing adequate protection.