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Chief Judge Scott W. Dales Opinions

The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan offers a database of opinions for the years 1999 to Current, listed by year and judge. For a more detailed search, enter the keyword or case number in the search box above.

Chief Judge Scott W. Dales

Supplemental Opinion Regarding Motions And Claim Of Hockney & Associates On January 5, 2009, the court heard argument on two motions filed by Glenn Hockney, purportedly as agent of Hockney & Associates, on October 23, 2009. For convenience, the court will refer to the Natural Person Motion and the Involuntary Bankruptcy Motion as the Motions. Although expressing doubt about Mr. Hockney s ability to speak for Hockney & Associates, the court listened to...

By her own admission, the Defendant knew the Plaintiff expected her and Mr. Stansell to list the Plaintiff as a lien holder on the Caravan. Mot S.J., Exh. G). Ignoring Plaintiff s statements and its asserted interest in the Caravan, the Defendant never contacted the Plaintiff to set up a time, but instead promptly advertised the Caravan for sale in the newspaper (John s Dep. In other words, if in fact the court concludes the Plaintiff had a superior interest in the Caravan, then the ...

Supplemental Opinion Regarding Motions And Claim Of Hockney & Associates On January 5, 2009, the court heard argument on two motions filed by Glenn Hockney, purportedly as agent of Hockney & Associates, on October 23, 2009. For convenience, the court will refer to the Natural Person Motion and the Involuntary Bankruptcy Motion as the Motions. Although expressing doubt about Mr. Hockney s ability to speak for Hockney & Associates, the court listened to...

Collateral Estoppel The Shers argue that under Hawaiian law, after an arbitration award has matured into a final judgment entered by a circuit court, the judgment would be entitled to be treated in all respects as any other judgment and accorded full faith and credit in this court. 2000) ( [i]n light of the strong federal policy in favor of enforcing arbitration agreements, courts only have a limited role in reviewing arbitration awards as authorized by the [Federal Arbitration Act] ). ...

Order Granting Debtor S Motion For Summary Judgment And Denying Creditor S Motion To Dismiss Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge The Estate of Jennifer Malley, Deceased (the Malley Estate or Creditor ), filed a motion to dismiss this bankruptcy case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 707(a) (the Motion to Dismiss, Dn 19), and Debtor Marshall C. Hudson ( Mr. Hudson or the Debtor ) filed his opposition. See Estate of Jennifer Malley, ...

Opinion And Order Regarding Service Of Complaint Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge Plaintiff David Galloway ( Plaintiff or Mr. Galloway ) attempted to serve DebtorDefendant Kathleen Ries ( Debtor or Ms. Ries ) with a summons and complaint, but experienced difficulty effecting service. Therefore, it appears the Plaintiff has satisfied Rule 7004(b)(9). Because the Debtor retained counsel, however, Rule 7004(g) also required ...

The Exemption Of The Debtor S Residence The statute upon which the Debtor relies to exempt the Residence provides in relevant part as follows: If the owner of a homestead dies, leaving a surviving spouse but no children, the surviving spouse before his or her remarriage, unless the surviving spouse is the owner of a homestead in his or her own right, may exempt the homestead and the rents and profits of the homestead. Instead, the statute can make sense if the court varnishes the exception ...

Indeed, Mr. Rhinehart unequivocally testified that even if the Lenders had immediately re-delivered the Quit Claim Deeds to the Debtor, Roady s would have nevertheless eschewed the transaction. Moreover, after the Lenders recorded the Quit Claim Deeds and the repossession agents appeared on the Debtor s premises, the Debtor clearly had notice of the default in making the Balloon Payment. As a practical matter, the Debtor is complaining not that the Lenders prematurely recorded the Quit ... V

United States Bankruptcy Court For The Western District Of Michigan Opinion And Order Regarding Defendant S Summary Judgment Motion United States Bankruptcy Judge Plaintiffs David Hedrick ( Hedrick ) and Hedrick s chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee, Basil Simon (collectively, the Plaintiffs ), filed a complaint against Defendant Thomas Miller ( Defendant ) that seeks a judgment excepting an alleged fraud debt (the Debt ) from discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(2)(A) and (B). The Debt arose ...

The state court entered judgment against Mr. Frank and Landtec on January 28, 2008 (the Judgment ). If the state court judgment merits preclusive effect in the courts of the rendering state, the bankruptcy court must then give the state court judgment collateral estoppel effect unless it finds that an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Act exists. The bankruptcy court does not sit as an appellate court to review state court judgments, including the Judgment in this matter.

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