In re Moore

1

IN RE JOHNNY RAY MOORE Debtor-Appellant

Civ. No. 3:20CV00705(SALM)

Banker No. 19-51257(JAM)

United States District Court, D. Connecticut

February 16, 2022

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

HON SARAH A. L. MERRIAM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

Pending before the Court is the appeal of self-represented debtor Johnny Ray Moore (“Mr. Moore” or “Appellant”) from two orders of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut (“Bankruptcy Court”).^[1] Mr. Moore appeals from (1) the March 10, 2020, Memorandum of Decision and Order dismissing his Chapter 13 bankruptcy case with prejudice and imposing a three-year filing bar; and (2) the May 6, 2020 Order denying his motion for a new trial. See Doc #1.^[2] For the reasons set forth below, the Court AFFIRMS the orders of the Bankruptcy Court.^[3]

I. Background

To fully understand the background of the instant appeal, a brief review of the Appellant's prior bankruptcy cases is warranted. See Bankr. Doc. #7 (“Clerk's Evidence of Repeat Filings”). The below summary is not meant to be a comprehensive review of Appellant's litigation history before the Bankruptcy or State courts, but is necessary to an understanding of the Bankruptcy Court's order of dismissal and filing bar. Although the entirety of Appellant's litigation history is not detailed in the Bankruptcy Court's orders that are the subject of this appeal, the Bankruptcy Court presided over each of Mr. Moore's three bankruptcy proceedings, including the one now at issue, and was acutely aware of his litigation history. See Doc. #28 at 188-231 (docket report for In re Moore, No. 16-51133(JAM) (Bankr. D. Conn. Aug. 24, 2016) (the “2016 Bankruptcy case”)); Id. at 367-429 (docket report for In re Moore, No. 12-51027(JAM) (Bankr. D. Conn. May 31, 2012) (the “2012 Bankruptcy case”));^[4] see also Bankr. Doc. #7 (“Clerk's Evidence of Repeat Filings”); Bankr. Doc. #131 (Audio Hearing of February 25, 2020, Hearing). The Bankruptcy Court was also well aware of Mr. Moore's history in foreclosure matters, as is documented in the record, and further discussed below. See Bankr. Docs. #37, #72; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Docs. #266, #344.

At the time Appellant filed his 2012 Bankruptcy case, he was a defendant in two foreclosure actions pending before the Connecticut State Superior courts. See Bankr. Doc. #37 at 7. First, on October 15, 2009, Christina Trust, a Division of Wilmington Savings Society, FSB, filed a foreclosure action against Appellant to foreclose its interests in the property located at 83 Willis Street, New Haven, Connecticut. See Id. at 9; see also Christina Trust, a Div. of Wilmington Savs. Soc'y, FSB v. Moore, No. NNH-CV09-6005365-S (Conn. Super. Ct. Oct. 15, 2009) (the “Christina Trust foreclosure”). After a vigorous defense to that foreclosure action by Appellant, a judgment of strict foreclosure entered on April 2, 2012, setting the law day for June 4, 2012. See Bankr. Doc. #37 at 11; see also Christina Trust foreclosure at Doc. #131.

Second, on October 19, 2009, JPMorgan brought a foreclosure action against Appellant seeking to foreclose on its interests in the property located at 15 Sachem Drive, Shelton, Connecticut. See 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #266 at 43; Doc. #344 at 4; see also JPMorgan Chase Bank, Nat'l Ass'n v. Moore, No. AAN-CV09-6001369-S (Conn. Super. Ct. Oct. 19, 2009) (the “JPMorgan foreclosure”). After unsuccessfully moving to dismiss that foreclosure action, Appellant filed his answer and special defenses on May 3, 2012. See 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #266 at 45; see also JPMorgan foreclosure at Doc. #134.

Appellant filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on May 31, 2012. See Doc. #28 at 367; see also In re Moore, No. 12-51027(JAM) (Bankr. D. Conn. May 31, 2012). He later converted his case from a Chapter 13 to a Chapter 11 proceeding. See Doc. #28 at 376; 2012 Bankruptcy case at Docs. #83, #84. After much litigation, Appellant's case was converted to a Chapter 7 proceeding on October 29, 2014. See Doc. #28 at 406; 2012 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #358. On February 4, 2015, Appellant received a Chapter 7 discharge. See Doc. #28 at 414; 2012 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #437.

Following the discharge and lift of the bankruptcy stay in the 2012 Bankruptcy case, litigation in the two foreclosure actions continued in earnest. After Appellant again vigorously defended against the JPMorgan foreclosure, the State Superior Court entered summary judgment in favor of JPMorgan on March 21, 2016. See 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #266 at 46; JPMorgan foreclosure at Doc. #144.02. Appellant filed several motions in response to the entry of summary judgment, including motions to reconsider, to disqualify the judge, and to vacate the order granting the motion for summary judgment. See 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #266 at 47; JPMorgan foreclosure at Docs. #165, #185, #190. On August 17, 2016, the State Superior Court entered an order that all pending motions would be heard on August 25, 2016. See 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #266 at 47; JPMorgan foreclosure at Doc. #192. Appellant sought a continuance of that hearing on August 17, 2016, which was denied by the State Superior Court on August 23, 2016. See 2016 Bankruptcy at Doc. #266 at 47-48; JPMorgan foreclosure at Docs. #193, #193.01.

At the same time, Appellant was also defending the Christina Trust foreclosure. On January 19, 2016, the State Superior Court entered a modified judgment of strict foreclosure, which reset the law day to April 4, 2016. See Bankr. Doc. #37 at 12; Christina Trust foreclosure at Doc. #163.

Thereafter, and through August 2016, Appellant continued to unsuccessfully contest the Christina Trust foreclosure by filing motions to continue, motions to vacate, and motions to reconsider. See Bankr. Doc. #37 at 13-14.

On August 24, 2016, Appellant filed a new Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. See Doc. #28 at 188; see also In re Moore, No. 16-51133(JAM) (Bankr. D. Conn. Aug. 24, 2016). Mr. Moore's 2012 Bankruptcy case was still open at that time. See Doc. #28 at 424-29. The 2016 Bankruptcy case was also heavily litigated. See generally Doc. #28 at 188-291.

On January 18, 2017, the Chapter 13 Trustee filed an Amended Motion to Dismiss the 2016 Bankruptcy case, asserting that Appellant was not eligible for Chapter 13 relief because his secured debts exceeded the debt limitations set forth in 11 U.S.C. §109(e). See Doc. #28 at 197; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #91.^[5] A hearing on the Amended Motion to Dismiss was noticed for December 14, 2017. See Doc. #28 at 213; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #263.

Appellant failed to appear for the December 14, 2017, hearing. See Doc. #28 at 220; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #310 (Audio Transcript of December 14, 2017, Hearing at 0:37-1:25). On December 15, 2017, the Bankruptcy Court ordered Appellant to “appear and show cause why the case should not be dismissed as a bad faith filing.” Doc. #28 at 220; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #312. The Bankruptcy Court set a show cause hearing for January 10, 2018. See Id. The Bankruptcy Court held the hearing as scheduled, dismissed Appellant's case, and entered a one-year filing bar. See generally Doc. #28 at 223; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #344. Appellant appealed that order to the District Court. See Doc. #28 at 227; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #364. On March 14, 2019, the District Court dismissed the appeal. See Doc. #28 at 231; 2016 Bankruptcy case at Doc. #405. The 2016 Bankruptcy case was closed on April 3, 2019. See Doc. #28 at 231.

Less than six months later, Mr. Moore filed the 2019 Chapter 13 case now at issue.^[6] See Doc. #28 at 27. The docket report for that case explicitly references the “Evidence” of Appellant's “Repeat Filings”:

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Bankr. Doc. #7. On October 4, 2019, Appellant filed a proposed Chapter 13 Plan, to which several creditors and the Chapter 13 Trustee objected. See Bankr. Docs. #9, #15, #21, #23. On December 11, 2019, the Chapter 13 Trustee filed a Motion to Dismiss Appellant's case with prejudice, and also requested the imposition of a two-year filing bar. See Bankr. Doc. #37. The Chapter 13 Trustee asserted that the case should be dismissed because: (1) “This is a second filing with no reasonable prospect of confirming a Chapter 13 Plan[, ]” id. at 1; (2) Appellant's “multiple bankruptcy filings demonstrate bad faith[, ]” id.; and (3) Appellant's secured debts exceeded the debt limit set forth in 11 U.S.C. §109(e), making him ineligible for Chapter 13 relief, see Id. at 4. Attached to the motion was a list of Appellant's then-pending foreclosure actions, including the entire docket report for the Christina Trust foreclosure. See Id. at 7-14. The Bankruptcy Court scheduled a hearing on the Chapter 13 Trustee's motion for January 16, 2020. [Bankr. Doc. #38]. Appellant filed an objection to the motion to dismiss on January 7, 2020. [Bankr. Doc. #57].

On December 13, 2019, Appellant filed a First Amended Chapter 13 Plan, to which the Chapter 13 Trustee and certain creditors again objected. See Bankr. Docs. #41, #59, #67, #68. During the pendency of the motion to dismiss, Appellant filed several objections to the claims of various creditors. See Bankr. Docs. #65, #66, #70, #71. Although Appellant appeared for the January 16, 2020, hearing, the Bankruptcy Court continued the hearing to allow “for parties to respond to the objections to claim[.]” Doc. #15 (Transcript of January 16, 2020, Hearing at 13:16-24); see also Bankr. Doc. #73. The hearing was continued to February 25, 2020. See Bankr. Doc. #77.

On February 24, 2020, after filing (1) a motion for evidentiary hearing, and (2) a motion to convert his Chapter 13 case to a Chapter 11 case, Appellant filed a motion seeking to continue the February 25, 2020, hearing. See...