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← 302 B.R. 601 - In Re Wampler

In Re Wampler’s Empirical Analysis

2003

Citation profile

8
cited by 8 later decisions
November 2007
most recently cited

1 federal appellate · 1 district ·

Relationships

Applies 11 U.S.C. § 109 · 11 U.S.C. § 1325

Relies on In the Matter of Robert John Love, Debtor-Appellant · Eisen v. Curry · In Re Ernest R Lilley Jr Ernest R Lilley Jr · Gier v. Farmers State Bank · Finney v. Smith

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

  1. “An increasing number of courts, however, have rejected this interpretation [one-time absolute right to convert] and have instead concluded that bankruptcy courts have the discretion to deny a motion to convert brought under § 706(a). See e.g., In re Brown, 293 B.R. 865, 870 (Bankr.W.D.Mich.2003); In re Ponzini, 277 B.R. 399, 405 (Bankr.E.D.Ark.2002); In re Thornton, 203 B.R. 648, 652 (Bankr.S.D.Ohio 1996); In re Porras, 188 B.R. 375, 379 (Bankr.W.D.Tex.1995). Some courts have found support for this conclusion in the lan guage of § 706(a). See, e.g., Ponzini, 277 B.R. at 404 (Bankr.E.D.Ark.2002) (while the statute provides that a debtor “may” convert, it does not provide that the court “shall” honor that request); In re Starkey, 179 B.R. 687, 691 (Bankr.N.D.Okla.1995) (the phrase “at any time” in § 706(a) was intended to mean “at any stage” of the proceedings, not “regardless” of the circumstances).”
    1 later decision quote this exact passage
  2. “Having read the various cases and commentary discussing § 706(a), the Court firmly believes that the statute was intended to give only the honest debtor an opportunity to voluntarily repay his debts via conversion from Chapter 7. Section 706(a) was not intended as a way for the dishonest debtor to abuse the bankruptcy process, perpetrate a fraud or engage in bad faith behavior. Therefore, the Court concludes that it has the discretion to deny a § 706(a) motion to convert upon a showing of bad faith or where conversion is sought for an illegitimate purpose.”
    1 later decision quote this exact passage

How this case has been treated — in progress

Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.