William Carroll, Jr. v. JP Morgan Chase Ban ( 2014 )


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  •      Case: 13-31134      Document: 00512693041         Page: 1    Date Filed: 07/10/2014
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
    United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    FILED
    No. 13-31134                                July 10, 2014
    Summary Calendar                             Lyle W. Cayce
    Clerk
    WILLIAM D. CARROLL, JR.; CAROLYN K. CARROLL,
    Plaintiffs-Appellants,
    v.
    JP MORGAN CHASE BANK,
    Defendant-Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Middle District of Louisiana
    USDC No. 12-CV-637
    Before DAVIS, SOUTHWICK, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:*
    Plaintiffs-Appellants   William     and    Carolyn     Carroll    (“Plaintiffs,”
    collectively) appeal from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in
    favor of Defendant-Appellee J.P. Morgan Chase Bank (“Chase”). Plaintiffs filed
    suit in October 2012, alleging that Chase breached a contract related to a
    borrowing agreement entered into in 2000, which affected property owned by
    Plaintiffs. In May 2008, more than four years prior to initiating the instant
    case, Plaintiffs filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, which was
    * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
    be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
    CIR. R. 47.5.4.
    Case: 13-31134        Document: 00512693041       Page: 2     Date Filed: 07/10/2014
    No. 13-31134
    converted to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 5, 2008, and then converted
    again to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy on August 27, 2008. The Chapter 7
    bankruptcy trustee is Samera L. Abide.
    The filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition creates an estate consisting
    of “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the
    commencement of the case.” 1 “The phrase ‘all legal or equitable interests’
    includes legal claims—whether based on state or federal law.” 2 A bankruptcy
    trustee is the representative of the bankruptcy estate and has the capacity to
    sue and be sued. 3 “Thus, a trustee . . . is the real party in interest, and is the
    only party with standing to prosecute causes of action belonging to the estate
    once the bankruptcy petition has been filed.” 4 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
    17(a) requires that “[a]n action must be prosecuted in the name of the real
    party in interest.” 5
    Relying on these principles, the district court found that the Plaintiffs
    lacked standing because they were not the real party in interest to prosecute
    their claim for breach of contract. The district court reasoned that the trustee
    was the only party capable of bringing the claim because it accrued before the
    filing of their bankruptcy petition in 2008, had never been abandoned by the
    trustee, and was therefore part of the bankrupt estate. For the reasons stated
    above and those set forth in the district court’s careful September 24, 2013,
    Memorandum Order, we agree with the district court’s conclusion, and affirm
    1   11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1).
    2United States ex rel Spicer v. Westbrook, 
    751 F.3d 354
    , 361-62 (5th Cir. 2014) (citing In re
    Seven Seas Petroleum, Inc., 
    522 F.3d 575
    , 584 (5th Cir. 2008)).
    3 11 U.S.C. § 323.
    4 Kane v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co., 
    535 F.3d 380
    , 385 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing 11 U.S.C. §§ 323,
    541(a)(1); Wieburg v. GTE Sw. Inc., 
    272 F.3d 302
    , 306 (5th Cir. 2001) (bankruptcy trustee
    has exclusive standing to assert undisclosed claims that fall within the bankruptcy estate)).
    5 FED. R. CIV. P. 17(a).
    2
    Case: 13-31134   Document: 00512693041   Page: 3   Date Filed: 07/10/2014
    No. 13-31134
    its judgment. All pending motions are DENIED.
    AFFIRMED.
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 13-31134

Judges: Davis, Southwick, Higginson

Filed Date: 7/10/2014

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 10/19/2024