UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

MIAMI DIVISION

IN RE:

ANAYS MESTRE AND 

CARLOS PRADA,

Debtors.

___________________________________/

CASE NO.: 21-14911-LMI

CHAPTER 13

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’S RESPONSE 

TO DEBTORS’ OBJECTION TO CLAIM # 10

The United States of America, by and through the undersigned Assistant United States 

Attorney, on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), responds to the Debtors’

Objection to Proof of Claim 10 (the “Objection”) and in support thereof states as follows:

1. On May 20, 2021, Anays Mestre and Carlos Prada (the “Debtors”) filed their

voluntary joint petition for relief under Chapter 13 of Title 11 of the United States Code (the 

“Bankruptcy Code”).

2. On June 29, 2021, the IRS filed proof of claim 10 (the “Claim”) comprised of a

secured claim in the amount of $98,407.95 and a priority claim in the amount of $5,000.00.

3. On August 4, 2021, the Debtors filed their Objection alleging that the civil penalty 

amounts listed on the Claim are duplicative and that the Debtors were entitled to a tax refund that 

would offset their 2019 tax liability. See Objection, p. 1. 

4. On September 14, 2021, the Debtors’ counsel reached out to the undersigned 

counsel for the IRS regarding the Objection, and on September 16, 2021, the Debtors’ counsel was 

provided with IRS tax transcripts for the Debtors demonstrating the tax liability owed and that the 

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amounts listed in the claim were not duplicative. The IRS further advised that the assigned IRS 

insolvency specialist would be amending the Claim to include the deficiency tax liability owed by 

the Debtors stemming from an IRS audit of the Debtors’ 2019 tax return. 

5. On September 23, 2021, the IRS filed amended proof of claim 10-2 (the “Amended 

Claim”) comprised of a secured claim in the amount of $98,407.95 and a priority claim in the 

amount of $986.66.

6. The IRS contends that the Amended Claim is valid as filed and states the correct 

tax liability for the Debtors. The IRS has further provided the Debtors with their tax transcripts to 

substantiate the amounts listed in the Amended Claim. As such, the IRS claim should be allowed 

as filed. 

7. Moreover, the Claim was filed in accordance with Rule 3001 of the Federal Rules 

of Bankruptcy Procedure and, thus, the Claim constitutes prima facie evidence of the validity and 

amount of the claim. Fed. R. Bank. P. 3001(f); In re Moreno, 341 B.R. 813, 817 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 

2006) (“A proof of claim that meets the above standard along with the others imposed in Rule 

3001, ‘shall constitute prima facie evidence of the validity and amount of the claim.’”). 

8. Further, the Debtor has offered no countervailing evidence that rebuts the prima 

facie validity of the Claim. Thus, the Claim is “strong enough to carry over a mere formal objection 

without more.” In re Holm, 931 F.2d 620, 623 (9th Cir. 1991). 

9. Accordingly, the Claim should be allowed as filed and the Debtors’ Objection 

should be overruled. 

WHEREFORE, the IRS requests that the Debtors’ Objection to Claim be overruled.

Respectfully submitted,

JUAN ANTONIO GONZALEZ

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UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

By: /s/Raychelle Tasher 

RAYCHELLE TASHER

Assistant United States Attorney

Florida Bar No. 109291

Raychell.Tasher@usdoj.gov 

99 N.E. 4th Street, Suite 300

Miami, Florida 33132

Telephone: (786) 439-3185

Facsimile: (305) 530 -7139 

 Counsel for the United States of America

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on November 29, 2021, I electronically filed the foregoing 

document with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF. I also certify that the foregoing document

is being served this day by transmission of Notices of Electronic Filing generated by CM/ECF to

those parties registered to receive electronic notices of filing in this case or via U.S. mail as listed

in the below Service List.

21-14911-LMI Notice will be electronically mailed to: 

Christopher Keith Baxter on behalf of Creditor PennyMac Loan Services, LLC 

MLGBK@ecf.courtdrive.com 

Frederic J Dispigna on behalf of Creditor PennyMac Loan Services, LLC 

fdispigna@mlg-defaultlaw.com, mlgfl-bk@mlg-defaultlaw.com;ecf@mlgdefaultlaw.com;MLGBK@ecf.courtdrive.com 

David H Haft on behalf of Creditor Jamestown CCP, L.P. 

david@dhaftlaw.com, service@dhaftlaw.com 

Samir Masri on behalf of Debtor Carlos Prada 

masrilaw@aol.com 

Samir Masri on behalf of Joint Debtor Anays Mestre 

masrilaw@aol.com 

Nancy K. Neidich 

e2c8f01@ch13miami.com, ecf2@ch13miami.com 

Office of the US Trustee 

USTPRegion21.MM.ECF@usdoj.gov 

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Raychelle A Tasher on behalf of Creditor United States of America, Dept. of Treasury, Internal 

Revenue Service 

Raychelle.Tasher@usdoj.gov, Milton.Pacheco@usdoj.gov;Shannon.Patterson@usdoj.gov

s/ RAYCHELLE TASHER______

RAYCHELLE TASHER

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