UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

KARLA TWOREK,

Plaintiff,

v.

HUDSON & KEYSE, L.L.C.; and TIMOTHY

BAXTER & ASSOCIATES, P.C.,

Defendants.

 /

Case No. 09-12565

Honorable John Corbett O’Meara

OPINION AND ORDER

GRANTING DEFENDANT HUDSON & KEYSE’S SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This matter came before the court on defendant Hudson & Keyse’s September 28, 2009

motion for summary judgment. No response was filed, and no oral argument was heard. LR

7.1(e)(2).

Plaintiff Karla Tworek filed this action June 30, 2009, alleging violations of the Fair Debt

Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692, et seq., and the Michigan Collection

Practices Act, Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § § 445.251 et seq.

On September 17, 2009, Plaintiff and her spouse filed a Chapter 7 joint petition for bankruptcy

in the Western District of Michigan. In her bankruptcy petition, Plaintiff failed to disclose this

pending litigation as an asset and fraudulently indicated that she had no "contingent and unliquidated

claims" pursuant to Disclosure Number 21 on Schedule B. Furthermore, Plaintiff did not claim this

action as exempt property under Schedule C of her petition.

In her petition, Plaintiff also filed a Statement of Financial Affairs, which requires the

petitioner to "[l]ist all suits and administrative proceedings to which the debtor is or was a party

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within one year immediately preceding the filing of this requirement." Plaintiff again failed to

disclose this action in response to the requirement.

Under the Bankruptcy Code, when a debtor files a bankruptcy petition, a bankruptcy estate

is created which includes all of the debtor's legal or equitable interests in property as of the

commencement of a case. 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1). These interests in property include causes of

action. Bauer v. Commerce Union Bank, 859 F.2d 438, 441 (6th Cir. 1988). Upon appointment,

the trustee is vested with title to all the bankrupt's estate, embracing "property, including a right of

action, which prior to the filing of the petition (the bankrupt) could by any means have transferred

or which might have been levied upon and sold under judicial process against him, or otherwise

seized, impounded, or sequestered" and "rights of action arising upon contracts, or usury, or the

unlawful taking or detention of or injury to his property." 11 U.S.C. § 110(a). Therefore, the

"debtor's trustee has the exclusive right to assert claims belonging to the debtor at the time of the

bankruptcy filing." In re: Newpower, 229 B.R. 691 (W.D. Mich. 1999). Accordingly, plaintiff

Tworek dos not have standing to assert her claims, and the action must be dismissed.

ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that Defendant's September 28, 2009 motion for summary judgment

is GRANTED.

s/John Corbett O'Meara 

United States District Judge

Date: December 14, 2009

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I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the parties of record

on this date, December 14, 2009, using the ECF system and/or ordinary mail.

s/William Barkholz

Case Manager

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