Court Opinion

ID: 9644445
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:56:37.712142+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:13.622388
License: Public Domain

BROOKSHIRE, Justice,
concurring.
This brief opinion records my concurrence with the results reached by the Court. I especially concur with the Court’s disapproval of the bank’s argument that Gutierrez was estopped from asserting any of his alleged defenses because Gutierrez had the claim of MBank The Woodlands, N.A., listed as one of his creditors in a prior bankruptcy proceeding. In the bank’s response to Gutierrez’s raised defenses, the bank asserted that Gutierrez had conceded that the debt to the bank was a bona fide one when he attempted, in an abortive way, to have it discharged in the bankruptcy proceeding.
Even if the bankrupt, in good faith and for good reason, believes that a certain debt or obligation is not justly owed by him, it is prudent practice for the bankrupt, or his attorney, to list the same in his appropriate bankruptcy schedules. This is correct, prudent, professional practice for several reasons, one of which is that the debt or obligation probably can be adjudicated before the bankruptcy judge and at the end of the bankruptcy proceeding — at the final creditors’ meeting or thereafter— the bankrupt is eligible to have this debt discharged if the same is a dischargeable debt. In sum, the debtor, whether a voluntary or involuntary bankrupt, is seeking a clear, new, financial slate and desires a born again economical life. One of the main aims of the bankrupt is to have all possible, proper debts or obligations discharged. Therefore, all debts or obligations should be listed so that the various creditors will receive official notice from the Bankruptcy Judge of the bankruptcy proceeding. This official notice advises the creditors when, where and how to file their claims. Usually, an unlisted, unscheduled creditor does not receive notice of the bankruptcy proceeding which lack of notice may, in turn, cause that creditor’s claim to not be discharged.