The Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) recently obtained a judgment of nearly $105,000 and a permanent injunction against bankruptcy petition preparers whose conduct led to a consumer losing his home of over 20 years to foreclosure.
On July 2, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas entered a stipulated judgment against CA Enterprises, doing business as Premier Services and Premier Legal Services, and the company’s chief executive, Jescar Denno. Under the stipulated judgment, Premier and Denno paid the debtor almost $95,000 – including $84,032 in actual damages, $6,800 in statutory damages and $3,400 in returned fees – and paid the U.S. Trustee statutory fines of $10,500. Premier and Denno also consented to a permanent injunction prohibiting them from acting as bankruptcy petition preparers, soliciting and advertising bankruptcy assistance, and providing legal advice.
The debtor had paid $3,400 for assistance with a loan modification to save his home from foreclosure. After preparing a skeletal chapter 13 petition for the debtor to file, Premier and Denno provided no meaningful services. The bankruptcy case was dismissed with a bar against refiling without court permission, resulting in the debtor losing his home along with substantial equity in a foreclosure sale.
“This case is an example of the devastation that dishonest bankruptcy petition preparers can wreak on the lives of consumers afraid of losing their homes to foreclosure,” said Director Tara Twomey of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. “The debtor can’t get his home back, but the stipulated judgment is a significant step toward making him whole again.”
The USTP’s San Antonio office filed a complaint alleging multiple violations of the Bankruptcy Code. Premier and Denno initially denied liability but agreed to the entry of a stipulated judgment on all 11 counts alleged in the complaint after discovery conducted by the San Antonio office. Premier has also been barred from providing bankruptcy petition preparer services in at least three other jurisdictions: the District of Kansas, Eastern District of Pennsylvania and District of Maryland.
The USTP’s mission is to promote integrity and efficiency within the bankruptcy system for all stakeholders – debtors, creditors and the public. The USTP consists of 21 regions with 89 field offices nationwide and an Executive Office in Washington D.C.