DAVID WEIK, 14-61298

Background

Debtor David Weik (pro se) filed Chapter 13 on November 13, 2014, to stop Midway RV & Self Storage from auctioning his stored personal property. He has multiple prior bankruptcy filings in Arizona, Montana, and Texas and no evidence of prior discharges.
Midway held three storage units since 2012; Weik last paid January 2013 and owed $8,629.75 as of January 8, 2015. Midway repeatedly scheduled sales; Weik timed petitions to trigger the automatic stay. Midway offered to let him retrieve property if he did so by a deadline, which he did not meet.
The Chapter 13 Trustee objected to plan confirmation and moved to dismiss with prejudice and bar refiling for two years on grounds including lack of good faith, serial filings/abuse, ineligibility under § 109(g)(1), untimely plan, and material omissions in schedules.
Weik’s petition and schedules omitted multiple required disclosures: several prior bankruptcy cases, Midway as a creditor in this case, ownership interest in a corporation, and vehicles. He signed his petition and SOFA under penalty of perjury.
Debtor’s Plan (filed December 1, 2014) proposed 28 months of graduated payments, listed only Verizon as a creditor, did not provide for Midway or Montana Department of Revenue priority tax claim, and was not served on Midway. Debtor admitted filing to stop sales and said he lacked time/computer access when he omitted prior cases.
Court held an evidentiary hearing, found multiple misrepresentations/omissions and serial abusive filings, denied plan confirmation, and granted dismissal with prejudice plus a two‑year prohibition on refiling.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Trustee)	Defendant's Argument (Weik)	Held
Whether Plan should be confirmed under §1325	Plan fails §1325: not in good faith, omits creditors/assets, fails to pay priority tax, not feasible	Pro se debtor tried to comply, lacked time/computer access; will obtain work/income	Denied — Debtor failed burden to prove §1325(a) elements; plan not in good faith
Whether case should be dismissed for cause under §1307(c) (including abuse)	Serial filings, omissions, manipulation of automatic stay, prejudice to creditor justify dismissal with prejudice	Filing timed to stop Midway sale; omissions were inadvertent or due to pro se status	Granted — dismissal with prejudice appropriate for cause and abuse of process
Whether §109(g)(1) ineligibility bars filing (prior dismissal within 180 days)	Prior case dismissed <180 days supports ineligibility	Debtor contends prior dismissal was for unpaid filing fee; unclear if that equals "failure to appear in proper prosecution"	Court did not decide §109(g)(1) issue because other grounds warranted dismissal
Whether dismissal should include bar on refiling and length	Trustee requested bar given pattern of repeat filings and prejudice	Debtor argued pro se status and intent to retrieve property; no evidence of bad faith intent to permanently evade creditors	Court imposed severe sanction: dismissal with prejudice and two‑year prohibition on refiling due to egregious, atypical conduct

Key Cases Cited

Barnes v. Barnes, 32 F.3d 405 (9th Cir. 1994) (debtor bears burden to prove all elements of plan confirmation)
Leavitt v. Soto (In re Leavitt), 171 F.3d 1219 (9th Cir. 1999) (totality of circumstances test for good faith in Chapter 13)
Rosson v. Fitzgerald (In re Rosson), 545 F.3d 764 (9th Cir. 2008) (standards for dismissal for cause and good faith review)
Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, 549 U.S. 365 (2007) (debtor conduct must be atypical to deny relief; bad‑faith standard)
Tomlin (In re Tomlin), 105 F.3d 933 (4th Cir. 1997) (dismissal with prejudice and bar to refiling is drastic sanction limited to extreme cases)
Chinichian v. Campolongo, 784 F.2d 1440 (9th Cir. 1986) (confirmation requires compliance with chapter and applicable title provisions)
Johnson v. Home State Bank, 501 U.S. 78 (1991) (broad definition of "claim" relevant to required schedule disclosures)