Hunt v. Steffensen (In re Steffensen), 534 B.R. 180

Debtor Brian Steffensen, an experienced attorney, filed a voluntary Chapter 7 petition on November 5, 2012; Trustee Peggy Hunt sued to deny discharge under multiple § 727 grounds.
Trustee moved for partial summary judgment on §§ 727(a)(3) (inadequate records) and 727(a)(5) (unexplained loss of assets); defendant filed a renewed motion for summary judgment on all remaining claims.
Defendant submitted 75 deposition corrections (Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(e)) one day late and without itemized reasons; the court struck the errata as untimely and noncompliant.
The court refused to consider the errata and also found the defendant’s verified summary-judgment submission (doubling as an affidavit) inadmissibly conclusory in parts.
On merits, the court held Steffensen failed to keep adequate records (no ledger of loans to his law entities, lost QuickBooks data, and disorganized mass of source documents) so Trustee met burden under § 727(a)(3); debtor’s explanations (cost, busyness, tax-return sufficiency) did not justify recordkeeping deficiency.
Court granted Trustee’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (denying discharge under § 727(a)(3)), denied defendant’s renewed summary-judgment motion, and did not need to decide § 727(a)(5).

Issue	Hunt (Plaintiff) Argument	Steffensen (Defendant) Argument	Held
Motion to Strike deposition errata (Rule 30(e))	Errata were untimely and lacked itemized reasons; should be stricken	Errata were one day late but clarify the record and cause no prejudice; should be allowed	Court struck errata: missed 30-day deadline and no specific reasons provided for changes
Renewed motion for summary judgment by defendant	N/A (defendant moved)	No genuine dispute; uncontroverted facts defeat Trustee’s claims	Denied: defendant failed to meet movant’s burden; affidavit contained conclusory/immaterial statements
§ 727(a)(3) — adequacy of records	Records are inadequate to ascertain debtor’s financial condition (no ledgers for loans; mass disorganized source docs)	Produced many source documents; no duty to create ledgers; tax returns show sufficiency	Granted for Trustee: debtor’s records inadequate as matter of law; oral reconstruction and tax papers insufficient; discharge denied under § 727(a)(3)
§ 727(a)(5) — tracing assets	Inadequate records prevent tracing assets; supports denial	Records suffice to trace loans/payments; contest factual sufficiency	Not reached on merits (disposition under § 727(a)(3) made § 727(a)(5) unnecessary)

Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279 (discusses burden of proof for denial of discharge)
Juzwiak v. Reitz, 89 F.3d 424 (7th Cir. 1996) (records quality over quantity; trustee not required to reconstruct debtor’s affairs)
Meridian Bank v. Alten, 958 F.2d 1226 (3d Cir. 1992) (debtor duty to maintain comprehensible records; sophistication raises standard)
Brown v. Gullickson (In re Brown), 108 F.3d 1290 (10th Cir. 1997) (debtor’s intent not element of § 727(a)(3); oral testimony is not substitute for records)
EBC, Inc. v. Clark Bldg. Sys., Inc., 618 F.3d 253 (3d Cir. 2010) (Rule 30(e) timeliness and court discretion to enforce 30-day limit)
Hambleton Bros. Lumber Co. v. Balkin Enters., Inc., 397 F.3d 1217 (9th Cir. 2005) (Rule 30(e) errata requirements; courts may forgive minor untimeliness in limited circumstances)
Burns v. Bd. of Cty. Comm’rs, 330 F.3d 1275 (10th Cir. 2003) (sham affidavit standard for excluding conflicting sworn statements)