Witkowski v. Boyajian (Witkowski), 523 B.R. 300

Debtor Mary E. Witkowski filed a pro se Chapter 13 petition on Jan 28, 2014.
Court instructed Debtor to file missing documents and set a 341 meeting for Mar 7, 2014.
Debtor filed missing documents including a Chapter 13 plan proposing 36 monthly payments of $1,410.38.
Debtor moved to continue the Mar 7, 341 meeting; she then failed to attend the meeting.
Trustee moved to dismiss the case, citing failure to attend the 341 meeting and other noncompliances; Court held a hearing on Apr 16, 2014.
Dismissal order entered Apr 16, 2014, without explicit statutory basis; Debtor filed a Rule 59(e) reconsideration on Apr 30, 2014; reconsideration denial entered May 13, 2014.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether dismissal was proper for failure to commence plan payments	Witkowski	Trustee/bankruptcy court	Dismissal affirmed; failure to commence payments under §1326(a)(1) supports dismissal.
Whether failure to attend §341 meeting constitutes cause for dismissal	Witkowski	Trustee asserted attendance needed; pattern of repeat filings noted	Dismissal sustained when combined with nonpayment and attendance failure.
Whether the denial of the motion to reconsider was proper	Witkowski	Trustee/secured creditor opposed reconsideration; no new evidence or manifest error	Reconsideration denial affirmed; no basis shown for Rule 59(e) relief.
Whether the appellate panel has jurisdiction to review both orders	Witkowski	Intertwined issues; notice of appeal designated only reconsideration order but parties pursued both	Panel had jurisdiction to review both the Dismissal and Reconsideration orders.

In re Jones, 174 B.R. 8 (Bankr.D.N.H. 1994) (failure to make plan payments grounds for dismissal)
In re Kaspar, 60 B.R. 658 (Bankr.D.R.I. 1986) (breach of plan-payment obligation independently constitutes grounds for dismissal)
In re Barbel, 183 F. App’x 227 (3d Cir. 2006) (failure to commence timely plan payments; dismissals affirmed)
In re McDonald, 118 F.3d 568 (7th Cir. 1997) (ten-day delay in first plan payment without adequate explanation can justify dismissal)
In re Chandler, 89 B.R. 1002 (N.D. Ga. 1988) (illustrative of dismissal where debtor not reorganizing or providing creditors information)
In re Pellegrino, 423 B.R. 586 (1st Cir. BAP 2010) (finality of dismissal and appealability of orders)
In re Howard, 284 F.3d 320 (1st Cir. 2002) (finality standards for appeals in bankruptcy)
In re Rodríguez, 516 B.R. 177 (1st Cir. BAP 2014) (Rule 59(e) reconsideration standards applied to bankruptcy judgments)
In re Aja, 441 B.R. 173 (1st Cir. BAP 2011) (treatment ofRule 59(e) reconsideration in bankruptcy)
In re Monahan, 497 B.R. 642 (1st Cir. BAP 2013) (context for finality of orders and appeal)