Joseph Parks v. Angelus Block Co.

facts.” Id. at 1324 (internal quotation marks omitted).

-3- The bankruptcy court did not clearly err in finding that Parks failed to

disclose a material fact when he did not disclose to Angelus the owner of the four

Lang properties.1 That nondisclosure is material, because Parks was aware of the

importance to Angelus of knowing “the destination and use of the materials in

question.” Further, this omission is actionable under § 523(a)(2)(A), because Parks

owed Angelus a duty to disclose. Though Angelus submitted no evidence of a

special relationship or customs of the trade, other objective circumstances, In re

Apte, 96 F.3d at 1324, gave rise to the duty. Specifically, the number of prior

transactions between Parks and Angelus, the ratio of Reiger properties to Lang

properties in the subdivision, and Parks’s knowledge that Angelus needed to know

the owner of each property to file a mechanic’s lien together created a duty to

disclose between Parks and Angelus. See also Citibank (S.D.), N.A. v. Eashai (In re

Eashai), 87 F.3d 1082, 1089 (9th Cir. 1996) (noting that a duty to disclose exists

when a debtor creates a “facade” that conceals fraudulent intentions not to…