Deutsche Financial Services Corp. v. Osborne (In re Osborne)

ORDER

In this adversary proceeding, after the court entered judgment for the defendant/debtor on plaintiffs Deutsche Financial Services, Inc.’s (“DFS”) non-dis-chargeability complaint filed under 11 U.S.C. § 523 (a)(2)(B), the defendant lodged his bill of costs and filed a separate motion for award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $17,529.50 for successfully defending against the false financial statement complaint. In this court’s order denying plaintiff relief, the court found that the debtor has made a materially false financial statement with the intent to deceive plaintiff in extending creditor to the debtor, but that the plaintiff did not reasonably rely on such statement, and thus failed to prove one essential element under § 523(a)(2)(B).

Defendant/debtor’s argument on the fee request centers on the personal guaranty language given by the debtor to plaintiff as part of the financing package approved by the plaintiff to debtor’s wholly-owned company Automotive Distributing for the Far-west (“Farwest”). The pertinent language of the guaranty cited in debtor’s motion is: “We [debtor] will pay you [DFS] on demand the full amount of all sums owed by Dealer [Farwest] to you…