Mandighomi
Educational Credit Management Corp. v. Mandighomi
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Educational Credit Management Corporation appeals the district court’s affirmance of the bankruptcy court’s partial discharge of Ali Mandighomi’s student debt. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 158 ,1291, and affirm.
Bankruptcy courts are permitted to discharge a portion of a student debt if that portion meets the “undue hardship” test of 11 U.S.C. § 523 (a)(8) (2002). 1 Saxman v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp. (In re Saxman), 325 F.3d 1168, 1172-75 (9th Cir.2003). Assessing whether undue hardship is present requires applying the three-prong test adopted by this Circuit in United Student Aid Funds v. Pena (In re Pena), 155 F.3d 1108, 1110-12 (9th Cir. 1998), and the burden on all three prongs lies on the debtor, Rifino v. United States (In re Rifino), 245 F.3d 1083, 1087-88 (9th Cir.2001).
The bankruptcy court did not clearly err in concluding that Mandighomi adequately established that he could not maintain a “minimal” standard of living while paying his student loans, thus satisfying *403 the first prong. The bankruptcy court looked beyond the IRS’s National Standards for allowable living expenses when evaluating the Mandighomis’ housing and food costs, so that…