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Post Discharge Violation?
Cannot force anyone to do business with a debtor.
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Dennis McGoldrick, 350 S. Crenshaw Bl., #A207B, Torrance, Ca 90503 310-328-1001-voice
> On Feb 28, 2014, at 12:08 AM, "Mark J. Markus" wrote:
>
> 5 years after receiving a discharge, E-bay has closed a very active account of a client of mine, citing the balance owed on the account as a reason. They claim not to know about the bankruptcy, but when they were "reminded" they still closed the account.
>
> My gut level feeling tells me that E-bay has no obligation to allow anyone to use its services, but just wondering if anyone things this is an actionable 524 issue.
>
> Thoughts?
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>
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Dear Mark,
I agree that in a free market private businesses are free to refuse to do business with anyone - other than for the obvious, legally actionable reasons of race, religion, sex (or lack thereof?), etc. Thus, I see no reason why eBay cannot discriminate due to bankruptcy ( 525(b) only prohibits employment discrimination by private employers). See, e.g., Brown v. Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union, 851 F. 2d 81, 85 - (3rd Cir. 1988) ("The limited scope of the anti-discrimination provisions of the code demonstrates that PSECU may lawfully refuse to deal with Brown on account of her discharged debt.").
However, if eBay attempted to coerce your client into paying a discharged debt through a quid pro quo proposition, then it violated 524(a)(2). See, e.g., In re Bowling, 116 B.R. 659 (Bankr. S.D. Ind. 1990) (bank's conditioning the award of a loan on the repayment of a discharged debt held to be a violation of the discharge injunction). Did eBay state that it would reopen the account only if your client paid the discharged debt? If so, then I think you could appeal to Bowling decision and argue that it is attempting to collect a discharged debt through coercion. Nevertheless, be sure to read the Brown decision because you will need to distinguish it's holding from the Bowling one based on the peculiar facts of your client's case.
If you take any action, please let me know how you fare.
All the best,
Nick
Nicholas Gebelt
Nicholas Gebelt, Ph.D., J.D.
Attorney at Law
Certified Bankruptcy Law Specialist
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