Tampa Bay judges crack down on serial bankruptcy filers
It was such an order that allowed a sale to proceed this year on the Palm Harbor home of Marina and Guenter Tesch.
The now-divorced couple bought the house in 2006 for $416,000 but defaulted on the mortgage in less than a year. The bank foreclosed in 2007 but the foreclosure sale was canceled when Guenter Tesch filed the first of what would be his seven bankruptcy petitions.
Tesch, however, didn't submit the required documents, so the case was dismissed and the sale was rescheduled. Over the following years, a pattern emerged. Tesch and his wife would take turns filling petitions to block the sale. The cases would be dismissed for various reasons. The sale would be rescheduled, one of the Tesches would file a new petition, and so on.
Their luck ran out May 6 after Marina Tesch filed her fourth petition, bringing the couple's total to 11.
"This court finds that the Debtor and the Debtor's spouse … have engaged in a scheme to delay, hinder and defraud (the bank) by multiple bankruptcy filings,'' Judge Rodney May wrote.
May banned both Tesches from refiling for two years and let a scheduled sale go through. The bank now has the house eight years after foreclosing.
Records show Tesch, born in Germany, and his ex-wife have been unemployed and supported by relatives for years. When the Times contacted him, he said he couldn't speak then; he did not call back or return a subsequent call.
With the Tesches' many cases staggered between two judges — May and McEwen — it was hard for either judge to detect what was going on until the system that tags three-time filers went into effect, McEwen said.
She and other judges also are getting tough on some petition preparers, non-lawyers who draw up bankruptcy petitions. After two preparers were found to be helping abusive serial filers, both agreed to stop when McEwen threatened to make them return client fees.
Another preparer agreed to stop doing petitions for Chapter 13 repayment cases, the kind filed by the Tesches. He had prepared 10 of the couple's 11 petitions.