222
Opinion of the Court
scope of the fraud exception along the lines suggested by petitioner. If, as petitioner contends, Congress wished to limit the exception to that portion of the debtor's liability representing a restitutionary—as opposed to a compensatory or punitive—recovery for fraud, one would expect Congress to have made unmistakably clear its intent to distinguish among theories of recovery in this manner. See, e. g., § 523(a)(7) (barring discharge of debts "for a fine, penalty, or forfeiture payable to . . . a governmental unit," but only if the debt "is not compensation for actual pecuniary loss").
The conclusion that § 523(a)(2)(A) bars the discharge of all liability arising from fraud is further borne out by the implications of petitioner's alternative construction. The various exceptions to discharge in § 523(a) reflect a conclusion on the part of Congress "that the creditors' interest in recovering full payment of debts in these categories outweigh[s] the debtors' interest in a complete fresh start." Grogan, 498 U. S., at 287. But if, as petitioner would have it, the fraud exception only barred discharge of the value of any money, property, etc., fraudulently obtained by the debtor, the objective of ensuring full recovery by the creditor would be ill served. Limiting the exception to the value of the money or property fraudulently obtained by the debtor could prevent even a compensatory recovery for losses occasioned by fraud. For instance, if a debtor fraudulently represents that he will use a certain grade of shingles to roof a house and is paid accordingly, the cost of repairing any resulting water damage to the house could far exceed the payment to the debtor to install the shingles. See In re Church, 69 B. R. 425, 427 (Bkrtcy. Ct. ND Tex. 1987). The United States, as amicus curiae, posits another example along these lines, involving "a debtor who fraudulently represents to aircraft manufacturers that his steel bolts are aircraft quality [and] obtains sales of $5,000" for the bolts, but "the fraud causes a multi-million dollar airplane to crash." Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 21.
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