Cite as: 523 U. S. 213 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
As petitioner acknowledges, his gloss on § 523(a)(2)(A) would allow the debtor in those situations to discharge any liability for losses caused by his fraud in excess of the amount he initially received, leaving the creditor far short of being made whole. And the portion of a creditor's recovery that exceeds the value of the money, property, etc., fraudulently obtained by the debtor—and that hence would be dischargeable under petitioner's view—might include compensation not only for losses brought about by fraud but also for attorney's fees and costs of suit associated with establishing fraud. But see § 523(d) (allowing award of attorney's fees and costs to the debtor where a creditor requests dischargeability determination under § 523(a)(2) for a consumer debt that is ultimately found to be dischargeable). Those sorts of results would not square with the intent of the fraud exception. As we have observed previously in addressing different issues surrounding the scope of that exception, it is "unlikely that Congress . . . would have favored the interest in giving perpetrators of fraud a fresh start over the interest in protecting victims of fraud." Grogan, supra, at 287.
In short, the text of § 523(a)(2)(A), the meaning of parallel provisions in the statute, the historical pedigree of the fraud exception, and the general policy underlying the exceptions to discharge all support our conclusion that "any debt . . . for money, property, services, or . . . credit, to the extent obtained by" fraud encompasses any liability arising from money, property, etc., that is fraudulently obtained, including treble damages, attorney's fees, and other relief that may exceed the value obtained by the debtor. Under New Jersey law, the debt for fraudulently obtaining $31,382.50 in rent payments includes treble damages and attorney's fees and costs, and consequently, petitioner's entire debt of $94,147.50 (plus attorney's fees and costs) is nondischargeable in bankruptcy. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
It is so ordered.
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