OCTOBER TERM, 2003
Syllabus
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit
No. 02-819. Argued November 3, 2003—Decided January 14, 2004
A creditor in Chapter 7 liquidation proceedings has "60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors" to file a complaint objecting to the debtor's discharge. Fed. Rule Bkrtcy. Proc. 4004(a). The bankruptcy court may extend that period "for cause" on motion "filed before the time has expired." Fed. Rule Bkrtcy. Proc. 4004(b). Reinforcing Rule 4004(b)'s restriction on extension of the Rule 4004(a) deadline, Rule 9006(b)(3) allows enlargement of "the time for taking action" under Rule 4004(a) "only to the extent and under the conditions stated in [that rule]," i. e., only as permitted by Rule 4004(b).
On April 4, 1997, petitioner Kontrick filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. After gaining three successive time extensions from the Bankruptcy Court, respondent Ryan, Kontrick's creditor, filed a complaint on January 13, 1998, objecting to Kontrick's discharge. Ryan alleged that Kontrick had transferred property, within one year of filing his petition, with the intent to defraud creditors, and therefore did not qualify for discharge under 11 U. S. C. §§ 727(a)(2)-(5). Ryan filed an amended complaint on May 6, 1998, with leave of court, but without seeking or gaining a court-approved time extension. The amended complaint alleged with particularity that Kontrick had fraudulently transferred money to his wife, first by removing his own name from the family's once-joint checking account, then by continuing regularly to deposit his salary checks into the account, from which his wife routinely paid family expenses (the "family-account" claim). Kontrick's June 10, 1998, answer to the amended complaint did not raise the untimeliness of the family-account claim; on the merits, the answer admitted the transfers to the family account but denied that Kontrick had violated § 727(a)(2)(A). In response to Ryan's summary judgment motion, which appended a statement of material facts, Kontrick cross-moved to strike portions of Ryan's summary judgment filings, but did not ask the court to strike the amended complaint's family-account allegations. On February 25, 2000, the Bankruptcy Court awarded Ryan summary judgment on the family-account claim, concluding that Kontrick was not entitled to discharge because his transfers to the family account were made with intent to defraud at least creditor Ryan. Kontrick then moved for reconsideration. For the first time, Kontrick urged that the court was
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