GERALD D. FINES, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge
This matter having come before the Court on a Motion for Turnover filed by the Debtors on April 24, 2002; the Court, having heard sworn testimony and arguments of counsel and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 7052 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
Findings of Fact
In considering the motion presently before it, the Court finds it necessary to first set out a complete chronology of the Debtors' bankruptcy proceeding from its inception to the present time. That chronology, in pertinent part, is as follows:
1. The Debtors filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on December 4, 1989. The Debtors were initially represented by Attorney Larry Serene. In their original bankruptcy schedules, the Debtors scheduled Kankakee County as a Creditor holding claims for unpaid real estate taxes for the years 1984 though 1988, in the approximate amount of $71,450.15. The majority of the Debtors' assets included numerous parcels of rental real estate located in and around the City of Kankakee, Illinois.
2. The first meeting of creditors in Debtors' bankruptcy was scheduled and held on February 12, 1990, at which time it was noted that the Court was having difficulty in getting the Debtors to file all required schedules, including the schedule of salary which was not filed until March 19, 1990.
3. Apparently, difficulties developed between the Debtors and their then-attorney, Larry Serene, as indicated by the fact that the Debtors began to file pro se documents following their first meeting of creditors. On March 5, 1990, Attorney Larry Serene withdrew his representation of the Debtors, and Attorney Richard F. Kurth entered his appearance.
4. The Debtors' Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and disclosure statement were originally due to be filed on or before April 4, 1990. However, the Debtors were unable to meet the filing deadline, and an extension was granted until June 4, 1990.
5. On June 4, 1990, it was apparent that the Debtors were going to be again unable to file a plan and disclosure statement, and a final extension was granted until July 5, 1990.
6. On June 11, 1990, the Office of the United States Trustee moved to dismiss the Debtors' case for their failure to formulate a plan of reorganization. This Motion was later withdrawn upon the Debtors' filing of their Plan and Disclosure Statement.
7. On July 5, 1990, the Debtors' filed a Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement. In their Chapter 11 Plan, the Debtors, at Class Five, indicated that they would pay the sum of $75,000 to Kankakee County, for real estate taxes due for the years 1984 through 1988, over a period of five years, plus nine percent interest. Numerous objections were filed to the Debtors' Disclosure Statement indicating that the information was incomplete, and, as such, the Debtors' original Disclosure Statement was denied, on October 15, 1990, and the Debtors were given 14 days to file an amended disclosure statement. The Debtors did not meet the 14 day deadline. However, an Amended Disclosure Statement was filed on November 15, 1990, and approved, over objection, on December 14, 1990, a date 10 days after the one year anniversary of Debtors' Chapter 11 filing.
8. On February 19, 1991, the Office of the United States Trustee filed a Motion to Convert Debtors' Chapter 11 Case to One Under Chapter 7, indicating that the Debtors had not filed monthly reports as required, nor had they paid the fees to the United States Trustee's Office. At this time, numerous objections to confirmation were filed setting off several hearings concerning the confirmation of the Debtors' Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization.
9. On July 8, 1991, the Office of the United States Trustee again filed a Motion to Convert Debtors' Chapter 11 Case to One Under Chapter 7, stating as cause that once again the Debtors had failed to file required reports and pay required fees.
10. At hearing in May 1991, the Court confirmed the Debtors' Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization after numerous negotiations between Debtors and creditors, and the Court directed that the Debtors file an order of confirmation on or before May 21, 1991. The Order of Confirmation was not filed until August 21, 1991, at which time it was entered. During the three months between the date the Order of Confirmation was due and the date it was filed, numerous motions for relief from the automatic stay were being filed by various mortgage holders of the Debtors, indicating as cause that the Debtors were not paying current mortgage payments as they came due. The majority of these motions for relief from stay were eventually resolved by payments from the Debtors, albeit they were not timely made.
11. On December 18, 1991, the Office of the United States Trustee filed a Motion for Summary Dismissal, indicating that once again the Debtors were failing to file reports as they came due. At this time, it was noted by the Court that the Debtors had developed a pattern of failing to file necessary monthly reports and pay quarterly fees until such time as the Office of the United States Trustee filed either a motion for conversion or a motion for dismissal.
12. On February 28, 1992, Creditor, Security Lumber and Supply Co., filed a Motion to Dismiss Debtors' bankruptcy proceeding, stating as cause that payments as proposed in the Debtors' Plan were not being made. This Motion was later resolved by a payment from the Debtors.
13. On April 13, 1992, Creditor, First of America Bank, filed a Motion to Convert or Dismiss Debtors' bankruptcy proceeding, stating as cause that the Debtors were failing to make payments as proposed in their Plan as they came due. During this time, other mortgage creditors were filing motions for relief from stay based upon non-payment by the Debtors.
As had become the case since the inception of Debtors' bankruptcy filing, the Debtors resolved these matters by payment when faced with the prospect of conversion, dismissal, or relief from the stay.
14. On August 16, 1993, Creditor, Security Lumber and Supply Co., filed a Motion to Dismiss Debtors' Chapter 11 proceeding based upon the fact that a payment had been made by the Debtors by check, and the check had been returned to the Creditor for non-sufficient funds. Once again, this matter was eventually resolved by a payment from the Debtors in the face of the possibility of dismissal.
15. On October 5, 1994, Debtors filed an Annual Report in which they admitted that, from "time to time" the Debtors fell into arrears on their Plan payments; however, the Debtors believed that they were current at that time.
16. On January 23, 1995, Creditor, First of America Bank, again filed a Motion to Convert or Dismiss Debtors' bankruptcy proceeding based upon non-payment of its debt. This Motion was subsequently resolved by a payment from the Debtors. 17. On April 24, 1995, Creditor, First of America Bank, again filed a Motion to Convert or Dismiss based upon non-payment, and, on July 24, 1995, a "drop dead" Order was entered requiring the Debtors to make payments on a timely basis, with the proviso that failure to do so would result in automatic relief from stay in the event Debtors fell behind and were unable to cure the default.
18. On October 6, 1995, Debtors filed a Motion to Dismiss and for Discharge of their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding based upon their allegation that they had obtained financing with which to pay the balance of their Chapter 11 Plan as originally proposed.
19. On November 13, 1995, the Debtors' Motion to Dismiss and for Discharge was denied based upon the fact that the financing promised by the Debtors had not materialized.
As a result, the Debtors were unable to obtain a discharge in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, and a final decree was never entered, in that payments as proposed were not made in full.
20. On April 16, 1996, Debtors filed a Motion to Convert their Chapter 11 proceeding to one under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. This Motion was subsequently allowed by Order entered May 14, 1996, together with an Order indicating that numerous documents necessary in the Debtors' Chapter 13 filing had not been filed. Debtors were directed to file the necessary documents within 15 days.
21. On May 29, 1996, Debtors were unable to file the necessary documents and were granted a 10 day extension to do so.
22. On June 13, 1996, once again it was evident that the Debtors had not filed the necessary documents, and a further extension of 7 days was granted.
23. On June 26, 1996, Debtors filed some of the missing documents which were required to have been filed on or before June 20, 1996.
24. On June 28, 1996, the Court received the remaining missing documents, most important of which was the Debtors' Schedule of Post-Petition Debts, in which they indicated that there were "none".
25. On July 22, 1996, both the Debtors and their attorney failed to appear at their scheduled first meeting of creditors, with the meeting being continued until September 5, 1996.
26. On September 5, 1996, the Debtors again failed to appear at their first meeting of creditors, resulting in a rescheduling of the hearing to October 10, 1996.
27. On September 16, 1996, a Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay or in the Alternative Dismissal was filed by Creditor, National City Mortgage, stating as cause that the Debtors had failed to make payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee as required by their Plan.
28. On October 10, 1996, Debtors' first meeting of creditors in their Chapter 13 bankruptcy was held, and it is noted that, at that time, numerous objections had been filed to the Debtors' Chapter 13 Plan and additional motions for relief from the automatic stay had been filed based upon non-payment of debt.
29. On March 7, 1997, Debtors filed an Amended Chapter 13 Plan of Reorganization, which was subsequently confirmed on May 1, 1997. It is here noted that this Amended Plan did not include any post-petition debt from the period of December 4, 1989, through the time of conversion on May 14, 1996.
30. On January 14, 1998, the Chapter 13 Trustee filed a Motion to Dismiss Debtors' bankruptcy proceeding indicating that the Debtors had missed a total of six payments at that time. This Motion was subsequently withdrawn by the Trustee on February 13, 1998, based upon the Debtors' promise to make the missing payments and make future payments in a timely manner.
31. On May 20, 1998, the Debtors filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order requesting that an action by Kankakee County to sell real estate located at 964 North Indiana, Kankakee, Illinois, for back taxes be stopped. This Motion was later withdrawn on June 12, 1998.
32. On September 4, 1998, the Debtors filed a Motion for Civil Contempt requesting that the Court find Kankakee County Treasurer Mark Frechette in contempt of Court for violation of the automatic stay as a result of his action to sell various parcels of the Debtors' real estate based upon unpaid real estate taxes for the years 1994 and 1995. Here the Court would note that the 1994 and 1995 real estate taxes had not been scheduled as debts in the Debtors' Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding, in that the Schedule of Post-Petition Debt filed by the Debtors on June 28, 1996, indicated that there were no post-petition debts.
33. On October 26, 2000, the Chapter 13 Trustee filed a Motion to Dismiss the Debtors' bankruptcy proceeding stating that, at that point in time, the Debtors had missed 15 scheduled plan payments. In relation to this Motion, the Court entered an Order on November 16, 2000, indicating that the Debtors would be given until January 15, 2001, to cure all plan arrearages, or the case would be dismissed.
34. On October 27, 2000, Debtors once again filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order requesting that the Court stop the sale of real estate for unpaid taxes by Kankakee County. This Motion was denied by an Order entered on January 31, 2001, based upon the Debtors failure to prove that the County was acting beyond the scope of its authority or in violation of the automatic stay.
35. On August 30, 2001, Debtors filed a Motion to Reinstate Motion for Civil Contempt in which the Debtors requested that the Court enter an order reinstating the Motion for Civil Contempt that originally had been filed against Kankakee County Treasurer, Mark Frechette, on September 4, 1998. Following numerous continuances and procedural hearings, said Motion was denied by an Opinion and Order entered on February 1, 2002.
36. On February 11, 2002, the Debtors filed a pro se Motion for Leave to Appeal to U.S. District Court, with said appeal subsequently being dismissed by the U.S. District Court on May 15, 2002, for the Debtors' failure to file a brief within the time in two previous extensions granted by the U.S. District Court.
37. The Debtors also appealed a March 9, 2001, Opinion and Order of this Court on a Petition for Clarification filed by the Debtors to the U.S. District Court, with said Opinion and Order being affirmed on appeal by the U.S. District Court by Order entered on February 22, 2002.
38. The issues decided in this Court's Opinion and Order of March 9, 2001, and in this Court's Opinion and Order of February 1, 2002, involve issues concerning the Debtors' 1993, 1994, and 1995 real estate taxes, which the Debtors continue to dispute despite numerous dispositive rulings by this Court and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
Conclusions of Law
In the Motion for Turnover presently before the Court, the Debtors seek to compel their former attorney, Richard Kurth, to turn over all documents he has in his possession concerning his representation of the Debtors. The initial purpose of this Motion for Turnover was to facilitate the preparation of an appeal brief by Debtors' present counsel. Following two extensions of time by the U.S. District Court, the Debtors were required to file a brief in their appeal of this Court's February 1, 2002, denying the Debtors' Motion to Reinstate Motion for Civil Contempt filed on August 30, 2001, on or before May 10, 2002. The Debtors asserted that, although Attorney Kurth had provided certain file contents in his possession, he had not turned over all that he should have. At hearing, on May 15, 2002, the Court was advised by Debtors' present counsel, that he had decided to dismiss the appeal then pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois based upon facts which had been discovered on Saturday, May 11, 2002. The Court would note that the deadline for filing of the Debtors' brief in the appeal expired on May 10, 2002, without extension, and the U.S. District Court dismissed the appeal on May 15, 2002, for the Debtors' failure to file their brief on or before May 10, 2002. Although the Debtors no longer need documentation for the purposes of filing a brief in their appeal, the Debtors continue to maintain that Attorney Kurth has documentation which is necessary for the prosecution of a new adversary proceeding filed by the Debtors against various defendants, including Attorney Kurth, on May 14, 2002.
At hearing on May 15, 2002, the Court heard sworn testimony of both Louis D. Burrell and E. Jean Burrell and of their former attorney, Richard Kurth. Although the Debtors continue to assert that they have not received all of their file contents in Attorney Kurth's possession, they were not able to specifically delineate what documentation it is that is missing. Attorney Kurth testified that he had turned over copies of all documentation in his possession at his own expense. The Court finds that the testimony of Attorney Kurth was credible.
In conclusion, the Court finds that the Debtors have failed to present any competent evidence, either oral or documentary, to refute Attorney Kurth's assertion that he has supplied the Debtors with copies of all documents in his possession relating to his representation of the Debtors. Therefore, the Court must find that the Motion for Turnover filed by the Debtors on April 24, 2002, should be denied.
ORDER
For the reasons set forth in an Opinion entered on the ___ day of June 2002;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion for Turnover filed by the Debtors on April 24, 2002, is DENIED.