Bruce A. Harwood

How Judge Harwood rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Harwood no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Retired 2024
Served
2013–2024
Commissioned
2013-03-11
Signed orders read
15

How Judge Harwood decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Repeated false statements that caused payment of benefits for which the debtor was ineligible supported nondischargeability.

“The Debtor repeatedly made a series of false statements on each of his claim applications that would have disqualified him from receiving unemployment benefits.”

Cautions

A trust certificate’s shorthand did not preserve a homestead exemption where it did not disclose that the trust was revocable.

“the Court agrees that use of the language ‘u/d/t’ in the Certificate of Trustee did not put the Bankruptcy Trustee on notice that the Trust was revocable as of the Petition Date.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Askenaizer v. Pierce (In re St. Laurent)
21-10693-BAH; 22-1017-BAH · 2024-02-26
Summary judgment (Michael S. Askenaizer, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“Accordingly, the Trustee’s Motion for Summary Judgment shall be granted and the Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment shall be denied.”

Summary judgment (Jennifer V. Pierce) Denied
Edwards v. Social Security Administration (In re Edwards)
22-10203-BAH; 23-1016-BAH · 2024-05-07
Judgment on the pleadings (Social Security Administration) Denied

“For that reason, the Court concludes that the SSA is not entitled to judgment in its favor on the pleadings, and the Motion must be denied.”

New Hampshire Department of Employment Security v. Mulcahy (In re Mulcahy)
23-10309-BAH; 23-1013-BAH · 2024-05-16
Nondischargeability claim (New Hampshire Department of Employment Security) Granted

“For the reasons set forth in this opinion, the Court concludes that the Debtor’s $31,623.50 debt to NHES is nondischargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(2)(A).”

In re Dionne
22-10540-BAH · 2024-05-17
Motion to dismiss bankruptcy case (Jeremy Burrington and Bridget Heard) Granted

“Accordingly, the Motion to Dismiss is granted.”

Ford v. DeCosta (In re DeCosta)
23-10329-BAH; 23-1009-BAH · 2024-05-28
Summary judgment (Edmond J. Ford, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“The Court will issue an order granting the Bankruptcy Trustee’s Motion and denying the Debtors’ Motion.”

Summary judgment (Stephen J. DeCosta and Joann L. DeCosta) Denied
Manning v. CitiMortgage, Inc. (In re Manning)
· 2014-02-27
Debtor motion for partial summary judgment (Kevin M. Manning) Denied

“Accordingly, the Plaintiffs Motion is hereby denied, and the Defendant’s Motion is hereby granted.”

Creditor cross motion for summary judgment (CitiMortgage, Inc.) Granted
Browne v. Lombard (In re Lombard)
· 2017-09-29
Motion to dismiss count ii (Patricia Lombard) Granted

“the Court will grant the Motion to Dismiss and deny the Motion to Amend.”

Motion for leave to amend complaint (Robert Browne, Aqua Gulf Transport, and JRL Properties, Inc.) Denied
In re Vertullo
· 2018-10-01
Motion for relief from stay (U.S. Bank National Association) Denied

“Because the Motion for Relief is premised solely on the argument that the Debtor has no cure rights, it must be denied.”

Smith v. Quizno's Master LLC (In re Bouley)
· 2013-11-27
Motions to dismiss (the Quizno's defendants) Denied

“the Court shall deny the motion to dismiss and transfer this proceeding to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.”

In re Ashley
· 2015-10-14
Motion for contempt and sanctions (the debtors) Granted

“the Court will issue a separate order granting the Motion and imposing a sanction against Santander in the amount of $13,055”

In re Hopkinton Independent School, Inc.
· 2013-09-04
Trustee objection to administrative expense claim (Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“the Court finds that the USDA’s $16,962.18 claim under sections 503(b) and 507(a)(2) ought to be disallowed against the estate.”

In re Gambale
· 2014-06-19
Debtor objection to priority claim (Philip J. Gambale, Sr.) Granted in part

“the Court will enter a separate order consistent with this opinion sustaining in part and overruling in part the Amended Objection.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

All five sampled matters were terminated. The sample’s median recorded duration was 104 days, and three dockets supplied express motion outcomes.

A historical record

Judge Harwood no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.