  2  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28    Timothy C. Springer, LAW OFFICES OF TIMOTHY C. SPRINGER, Fresno,  CA, for Anthony William Villa, Defendant.    _____________________   RENÉ LASTRETO II, Bankruptcy Judge:    INTRODUCTION  11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) excepts from discharge a debt of  an individual “for money, property, [or] services . . . to the extent obtained by—(A) false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud.”1 A law firm successfully performed services and achieved a favorable loan modification for a debtor and his spouse, but they were not paid for their services when the bill came due. Finding that there was not a preponderance of evidence on the issues of intent and justifiable reliance, the court here finds in favor of the debtor. The debt owed the firm is dischargeable.   I. A.    Anthony Villa (“Anthony”) and his spouse, Maria, found  themselves in the throes of financial difficulty in late 2017.Though Maria was employed, Anthony was on disability. They were eight months behind on their mortgage payments. Their income was not high enough to maintain their expenses. They wanted to save    1  Future references to Code sections will, unless otherwise indicated,  be referred to by section. Future references to the Federal Rules of Civil  Procedure will be to “Civ. Rule” and references to the Federal Rules of  Bankruptcy Procedure will be referred to as “Rule” unless otherwise  indicated.  2  Throughout this memorandum, Anthony and Maria Villa will be referred  to as “Anthony” and “Maria” or “the Villas.” The court means no disrespect  and makes those references for ease of following the narrative.  Filed 04/07/22  Case 20-01054  Doc 100

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