United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED February 28, 2025 No. 24-40368 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk In the Matter of Matthew J. Kerns,

Debtor, Matthew J. Kerns,

Appellant,

versus First State Bank of Ben Wheeler,

Appellee. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 6:23-CV-458 ______________________________ Before Graves, Higginson, and Wilson, Circuit Judges. Stephen A. Higginson, Circuit Judge: Debtor-plaintiff Matthew Kerns filed an adversary proceeding alleg- ing that his creditor First State Bank of Ben Wheeler (FSBBW) violated the automatic stay and the bankruptcy discharge when FSBBW contacted a spe- cial ranger with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association to report that Kerns had sold cattle he used as collateral for a FSBBW loan, in violation of state law. Because the bankruptcy and district courts properly Case: 24-40368 Document: 58-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/28/2025

No. 24-40368

held that FSBBW’s conduct fell within the safe harbor provision of the An- nuzio-Wylie Money Laundering Act, 31 U.S.C. § 5318, we AFFIRM. 1 For the first time on appeal, Kerns raises a colorable argument as to why the bankruptcy court judge should have recused. Because Kerns knew or should have known of the basis for the recusal since at least 2021 and failed to raise it before the bankruptcy court, he has forfeited this argument. I. Glade Creek Livestock, LLC (Glade Creek) entered into a loan agree- ment with Appellee First State Bank of Ben Wheeler, using equipment and over 200 head of cattle as collateral. The loan was personally guaranteed by Appellant Matthews Kerns, the sole member and manager of Glade Creek. In September 2019, when Glade Creek was experiencing financial difficulties, Kerns contacted FSBBW about a possible loan workout. When conducting an inspection of its collateral, FSBBW noted that some of the equipment and cattle that had served as security for the loan was no longer in possession of the borrower and demanded repayment of the loan in full on November 22, 2019. Kerns acknowledged that he had sold some of the cattle serving as collateral. Kerns filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on November 25, 2019. The bankruptcy court entered a discharge order on February 21, 2020, and on February 24, 2020, the case was closed. In January 2020, while the automatic stay was in place, FSBBW contacted Special Ranger Jimmy Dickson of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) about theft of their collateral. Special Ranger Dickson conducted an investigation, which

_____________________ 1 The Annuzio-Wylie Money Laundering Act seeks to prevent money laundering by requiring financial institutions to report certain transactions; the safe harbor provision shields financial institutions from liability for such reporting.

2 Case: 24-40368 Document: 58-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 02/28/2025