Baldwin v. United States

805 F. Supp. 1026, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17069, 1992 WL 321232
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedNovember 5, 1992
DocketNo. 90-14065-CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 805 F. Supp. 1026 (Baldwin v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baldwin v. United States, 805 F. Supp. 1026, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17069, 1992 WL 321232 (S.D. Fla. 1992).

Opinion

ORDER

GONZALEZ, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the court upon cross motions for summary judgment filed by the parties. The parties agree that the sole issue presented is a matter of law and that no material facts are in dispute. The parties also agree that the question presented is one of first impression and that the defendant United States is requesting the court to “extend or modify” the precedent currently existing in this area.

FACTS

On May 15, 1989, one of the plaintiffs, Thomas Lee Baldwin, was convicted by this court and sentenced to twenty years in prison and a fine of $100,000. On April 3, 1990, Thomas and Sara Baldwin, his wife, filed a complaint to quiet title in the Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Martin County, due to the government’s having filed a lien against their home. The cause was thereafter removed to this court by the defendant United States of America.

The government argues that the $100,-000 fine previously imposed on Thomas Lee Baldwin constitutes a lien against the real property held by Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin as tenants by the entireties, and that therefore it is entitled to enforce said lien against the property.1

The narrow question for the court is whether the enforcement of criminal fines creates an exception to the general rule [1028]*1028that money judgments against one co-tenant are not entitled to lien status as against real property held in a tenancy by the entirety.

DISCUSSION

The government concedes that “existing case law clearly favors the position advocated by the Baldwins.” See Defendant’s Motion for Summary Final Judgment at 3. Indeed, cases such as United States v. Gurley, 415 F.2d 144 (5th Cir.1969), clearly hold that property held by the entireties cannot be reached to satisfy the individual debt or obligation of either spouse. Id. at 149 (interpreting Florida law); see also, United States v. American National Bank, 255 F.2d 504 (5th Cir.1958). As the Gurley court stated:

Because of the unique nature of a tenancy by the entireties under Florida law, a judgment lien cannot attach to real property held in such an estate ..., and since property held by the entireties is not subject to levy and sale under execution, an “Execution Lien” cannot attach thereto.

Gurley, 415 F.2d at 149.

The government admits this is the law in the general context of creditors’ rights, but argues that federal statutes and case law mandate a departure as to the enforcement of criminal fines.

Title 18 U.S.C. § 3565(a)(2), the statute in effect at the time2, provided:

18 U.S.C. § 3565(a)(2) a judgment imposing the payment of a fine or penalty shall, upon the notice of the filing of a lien in the manner in which a notice of tax lien would be filed under Section 6323(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, be a lien in favor of the United States upon all property and rights of the property belonging to the defendant. ... Such lien shall be valid against any subsequent purchaser, holder of a security interest, mechanic’s lienor or judgment creditor. A writ of execution may be issued with respect to any property or rights to property subject to such a lien.

Thus, at the time in question, criminal fines were to be executed by the same procedures outlined for the enforcement of tax liens.

In support of its position, the United States relies on two cases which are not directly on point.

In United States v. Rodgers, 461 U.S. 677, 103 S.Ct. 2132, 76 L.Ed.2d 236 (1983), the majority and dissent argued over the effect of a federal statute allowing judicial sale of homestead property to satisfy tax indebtedness. The case involved neither the enforcement of a criminal fine as a lien against property, nor did it involve a tenancy by the entirety. The issue of tenancies by the entireties was debated nonetheless in footnote 31 of the opinion. The argument centered around the legislative history of the 1954 legislation, as to which the Congressional intent was unclear.

In footnote 31, the majority noted that “in the tax enforcement context, federal law governs the consequences that attach to property interests, but state law governs whether any property interests exist in the first place.” Rodgers, at 703,103 S.Ct. at 2148. This analysis undermines the arguments made by the United States. The execution of a tax lien (or criminal fine) is carried out according to federal law, however, which property may be attached remains a question of state law. Indeed, Congress seemed to intend such a result in 18 U.S.C. § 3565 (cited above), when it specifically stated that a “writ of execution may be issued with respect to any property or rights to property subject to such lien.” (emphasis added).

A tenancy by the entirety is not a “property subject to such lien.”

Rodgers, although somewhat helpful, simply does not support defendant’s position. The language of the footnote is dicta only “tangentially” related (quoting the majority in footnote 31) to the issue in that case. Thus, Rodgers does not hold that tax liens can be satisfied as against tenancies by the entireties, and it certainly does not hold that criminal fines may be so execut[1029]*1029ed. Accordingly, Rodgers has little persuasive value.

The other case relied on by the United States is U.S. v. One Single Family Residence, 894 F.2d 1511 (11th Cir.1990). This case involved forfeiture of a tenancy by the entirety, not the execution of a criminal fine. Notwithstanding that the court held that the tenancy could not be separated for forfeiture purposes, the government argues that the reasoning in the opinion supports their position in this case. In short, Judge Fay ruled that the “innocent owner” provisions of the forfeiture statute (21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(7)) protect the innocent tenant by the entirety who owns an undivided interest in the whole property. The court speculated in footnote 7, that absent the innocent owner provision, the federal law would preempt the state law on the tenancy by the entirety question and forfeiture could occur. One Single Family Residence, at 1518. In the body of the opinion, however, the court also seems to consider that any forfeiture of the innocent owner’s interest might be a Fifth Amendment taking. Id., at 1516.

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Bluebook (online)
805 F. Supp. 1026, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17069, 1992 WL 321232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baldwin-v-united-states-flsd-1992.