CHARITON FEED AND GRAIN, INC., Appellant, and Farm Service Company of Humeston, v. Audrey Mae KINSER, Appellee

794 F.2d 1329, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 26679
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 3, 1986
Docket85-1510
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 794 F.2d 1329 (CHARITON FEED AND GRAIN, INC., Appellant, and Farm Service Company of Humeston, v. Audrey Mae KINSER, Appellee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
CHARITON FEED AND GRAIN, INC., Appellant, and Farm Service Company of Humeston, v. Audrey Mae KINSER, Appellee, 794 F.2d 1329, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 26679 (8th Cir. 1986).

Opinions

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Chariton Feed and Grain, Inc. (Chariton) appeals the District Court’s ruling upholding an order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa granting Audrey Mae Kinser’s motion to avoid judicial liens against her homestead property. Farm Service Company of Humeston (Farm Service) was a party to the proceedings below, but does not appeal [1330]*1330the District Court’s ruling. We reverse and remand.

The facts of the case are undisputed. Kinser owned a tract of land in Lucas County, Iowa consisting of three contiguous parcels. She acquired parcel “A” in 1960, parcel “B” in 1968, and parcel “C” in 1973. For many years, Kinser resided in a mobile home on parcel A, thereby establishing that section as her homestead under Iowa law. In April 1983, Kinser confessed judgment to Chariton for $25,833.85 plus interest, the amount of an existing debt. Chariton filed the judgment in Lucas County District Court the following day. Once filed, the judgment became a lien against Kinser’s land within Lucas County, except for parcel A. Brown v. Vonnahme, 343 N.W.2d 445, 448-50 (Iowa 1984) (construing Iowa Code §§ 624.23, 624.24 & 561.16 as preventing a judgment lien from attaching to homestead property). While Chariton’s lien applied to both parcels B and C, it was the first on parcel C, whereas parcels A and B were subject to prior mortgage liens from other creditors which exceeded the value of those parcels. Sometime after May 1983, Kinser moved her mobile home from parcel A to parcel C. Thereafter, in September 1983, Kinser filed a bankruptcy petition, claiming parcel C as her homestead. The bankruptcy schedules listed parcels A and C as having values of $56,-000 and $35,000 respectively.

In April 1984, Kinser filed a motion in bankruptcy court to avoid Chariton’s lien on the basis that parcel C was homestead property and thus exempt from judicial sale under Iowa Code § 561.16. The bankruptcy court granted Kinser’s motion, which Chariton and Farm Service appealed to the District Court. On appeal from the District Court’s ruling affirming the bankruptcy court decision, Chariton claims that the District Court erred in its interpretation of Iowa law as applied to the undisputed facts of this case.

The parties agree that this case presents solely a question of law: whether Iowa law permits a property owner to transfer her homestead exemption from one parcel of land to another parcel that is already subject to a judgment lien. The pertinent provisions of the Iowa statute dealing with homestead rights are as follows:

561.7 Changes — nonconsenting spouse. The owner may, from time to time, change the limits of the homestead by changing the metes and bounds, as well as the record of the plat and description, or vacate it.
Such changes shall not prejudice conveyances or liens made or created previously thereto.
[[Image here]]
561.16 Exemption. The homestead of every person is exempt from judicial sale where there is no special declaration of statute to the contrary, provided that persons who reside together as a single household unit are entitled to claim in the aggregate only one homestead to be exempt from judicial sale. For purposes of this section, “household unit” means all persons of whatever ages, whether or not related, who habitually reside together in the same household as a group.
[[Image here]]
561.20 New homestead exempt. Where there has been a change in the limits of the homestead, or a new homestead has been acquired with the proceeds of the old, the new homestead, to the extent in value of the old, is exempt from execution in all cases where the old or former one would have been.
561.21 Debts for which homestead liable. The homestead may be sold to satisfy debts of each of the following classes: 1. Those contracted prior to its acquisition, but then only to satisfy a deficiency remaining after exhausting the other property of the debtor, liable to execution.

Although this Court is not bound by a district court’s interpretation of state law, and may conduct a de novo review of legal questions, a district court’s determination concerning the law of the state in which it sits is entitled to considerable deference. [1331]*1331Parkerson v. Carrouth, 782 F.2d 1449, 1451 (8th Cir.1986). Our task “is not to adopt the construction we think most reasonable, but simply to review the district court’s determination....” Brown & Root, Inc. v. Hempstead County Sand & Gravel, 767 F.2d 464, 469 (8th Cir.1985). Nevertheless, we are not “inextricably bound” by the District Court’s interpretation of Iowa law if that interpretation is “fundamentally deficient in analysis or otherwise lacking in reasoned authority.” Ancom, Inc. v. E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc., 658 F.2d 650, 654 (8th Cir.1981).

We note that the Supreme Court of Iowa has said that courts must liberally construe the homestead exemption statutes in the debtor’s favor. Berner v. Dellinger, 206 Iowa 1382, 222 N.W. 370, 372 (1928). The statute is not to be pared away by construction so as to defeat the statute’s purposes. American Savings Bank v. Willenbrock, 209 Iowa 250, 228 N.W. 295, 297 (1929). Our examination of Iowa law leads us to conclude, however, that an owner may change the limits of her homestead only if such a change does not prejudice conveyances or liens previously made or created. The particular facts of this case forcefully show that Kinser’s change of homestead, if allowed, would prejudice Chariton's previously secured rights as a judgment creditor.

Kinser contends that she only changed the physical limits of her homestead, and therefore her new homestead on parcel C is exempt under sections 561.7, 561.16 and 561.20 of the Iowa Code to the extent of the value of the homestead on parcel A. The bankruptcy court agreed with this position, citing Berner v. Dellinger, 206 Iowa 1382, 222 N.W. 370 (1928). In Berner, the property in dispute was acquired in 1898 and the debtor lived on a corner of the property until 1923 when he moved to another portion of the forty-acre tract. In 1924, the debtor sold three-quarters of the tract, which included the house he formerly had lived in. In 1925, a creditor obtained a judgment against Berner for a debt contracted for in 1920. In 1927, the creditor executed the judgment and the debtor claimed the new house as exempt. Id. at 371. The Iowa Supreme Court held that the limits of the homestead could be moved from one part of the property to another and that erecting a new dwelling on the tract did not result in abandonment of the homestead right. Id. at 372.

The instant case is readily distinguishable from Berner. Kinser owned three different parcels of land, acquired at three different times. Her movement was not limited to changing residences within one forty-acre plot.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Allen
301 B.R. 55 (S.D. Iowa, 2003)
In Re Caslavka
179 B.R. 141 (N.D. Iowa, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
794 F.2d 1329, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 26679, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chariton-feed-and-grain-inc-appellant-and-farm-service-company-of-ca8-1986.