First National Bank of Damariscotta v. Sidelinger (In Re Sidelinger)

175 B.R. 115, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 1706, 1994 WL 608575
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maine
DecidedOctober 28, 1994
Docket17-10631
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 175 B.R. 115 (First National Bank of Damariscotta v. Sidelinger (In Re Sidelinger)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First National Bank of Damariscotta v. Sidelinger (In Re Sidelinger), 175 B.R. 115, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 1706, 1994 WL 608575 (Me. 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

JAMES B. HAINES, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.

First National Bank of Damariscotta (“First National”), holding a claim secured by a mortgage on the debtors’ principal residence, has moved for relief from § 362’s automatic stay. 1 Having considered the evidence, including the parties’ post-hearing stipulations, for the reasons set forth below, First National’s motion is granted, but only to the extent that continued operation of the automatic stay will be conditioned as set forth below. 2

Procedural History

Lawrence and Mary Sidelinger (“Sideling-ers” or “debtors”) filed bankruptcy under Chapter 7 on March 14, 1994. On April 26, 1994, they converted the case to Chapter 13. 3 The Sidelingers have amended their schedules and statements twice. They’ve amended their proposed Chapter 13 plan once.

First National filed its motion for relief from stay within weeks of the conversion. Following a timely, 4 telephonic preliminary hearing on the motion, the parties agreed that the stay would continue to operate pending a final hearing in mid-September 1994.

The Mortgage Obligation

As of September 14, 1994, the Sidelingers owed First National $108,324.27. First National’s claim is secured only by a mortgage on the Sidelingers’ residence. The home, valued at $125,000.00 is also encumbered by a $21,357.46 mortgage obligation to Farmers’ Home Administration (“FmHA”). The debtors’ monthly mortgage payment to First National is approximately $850.00. 5

On the bankruptcy filing date, the Sidel-ingers’ mortgage arrearage to First National was $4,671.00, exclusive of interest, penalties and fees. At conversion to Chapter 13 the arrearage totalled $5,524.90. On June 14, 1994, it was $7,223.42, the level at which it remained through the final hearing.

Postpetition Performance

Between filing and the final hearing, the debtors paid First National three of the five monthly mortgage payments that came due. In addition, they made regular payments to the Chapter 13 trustee ($379.00 per month under the current plan version). The trustee’s initial disbursement ($705.00) to First National on account of the mortgage arrear-age issued on September 7, 1994.

The Plan

The debtors predict they will soon amend their plan to provide increased payments (when Mary Sidelinger secures employment at one of several positions for which she’s interviewed). Its present term is sixty months. It requires the Sidelingers to cure prepetition and postpetition mortgage ar-rearages (with interest) through the plan, 6 while making monthly mortgage payments as they come due “outside the plan.” With plan payments as presently proposed, it will take *117 approximately thirty-six months to cure mortgage arrearages.

DISCUSSION

First National seeks relief from stay under § 362(d)(2). 7 The parties agree that the Si-delingers have no equity in the property. Thus the pivotal issue is whether the property is “necessary to an effective reorganization.”

First National argues that the plan’s legal deficiencies, as well as the debtors’ inability to execute the plan, establish that successful reorganization is beyond the Sidelingers’ grasp. Conceding that the debtors need their residence to go forward, the bank asserts that it cannot be “necessary to an effective reorganization” because an effective reorganization is not possible.

1. Burden of Proof.

Opposing relief from stay, the debtors bear the burden of demonstrating that their residence is “necessary to an effective reorganization.” See § 362(g) (party seeking relief has burden of proof on the issue of a debtor’s equity in the property; party opposing relief bears burden on “all other issues”). See also Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 814 F.2d 844, 847 (1st Cir.1987); Marder v. Turner (In re Turner), 161 B.R. 1, 3-4 (Bankr.D.Me.1993); Davis v. Crescent Beach Inn, Inc. (In re Crescent Beach Inn, Inc.), 22 B.R. 161,163 n. 4 (Bankr.D.Me.1982); Farina v. Ford Motor Credit Company (In re Farina), 9 B.R. 726, 730 (Bankr.D.Me.1981).

But the hurdle confronting the debtors at this stage is substantially lower than those they must clear at confirmation. To defeat First National’s motion, the Sideling-ers must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that there is “ ‘a reasonable possibility of a successful reorganization within a reasonable time.’ ” United Savings Assoc. of Texas v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Assoc. Ltd., 484 U.S. 365, 376,108 S.Ct. 626, 633, 98 L.Ed.2d 740 (1988) (Chapter 11) (citations omitted) (quoting In re Timbers, 808 F.2d 363, 370 (5th Cir.1987) (en banc)); In re Sun Valley Newspapers, Inc., 171 B.R. 71, 74 (9th Cir. BAP 1994); In re Turner, 161 B.R. at 3 (Chapter 13).

2. How Long May Cure Endure?

Preserving the family residence is this Chapter 13 case’s raison d’etre. First National contends that the debtors’ plan’s cure provision is legally impermissible because it proposes to cure over an unreasonably lengthy period of time.

Section 1322(b)(5) provides Chapter 13 debtors the opportunity to deaccelerate, cure and reinstate residential mortgages, notwithstanding § 1322(b)(2), which precludes “modifying” the rights of secured claimants holding only a security interest in real estate that is a debtor’s principal residence. 8 See Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. *118 Spears (In re Thompson), 894 F.2d 1227, 1228 n. 4 (10th Cir.1990); In re Roach, 824 F.2d 1370, 1376-77 (3d Cir.1987); Foster Mortgage Corp. v. Terry (In re Terry), 780 F.2d 894, 896 (11th Cir.1985); Federal Land Bank v. Glenn (In re Glenn), 760 F.2d 1428, 1434-45 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, sub nom. Miller v.

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Bluebook (online)
175 B.R. 115, 1994 Bankr. LEXIS 1706, 1994 WL 608575, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-of-damariscotta-v-sidelinger-in-re-sidelinger-meb-1994.