First Southern National Bank v. Sunnyslope Housing Ltd. Partnership

859 F.3d 637
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 26, 2017
Docket12-17241, 12-17327, 13-16164, 13-16180
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 859 F.3d 637 (First Southern National Bank v. Sunnyslope Housing Ltd. Partnership) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Southern National Bank v. Sunnyslope Housing Ltd. Partnership, 859 F.3d 637 (9th Cir. 2017).

Opinions

Dissent by Judge Kozinski

OPINION

HURWITZ, Circuit Judge:

When a debtor, over a secured creditor’s objection, seeks to retain and use the creditor’s collateral in a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization through a “cram down,” the Bankruptcy Code treats the creditor’s claim as secured “to the extent of the value of such creditor’s interest.” 11 U.S.C § 506(a)(1). That value is to “be determined in light of the purpose of the valuation and of the proposed disposition or use of such property.” Id.

In Associates Commercial Corp. v. Rash, the Supreme Court adopted a “replacement-value standard” for § 506(a)(1) cram-down, valuations. 520 U.S. 953, 956, 117 S.Ct. 1879, 138 L.Ed.2d 148 (1997). The Court held that replacement value, “rather than a foreclosure sale that will not take place, is the proper guide under a prescription hinged to the property’s ‘disposition or use.’ ” Id. at 963, 117 S.Ct. 1879 (quoting In re Winthrop Old Farm Nurseries, Inc., 50 F.3d 72, 75 (1st Cir. 1995)).

In rejecting a “foreclosure-value standard,” the Court also noted that foreclosure value was “typically lower” than replacement value. Id. at 960, 117 S.Ct. 1879. Today, however, we confront the atypical case. Because foreclosure would vitiate covenants requiring that the secured property — an apartment complex — be used for low-income housing, foreclosure value in this case exceeds replacement value, which is tied to the debtor’s “actual use” of the property in the proposed reorganization. Id. at 963, 117 S.Ct. 1879. But we take the Supreme Court at its word and hold, as Rash teaches, that § 506(a)(1) requires the use of replacement value rather than a hypothetical value derived from the very foreclosure that the reorganization is designed to avoid. Thus, the bankruptcy court did not err in this case in approving Sunnyslope’s plan of reorganization and valuing the collateral assuming its continued use after reorganization as low-income housing.

BACKGROUND

I. The Sunnyslope Project

Sunnyslope Housing Limited Partnership (“Sunnyslope”) owns an apartment [641]*641complex in Phoenix, Arizona. Construction funding came from three loans. Capstone Realty Advisors, LLC, provided the bulk of the funding through an $8.5 million loan with an interest rate of 5.35%, secured by a first-priority deed of trust. The Capstone loan was guaranteed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and funded through bonds issued by the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority. The City of Phoenix and the State of Arizona provided the balance of the funding. The City loan was secured by a second-position deed of trust, and the State loan by a third-position deed of trust.

A. The Covenants

To secure financing and tax benefits, Sunnyslope entered into five agreements:

1. To obtain the HUD guarantee, Sun-nyslope signed a Regulatory Agreement requiring that the apartment complex be used for affordable housing.
2. Sunnyslope also entered into a Regulatory Agreement with the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority, requiring Sunnyslope to “preserve the tax-exempt status” of the project, and use 40% of the units for low-income housing. The agreement provided that its covenants “shall run with the land and shall bind the Owner, and its successors and assigns and all subsequent owners or operators of the Project or any interest therein.” The restrictions, however, terminated on “foreclosure of the lien of the Mortgage or delivery of a deed in lieu of foreclosure.”
8. The City of Phoenix required Sun-nyslope to sign a Declaration of Affirmative Land Use Restrictive Covenants, mandating that 23 units be set aside for low-income families. The restriction ran with the land and bound “all future owners and operators” but, similarly, would be vitiated by foreclosure.
4. The Arizona Department of Housing required Sunnyslope to enter into a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. That 40-year agreement set aside five units for low-income residents. The agreement ran with the land and bound future owners, terminated upon foreclosure, and was expressly subordinate to the HUD Regulatory Agreement.
5. Finally, in order to receive federal tax credits, Sunnyslope agreed with the Arizona Department of Housing to use the entire complex as low-income housing. The tax credits, and restriction on use, would terminate on foreclosure.

B. The Default and its Aftermath

In 2009, Sunnyslope defaulted on the Capstone loan. As guarantor, HUD took over the loan and sold it to First Southern National Bank (“First Southern”) for $5.05 million. In connection with the sale, HUD released its Regulatory Agreement. The Loan Sale Agreement confirmed, however, that the property remained subject to the other “covenants, conditions and restrictions.”

First Southern began foreclosure proceedings, and an Arizona state court appointed a receiver. In December 2010, the receiver agreed to sell the complex to a third party for $7.65 million.

II. The Bankruptcy Proceedings

Before the sale could close, Sunnyslope filed a Chapter 11 petition. Over First Southern’s objection, Sunnyslope sought to retain the complex in its proposed plan of reorganization, exercising the “cram-[642]*642down” option in 11 U.S.C. § 1129(b)(2)(A). A successful cram down allows the reorganized debtor to retain collateral over a secured creditor’s objection, subject to the requirement in § 506(a)(1) that the debt be treated as secured “to the extent of the value of such creditor’s interest” in the collateral.

The central issue in the reorganization proceedings was the valuation of First Southern’s collateral, the apartment complex. Sunnyslope asserted that the complex should be valued as low-income housing, while First Southern contended that the complex should instead be valued without regard to Sunnyslope’s contractual obligations to use it as low-income housing, which would terminate upon foreclosure.

In that regard, First Southern’s expert valued the complex at $7.74 million, making the “extraordinary assumption” that a foreclosure would remove any low-income housing requirements. First Southern’s expert also opined, however, that the value of the property was only $4,885,000 if those requirements remained in place. Sunnys-lope’s expert valued the property at $2.6 million with the low-income housing restrictions in place, and at $7 million without.

During its original proceeding, the bankruptcy court held that, under § 506(a)(1), the value of the property was $2.6 million because Sunnyslope’s plan of reorganization called for continued use of the complex as low-income housing. The court also declined to include in the valuation of the complex the tax credits available to Sun-nyslope. First Southern then elected to treat its claim as fully secured under 11 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
859 F.3d 637, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-southern-national-bank-v-sunnyslope-housing-ltd-partnership-ca9-2017.