Hegeduis v. Harris, N.A. (In re Hegeduis)

525 B.R. 74
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJanuary 23, 2015
DocketCASE NO. 10-21904 jpk; ADVERSARY NO. 12-2203
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 525 B.R. 74 (Hegeduis v. Harris, N.A. (In re Hegeduis)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hegeduis v. Harris, N.A. (In re Hegeduis), 525 B.R. 74 (Ind. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

J. Philip Klingeberger, Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court

This adversary proceeding is about applying principles of quantum mechanics to the issue at hand. That issue is the “critical event” point in a Chapter 13 case at which one is to measure the value of residential real estate, and the extent/amount of other secured claims on that real estate, for the purpose of determining if a security interest may be “stripped” by a Chapter 13 plan pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2).

As we explore this issue, it is important to keep in mind the following principles:

1. A consequence of the theory of special relativity, as announced in Albert Einstein’s 1905 paper “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”, described in Wikipedia as follows:

Relativity of simultaneity: Two events, simultaneous for one observer, may not be simultaneous for another observer if the observers are in relative motion.

2. The principal of indeterminacy — more commonly known as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, stated as follows on the website of the American Institute of Physics:

The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.

The goal is to derive a critical event point which operates in a consistently predictable manner in all circumstances in which security interest stripping is to be applied. This goal will be met only if two separate hypothetical Chapter 13 cases having identical factual foundations will obtain the same result, i.e., in terms of relativity of simultaneity, observations made by an observer in one case will be simultaneous with those made by an observer in the other case.1

[76]*76There are many published court decisions on the issue at hand; they variously address possible critical event points in a Chapter 13 case at which valuation is to be measured. Now posit that the two events in the relativity of simultaneity corollary are: (1) The critical event point in the case at which valuation is to be measured, and (2) the actual valuations of residential real estate and of the claims to be included in the stripping analysis at any particular point. The time frame of the ease is always in relative motion forward from the date of the petition, and in practical fact is always in relative motion forward from the date upon which valuations relative to the date of the petition were made. Additionally, as one moves the critical event platform forward in a case beyond the petition date, the valuation of the target real property and of security interests or other liens which may affect the stripping analysis may increase or decrease from the fixed petition date point.2 It is this author’s view that the more the analysis focuses on the valuation platform rather than the critical event platform, the more likely it is that differential results will be obtained in what should be “simultaneous” cases. This is particularly true if the valuation platform is placed at a point at which an adversary proceeding or contested matter to determine whether a security interest may be stripped is filed, or at which that action is determined by trial and/or final order of the court. If the valuation platform drives the analysis, the result of the process is not consistently predictable in relation to our two posited otherwise identical cases. This is an abhorrent result in both physics and in bankruptcy cases.

It must additionally be borne in mind that because of the manner in which evidence of value must necessarily be derived, one cannot actually determine valuation of residential real estate as of a discreet critical event point in a Chapter 13 case. The valuation is always a relative concept in relation to that event point, because in practical terms the primary evidence of valuation will not have been made as of the critical event point date.

The analysis customarily made with respect to the issue at hand is phrased in terms of the point in a Chapter 13 case at which valuations relative to the stripping of a security interest are to be made. As stated above, the phrasing of the issue in that manner is not analytically accurate. What is really being determined is the critical event point in a Chapter 13 case at which the consequence of valuation is to be determined in light of the purpose of the valuation. The valuation itself is a relative concept in relation to any particular event point in a case, and is not itself an absolute concept. If one were to define the issue in terms of a definite valuation date, in accord with the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the more precisely one seeks to utilize the valuation platform, the less predictable and constant will be the critical event point.

The issue in this case may be more analytically accurately stated as follows:

In the time continuum of a Chapter 13 case, to what critical event point in the case should evidence material to issues [77]*77of “stripping” of a security interest for the purpose of 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2) relatively relate in order to achieve a process consistently predictable for all Chapter 13 cases.

As will be addressed below, the critical event point winner is the date of the filing of the petition initiating the case.

I THE PROCEDURAL PROCESS OF THE CASE

On April 28, 2010, Robert J. Hegeduis and Kerri M. Hegeduis (“Hegeduis”) filed a voluntary petition by which a case under Chapter 13 was initiated in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. As docket record entry number 2, Hege-duis filed a Chapter 13 plan on April 28, 2010. Also on that day, included in docket record entry number 1, Hegeduis filed the required Schedules of property and debts, particular among them for the purposes of this case — Schedule A, Schedule C and Schedule D. Also as part of record entry number 1, Hegeduis filed a matrix of addresses of creditors, which stated the address to be used for Harris N.A. (“Harris”) as follows:

HARRIS N.A. 3800 GOLF RD STE. 300 ROLLING MEADOWS, IL 60008

This address was utilized by the Court for all purposes of providing notice of matters in the case to Harris3.

Schedule A stated the following with respect to the residential real estate involved in this adversary proceeding:

Real Estate located at 1335 Tanglewood Ct„ Crown

Point IN 46307

Mortgage 1: CitiMortgage

Mortgage 2: Harris. Mortage 3: Harrris

Market value based on appraisal 1/2010

Fee simple J 242,000.00 348,877.00

Schedule C stated the following with respect to the foregoing real estate:

Description of Property Specify Law Providing Value of .Claimed Each Exemption Exemption Current Value of Property Without Deducting Exemption

Real Property Real Estate located at Ind. Code § 34-55-10-2

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In re Montiel
572 B.R. 758 (W.D. Washington, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
525 B.R. 74, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hegeduis-v-harris-na-in-re-hegeduis-innb-2015.