In re Allison

31 B.R. 916, 1983 Bankr. LEXIS 5717
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedJuly 27, 1983
DocketBankruptcy No. 3-82-03332
StatusPublished

This text of 31 B.R. 916 (In re Allison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Allison, 31 B.R. 916, 1983 Bankr. LEXIS 5717 (Ohio 1983).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

CHARLES A. ANDERSON, Bankruptcy Judge.

FACTS

Debtors filed a joint petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on 29 November 1982. They scheduled ownership in certain real estate located in Bra-denton, Florida, valued at $59,900.00 and encumbered for $50,997.03. They also scheduled miscellaneous household goods and furnishings; a 1977 Chevrolet Van, valued at $2,500.00 unencumbered; and by later amendment, an income tax refund of $2,427.00.

The original schedules claimed as an exemption the automobile pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2329.66(A)(2); and, on 23 March 1983, the schedules were amended to claim as exempt a cash income tax refund in the amount of $2,427.00 pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2329.66(A)(4)(a), “by application of the unused $5,000.00 exemption for real or personal property under O.R.C. § 2329.66(A)(1).” The Debtors did not assert a claimed homestead exemption in the real estate.

On 30 March 1983 Milton L. Sprowl, Trustee in Bankruptcy, filed an “opposition” to the exemption claimed in the tax refund and motor vehicle, “for the reason that same are not in conformance with the applicable provisions of the Ohio Revised Code,” without further documentation,' which Debtors contested. The controversy came on for hearing on 27 June 1983.

The issues are narrowly drawn and have been submitted upon the basis of a proposed statutory interpretation, no pertinent case precedents or other substantiating authorities having been submitted.

The question is whether or not the homestead exemption of $5,000.00 provided by the applicable Ohio statute may be carried over as an exemption in lieu of homestead in personal property to the extent not claimed in real property. In behalf of Debtors it is urged as follows:

“The Debtors’ argument is grounded in a question of statutory interpretation. Under the 1954 edition of Title 23 the exemption provisions were not codified in a single statute, but rather spanned many Sections of the Revised Code, §§ 2329.62-.81 to be exact. In 1979, the Legislature sought to remedy this profusion of exemption law by codifying all of the above statutes into a single unified exemption statute, which is now known as § 2329.66. Under former § 2329.81 it was held that a debtor was entitled to a personal property exemption in lieu of a homestead exemption, thereby according non-property owners the same rights as fee holders. Indeed, it was held that an income tax refund due to a bankrupt as a result of wages withheld by his employer, was exempt under this Section. In re Johnson, 27 Ohio Op.2d 448, 232 F.Supp. 681; In Re Perry, 26 Ohio Op.2d 469, 225 F.Supp. 481.
An examination of the original language of House Bill 674, which was en[918]*918acted as O.R.C. § 2329.66 is most instructive on this count. The composition of §§ 2327.26 [sic] and 2329.66 clearly reveal a legislative intent to transfer the purpose and meaning of former § 2329.81 into Sub-Section (A)(1) of the new unified exemption statute. (See Baldwin’s 1979 Laws of Ohio at 5-308).
That a personal property in lieu of real property exemption is intended to be made applicable to other sections of said unified exemption statute, is directly reflected in the punctuation of Sub-Section (A)(1), which is followed by a colon, unlike all of the following Sub-Sections, which are punctuated with semi-colons.”

The pertinent sections of the Ohio Revised Code read, as follows:

§ 2329.66 [Exempted interests and rights]
(A) every person who is domiciled in this state may hold property exempt from execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale to satisfy a judgment or order, as follows:
(1) The person’s interest, not to exceed five thousand dollars, in one parcel or item of real or personal property that the person or a dependent of the person uses as a residence:
(2) The person’s interest, not to exceed one thousand dollars, in one motor vehicle:
(4)(a) The person’s interest, not to exceed four hundred dollars, in cash on hand, money due and payable, money to become due within ninety days, tax refunds, and money on deposit with a bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, credit union, public utility, landlord, or other person.. This division applies only in bankruptcy proceedings. This exemption may include the portion of personal earnings that is not exempt under division (A)(13) of this section.
(b)Subject to division (A)(4)(d) of this section, the person’s interest, not to exceed two hundred dollars in any particular item, in household furnishings, household goods, appliances, books, animals, crops, musical instrument, firearms, and hunting and fishing equipment, that are held primarily for the personal, family or household use of the person.
(c) Subject to division (A)(4)(d) of this section, the person’s interest in one or more items of jewelry, not to exceed four hundred dollars in one item of jewelry and not to exceed two hundred dollars in every other item of jewelry.
(d) Divisions (A)(4)(b) and (A)(4)(c) of the section do not include items of personal property listed in division (A)(3) of this section.
If the person does not claim an exemption under division (A)(1) of this section, the total exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(b) of this section shall be added to the total exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(c) of this section and the total shall not exceed two thousand dollars. If the person claims an exemption under division (a)(1) of this section, the total exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(b) of this section shall be added to the total exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(c) of this section and the total shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars.
(17) The person’s interest, not to exceed four hundred dollars, in any property except that this division applies only in bankruptcy proceedings.

Counsel for the Debtors has presented a question of first impression which apparently has not been analyzed as to the Ohio statutes in any reported judicial case precedent. No legislative history of statutes in Ohio is available for reference.

The present Ohio statutes pertaining to exemptions of property from levy of execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale by judicial process, codified into one unified Chapter multifarious and random preexisting Ohio statutes. The belated revision of antiquated statutes, many over 100 years old, was precipitated by the enactment of the Bankruptcy Code of 1978 on November 6, 1978; and, in fact, constitutes merely a [919]*919variation of provisions patterned directly upon 11 U.S.C. § 522. The net result of the Ohio enactment made effective 28 September 1979, was to narrow and restrict the exemptions for debtors as provided by federal law, and to deny a debtor a choice of the § 522(d) exemption system. Ohio R.C. § 2329.662, and 11 U.S.C.

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

Related

In Re Perry
225 F. Supp. 481 (N.D. Ohio, 1963)
McClanahan v. Kimball (In Re Kimball)
2 B.R. 560 (W.D. Louisiana, 1980)
Matter of Reynolds
24 B.R. 344 (S.D. Ohio, 1982)
Morris Plan Bank v. Viona
170 N.E. 650 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1930)
In re Johnson
232 F. Supp. 681 (S.D. Ohio, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 B.R. 916, 1983 Bankr. LEXIS 5717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-allison-ohsb-1983.