In Re Batchelor

97 B.R. 993, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2538, 1988 WL 151680
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedAugust 11, 1988
DocketBankruptcy HE 87-134M
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 97 B.R. 993 (In Re Batchelor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Batchelor, 97 B.R. 993, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2538, 1988 WL 151680 (Ark. 1988).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES G. MIXON, Bankruptcy Judge.

On October 29, 1987, Elton E. Batchelor and Edith Sue Batchelor (debtors) filed a voluntary petition for relief under the provisions of chapter 12 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The schedules, as amended, listed secured claims of $302,-148.54 and unsecured claims of $8,470.00. Real property, consisting of two tracts, was valued at $210,567.64 and personal property was valued at $61,660.00. The debtors estimated that the large tract which included the debtors’ homestead was worth a total of $192,942.76. The debtors estimated the smaller tract to be worth $17,624.88. On February 29, 1988, the debtors filed an amended plan of reorganization. In substance, the pertinent plan provisions proposed the following:

Class 10 — Farm Credit Services of Eastern Arkansas ($286,000.00 claim). The creditor would retain its first lien on 292 acres of farmland which debtors valued at $192,942.76. Debtors proposed to pay the value of the secured claim ($192,-942.76) amortized over thirty years, plus interest on the unpaid principal at the rate of 9% per annum. The. payments would be made annually in the sum of $18,780.34. The balance of Farm Credit Services’ claim would be paid pro rata with all other general unsecured creditors.
Class 11 — Small Business Administration ($15,816.00 claim). The creditor held a prepetition first lien on 36 acres and a prepetition first lien on the debtors’ farm equipment. The real property was valued at $17,623.08 and the farm equipment at $35,000.00. The plan proposed that SBA would retain its lien only on the farm equipment, that the claim would be repaid in seven annual installments and that interest would accrue at the rate of 5% per annum. The payments were to be made annually in the sum of $2,733.32.
Class 12 — Unsecured Creditors. This class would receive an amount equal to what they would receive in a chapter 7 case — $16,244.21 pro rata in annual installments of $5,414.74 for three years. Debtors also proposed to add any unused disposable income for each year, if any.

The Federal Land Bank (Farm Credit Services), the Small Business Administration and the trustee filed written objections to *995 confirmation of the plan. The Small Business Administration (SBA) objected to the plan’s proposals to release SBA’s lien on 36 acres and to pay interest on its secured claim at the rate of 5% per annum. The Federal Land Bank (FLB) objected to, among other things, the feasibility of the plan, the interest rate the debtors proposed to pay on its secured claim, the valuation of its secured claim, and the amount proposed to be paid on its unsecured claim. A confirmation hearing was conducted on March 1, 1988, and the case was taken under advisement.

The following shall constitute the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Bankruptcy Rule 7052. The matters presented are core proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(L), and this Court has jurisdiction to render a final judgment.

I

SBA’S OBJECTIONS

SBA’s objection to the proposed plan’s release of SBA’s lien on the 36-acre tract is sustained. It is undisputed that the SBA holds a claim secured in part on a 36-aere tract. The plan must provide that the holder of a secured claim retain its lien unless it agrees to different treatment. A debtor may not discharge a valid prepetition consensual lien from nonexempt property of the estate over the creditor’s objection. See In re Rott, 73 B.R. 366, 374 (Bankr.D.N.D.1987). See also In re Hink, 81 B.R. 489, 490-91 (Bankr.W.D.Ark.1987) (construing the analogous requirement for chapter 13 cases). Neither party introduced any evidence as to the appropriate interest rate to be charged. Therefore, this objection is overruled.

II

FLB’S OBJECTION TO VALUATION OF ITS SECURED CLAIM

The debtors’ plan valued FLB’s secured claim at $192,942.76. At trial, the debtors’ evidence consisted of the opinion testimony of Elton Batchelor, one of the debtors. However, Mr. Batchelor offered no credible basis for his opinion. FLB’s evidence consisted of the testimony of James B. Rutledge, an expert appraiser. For the reasons stated in open court, Mr. Rutledge’s valuation of $211,816.00 is accepted as the value of the real property securing FLB’s claim. FLB’s objection is, therefore, sustained.

Ill

FLB’S OBJECTION TO THE INTEREST RATE TO BE PAID ON ITS SECURED CLAIM

11 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(5) requires the following:

(5) with respect to each allowed secured claim provided for by the plan....
(B) ...
(ii) the value, as of the effective date of the plan, of property to be distributed by the trustee or the debtor under the plan on account of such claim is not less than the allowed amount of such claim....

This section requires the plan to provide for payment of the equivalent of the present value of the secured claim and is the same requirement contained in 11 U.S.C. § 1129(b)(2)(A)(i)(II) for chapter 11 cases. 5 Collier on Bankruptcy II 1129.03[4][f][i] (15th ed. 1988) describes present value as follows:

The concept of “present value” is of paramount importance to an understanding of section 1129(b). Simply stated, “present value” is a term of art for an almost self-evident proposition: a dollar in hand today is worth more than a dollar to be received a day, a month or a year hence. Part of the “present value” concept may be expressed by a corollary proposition: a dollar in hand today is worth exactly the same as (1) a dollar to be received a day, a month or a year hence plus (2) the rate of interest which the dollar would earn if invested at an appropriate interest rate.

Id. at p. 1129-62.

The appropriate rate of interest for calculating the present value of a claim is *996 the current market rate for a loan under similar circumstances. See United States v. Neal Pharmacal Co., 789 F.2d 1283, 1285-86 (8th Cir.1986); Prudential Ins. Co. of America v. Monnier (In re Monnier Bros.), 755 F.2d 1336, 1338-40 (8th Cir. 1985). Cases construing this requirement in chapter 12 cases have imposed the same requirement, but the rate determined to be the market rate has varied. See In re Weldin-Lynn, Inc., 79 B.R. 409, 412-13 (Bankr.E.D.Ark.1987) (plan must provide market rate of interest); In re O’Farrell, 74 B.R. 421, 424 (Bankr.N.D.Fla.1987) (market rate of interest determined to be 11% rather than 9% proposed by debtor); Lenz v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
97 B.R. 993, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2538, 1988 WL 151680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-batchelor-areb-1988.