In Re Danastorg

382 B.R. 585, 2008 Bankr. LEXIS 419, 2008 WL 467665
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedFebruary 22, 2008
Docket19-10711
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 382 B.R. 585 (In Re Danastorg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Danastorg, 382 B.R. 585, 2008 Bankr. LEXIS 419, 2008 WL 467665 (Mass. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

JOAN N. FEENEY, Bankruptcy Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The matters before the Court are the “Objection to Confirmation of Debtor’s Amended Chapter 13 Plan by Secured Creditor,” filed by the Whiting Lane Condominium Trust (the “Condo Trust”) and the Debtor’s Objection to the Proof of Claim filed by the Condo Trust. The Court heard the matters on December 13, 2007 and took them under advisement. The Condo Trust and the Debtor filed briefs by the January 21, 2008 and February 7, 2008 deadlines imposed by the Court.

II. BACKGROUND

Reba Danastorg (the “Debtor”) filed a Chapter 13 petition on May 11, 2007. She filed her Schedules and Chapter 13 plan on May 29, 2007. On Schedule A-Real Property, she listed an ownership interest in property she identified as 3 Whiting Road, Hingham (the “Property”). She valued the Property at $733,000. On Schedule D-Creditors Holding Secured Claims, she listed “Homecome Fin” as the holder of a mortgage on the Property in the sum of $476,250. On Scheduled F-Creditors Holding Unsecured Nonpriority Claims, she listed the Condo Trust with a claim in the sum of $6,967.12 for “2006-2007 condo fees.”

On June 26, 2007, the Debtor filed a First Amended Chapter 13 Plan. Although she did not amend Schedule D, in her amended plan, in Section I, captioned “Secured Claims,” the Debtor listed the Condo Trust and proposed to pay it “priority condo fees” in the sum of $1,440 and a *587 “non priority condo fee” in the sum of $2,722, as well as mortgage arrears in the sum of $97,252.80.

On September 21, 2007, the Condo Trust filed its objection to confirmation of the Debtor’s amended Chapter 18 plan. Referencing its proof of claim and attaching the same accounting that it attached to its proof of claim to its objection, the Condo Trust stated that it was owed $7,267 and that the Debtor misstated the prepetition arrearage due for unpaid condominium fees and attorneys’ fees, all of which it claimed were secured by the Property.

On October 22, 2007, the Debtor filed an objection to the Condo Trust’s proof of claim. The Debtor complained that the Condo Trust filed its proof of claim without proper supporting documentation, including 1) prepetition condo fees paid by the Debtor; 2) an itemization of the bill for legal fees; and 3) proof that the Condo Trust followed the notice requirements set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 188A, § 6 in order to perfect its lien. The Debtor also objected to the proof of claim, arguing that pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(16), “the debtor is not obligated to pay any prepetition condominium association fees, late fees, costs or attorney’s fees.... ” Although the Debtor stated that the Condo Trust may have a priority lien for postpetition delinquent “common expenses,” it asserted that the lien does not include amounts attributable to special assessments, late charges, fines, penalties, and interest assessed by the Condo Trust. It added that the Condo Trust’s failure to send the Debtor’s first mortgagee notice of the 60 day delinquency of common expenses affects the priority of the amount it may be able to collect.

The Condo Trust filed an Opposition to the Debtor’s Objection to its proof of claim. It attached copies of two letters that it sent by first class, certified mail to the Debtor, “Homecomings Financial,” Robert McCarthy, Trustee of the McCarthy Realty Trust, and Lee S. Kaplan. In the first letter, dated August 25, 2006, the Condo Trust, through its attorney, notified the Debtor that she was delinquent in the payment of condominium fees for the months of April, May June, July, and August of 2006 in the amount of $1,200. Additionally, it claimed it was entitled to “late fees for the period April 2006 to the present in the amount of $125; May 2006 in the amount of $1000, June 2006 in the amount of $75.00, July 2006 in the amount of $50.00 and August 2006 in the amount of $25.00.” It observed that “[tjhese assessments are for the total amount due and owing of $1,575.00.” The Condo Trust also asserted that it was entitled to attorney’s fees and costs totaling $285.36. It demanded payment within 30 days.

In the second letter, dated November 1, 2006, which the Condo Trust sent by first class, certified mail to the same parties identified above, the Condo Trust notified the Debtor that it intended to institute an action to collect amounts due and owing and to enforce its lien because the delinquency had not been cured. It stated that $1,920 was due for common expenses for eight months beginning in April 2006. It also sought late charges of $875 and collection costs of $678.92. 1 The Condo Trust advised the Debtor that she should “be aware that, should legal action be necessary, the Trust’s lien will have priority over the mortgage to the extent of the common charges due for up to six months, plus collection cost and attorney fees [sic].”

*588 III. APPLICABLE LAW

The Debtor argues that prepetition condominium fees are dischargeable under section 523(a)(16). That section excepts from discharge “any debt—

for a fee or assessment that becomes due and payable after the order for relief to a membership association with respect to the debtor’s interest in a unit that has condominium ownership, in a share of a cooperative corporation, or a lot in a homeowners association, for as long as the debtor or the trustee has a legal, equitable, or possessory ownership interest in such unit, such corporation, or such lot, but nothing in this paragraph shall except from discharge the debt of a debtor for a membership association fee or assessment for a period arising before entry of the order for relief in a pending or subsequent bankruptcy case....

11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(16) (emphasis supplied). Thus, section 523(a)(16) specifically excepts from discharge in a Chapter 7 case, postpetition condominium fees. Such postpetition fees would not normally be discharged as the Chapter 7 discharge pertains to “debts that arose before the date of the order for relief.” 2

In Chapter 13, section 1328 of the Bankruptcy Code governs the discharge. It provides that “the court shall grant the debtor a discharge of all debts provided for by the plan or disallowed under section 502 of this title, except any debt—(2) of the kind specified in section 507(a)(8)(C) or in paragraph (1)(B), (1)(C), (2), (3), (4), (5), (8), or (9) of section 523(a).” 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a). Section 1328 does not mention section 523(a)(16), and the Court finds that section 523(a)(16) is inapplicable to Chapter 13 cases, where the Debtor has an ongoing duty to pay postpetition obligations, such as utilities and condominium fees, as they come due.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
382 B.R. 585, 2008 Bankr. LEXIS 419, 2008 WL 467665, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-danastorg-mab-2008.