In re Enloe

542 B.R. 414, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 4067, 2015 WL 7888919
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedDecember 3, 2015
DocketCASE NO: 14-36358
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 542 B.R. 414 (In re Enloe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Enloe, 542 B.R. 414, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 4067, 2015 WL 7888919 (Tex. 2015).

Opinion

[417]*417 MEMORANDUM OPINION

Marvin Isgur, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

Sharron and Stepehn Waszkiewicz (collectively, “the Waszkiewiczes”) have filed an objection to Debtor Kim Enloe’s claimed homestead exemption of $155,600.00 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(o). Enloe transferred $195,000.00 of non-exempt assets into his homestead with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors. He also invested $110,000.00 of exempt assets into his homestead. Accordingly, his homestead exemption must be reduced to 36.1% of the proceeds from the sale of his home up to the $155,675.00 limit set by 11 U.S.C. § 522(p).

Background

Procedural Posture

Kim Enloe filed for chapter 7 protection on November 14, 2014. (ECF No. 1). In his schedules he identified Sharron and Stephen Waszkiewicz as his largest creditors with an unsecured claim- totaling $100,868.13. Id. On June 11, 2010, the Waszkiewiczes obtained a final judgment against Enloe in Cause No. 2009-07070 in the 80th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas. (Movants’ Ex. No. 1). The state court ordered Enloe to pay $68,032.21 in damages, an additional $27,850.00 in attorney’s fees, and $4,985.92 in pre-judgment interest. Id. On August 13, 2010, the Waszkiewiczes recorded an Abstract of Judgment against Enloe’s property at 6233 Queeswood (sic) Lane, Houston, TX 77008. (Movants’ Ex. No. 2).

In his bankruptcy schedules, Enloe claimed a homestead exemption for property located at 3506 Griggs, Houston, TX 77021 in the amount of $184,516.00.1 (ECF No. 1 at 12). Enloe further claimed an exemption for a $150,000.00 Beneficiary IRA held by Raymond James. Id. The Waszkiewiczes filed an objection to both claimed exemptions on February 9, 2015. (ECF No. 15). Enloe responded on March 2, 2015. (ECF No. 21). At a hearing on May 14, 2015, the Court ruled that the Raymond James IRA was properly claimed as exempt pursuant to Tex. Prop. Code § 42.0021(a). The Waskiewiczes then proceeded with their case.

Enloe testified at the May 14 hearing. During his testimony, Enloe began to have difficulty coherently answering questions, and the Court continued the hearing. The hearing resumed on July 22, 2015. Enloe testified that he had recently struggled with alcohol abuse and could not remember his testimony at the last hearing. En-loe further testified that’his decisions regarding the Griggs Road home were made while he was severely impaired due to his alcoholism. The Court requested briefing on the issue of alcohol impairment as it relates to the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors. After hearing closing arguments on September 28, 2015, the Court took the matter under advisement.

The Griggs Road Property

Enloe’s father died on February 17, 2012. (Movants’ Ex. No. 15). His father owned a townhome in Houston, a Raymond James IRA, and some additional cash in a Raymond James annuity. (ECF No. 65 at 7) (testimony of Enloe). As the administrator of his father’s estate, Enloe signed a Notice of Purchase for the town-home on August 30, 2012. (Movants’ Ex. No. 13). The sale generated approximately $50,000.00 in proceeds which were placed into the probate estate. (ECF No. 65 at 7, 10). Enloe testified that he personally received approximately $35,000.00 [418]*418in cash from the sale of the townhome.2 Id. at 11. Enloe also received $116,000.00 in cash from the Raymond James annuity in March of 2012. Id. at 16. Finally, the Raymond James IRA held approximately $800,000.00 at the time of his father’s death. Id. By November of 2014, when Enloe prepared his bankruptcy schedules, that value had diminished to $150,000.00. (Movants’ Ex. No. 9) (Bankruptcy Schedule C).

On July 27, 2012, Enloe purchased the property located at 3506 Griggs Road, Houston, TX for $70,000.00. (Movants’ Ex. No. 12; ECF No. 65 at 19). When asked where he received the funds used to purchase the property, Enloe testified that it came from his father’s inheritance, specifically “[t]he funds [that] were held at Raymond James.” (ECF No. 65 at 20). Counsel for the Waszkiewiczes then asked:

Q: Was the seventy thousand dollars out of the cash you received from Raymond James?
A: Yes.
Q: Was any part of that seventy thousand dollars out of any distributions from the inherited IRA that was held by Raymond James?
A: No.

Id.

Enloe, who has been in the general construction business for 27 years, testified that he generally understood that Texas homestead law made homes exempt from the bankruptcy process. Id. He testified further that he was surprised to learn at his § 341 creditors’ meeting that 11 U.S.C § 522(p) limits the homestead exemption for property acquired within the 1215-day period preceding the bankruptcy filing. Id. at 22. The following exchange then occurred:

Q: But did you go into the bankruptcy filing in November of 2014 under the belief that the entirety up'to whatever value at 3506 Griggs Road may have would be [sic ] protected from your creditors?
A: That is my general understanding of homestead. I designed and built the house to live there indefinitely. And so, that’s the path I took. It’s my third house. And — so, this one was for me. I have lost two houses to two wives.
Q: Okay. Maybe I — let me maybe be more clearer [sic]. I believe you in describing 3506 Griggs and the residence that you have constructed on that piece of property that you stated that it does not belong [to your ex-wives]. Did I mishear you perhaps?
A: Yeah.
Q: Or is that what you said?
A: I think you did. This was done to set my daughter up in life.
Q: The construction of 3506 was designed to set your daughter up for life; is that what you just testified to?
A: Exactly.... It was to forward the corpus into her future.
Q: And so that was undertaken in an effort to prevent your creditors from being able to get assets that you had through the construction and residence of 3506 Griggs Road; is that right?
A: No. I always knew I would be paying these guys off.
[419]*419Q: And prior to the filing of your bankruptcy, was your goal in building and buying — and building a residence at 3506 Griggs Road to protect your assets from your creditors so that they would be preserved for your daughter?
A: Yes. However, may I just comment for a moment? Had I understood the real nature of bankruptcy law in America I never would have filed; I would dealt [sic ] all this out by designing and building a house and paying evérybody off. I never would have done this.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
542 B.R. 414, 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 4067, 2015 WL 7888919, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-enloe-txsb-2015.