In re Forrest

410 B.R. 816, 2009 Bankr. LEXIS 2732, 2009 WL 2971081
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 16, 2009
DocketNo. 09 B 20874
StatusPublished

This text of 410 B.R. 816 (In re Forrest) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Forrest, 410 B.R. 816, 2009 Bankr. LEXIS 2732, 2009 WL 2971081 (Ill. 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION SUSTAINING LITTON’S OBJECTION TO CHAPTER PLAN

JACK B. SCHMETTERER, Bankruptcy Judge.

BACKGROUND

Milliletti Forrest filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition on June 8, 2009. The schedules of Ms. Forrest indicate that Litton Loan Servicing has two mortgages on her residence, the second of which is asserted to be wholly unsecured because the property value is low. Forrest filed a Modified Chapter 13 Plan on August 25, 2009, which provides that, “[d]ue to the lack of equity in Debtor’s primary residence located at 116 West 126th Place, Litton Loan Servicing’s second lien is stripped from the property and will be paid as an unsecured creditor.” Modified Chapter 13 Plan, dated 08/25/09 ¶ G.4 (“the Plan”).

The question presented here is whether a debtor may strip off a junior mortgage that is allegedly wholly unsecured through a Chapter 13 Plan, rather than through an adversary proceeding. It is held here that the debtor may not strip off the junior mortgage through the Plan because the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Rules, and the Constitution require her to file an adversary proceeding to do so, and be[818]*818cause her pleading quoted above is insufficient to be considered for default purposes.

Litton filed a written objection to the Debtor’s original Plan on a separate issue, but at the confirmation hearing its counsel made an oral objection to the lien stripping provision in the Amended Plan.

In this District, as in many other jurisdictions, a form Chapter 13 Plan is provided for use by counsel and the terms and conditions to be included may be applied to the form. It is common that such Plans provide extensive financial details. It is not common that they include provisions in the nature of declaratory judgments that purport to adjudicate legal issues between parties if the Plan is confirmed. This is the first such effort that has been brought to attention of the undersigned.

As Seventh Circuit Panel observed in preventing a student loan from being discharged by a similar tactic in In re Hanson, 397 F.3d 482, 484 (2005), “Apparently the hope is that an unsuspecting bankruptcy court will confirm the plan and that the lender will not recognize the ... ploy in time to object to confirmation or to file an appeal.”

DISCUSSION

I. Forrest Must File an Adversary Proceeding to Strip Off Litton Loan Servicing’s Junior Mortgage Because the Bankruptcy Code and the Bankruptcy Rules Require an Adversary Proceeding to Avoid a Wholly Unsecured Mortgage

Rule 7001 Fed. R. Bankr.P. requires an adversary proceeding to determine “validity, priority, or extent of a lien or other interest in property” [Rule 7001(2) ] and a proceeding to obtain a declaratory judgment relating to an applicable lien interest [Rule 2001(9) ]. However, the requirement for the adversary proceeding may be waived. See In re Pence, 905 F.2d 1107, 1109 (7th Cir.1990) (party may waive its right to adversary proceeding).

It is true that a bankruptcy court may ordinarily value a claim when asked to do so by a motion and proper notice, Fed. R. Bankr.P. 3012. Based on that Rule, it has been held that valuation, without more, is not a determination of the “validity, priority, or extent of a lien that requires an adversary proceeding.” In re King, 290 B.R. 641, 648 (Bankr.C.D.Ill. 2003) (thus permitting strip off of wholly unsecured mortgage through the Chapter 13 plan confirmation process). But that opinion cannot be followed. When a lien is voided as wholly unsecured, the result is the same as if the lien was declared void in an adversary proceeding, and the entire claim is thereby treated as an unsecured claim. Allowing the debtor to avoid a lien through the chapter 13 plan confirmation process would be contrary to the clearly expressed intent in the Bankruptcy Code and the Bankruptcy Rules to protect secured claim holders when their liens are attacked, especially when those holders have mortgages secured by the debtor’s principal residence. See id. § 1322(b)(2); Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7001; Nobelman v. Am. Sav. Bank, 508 U.S. 324, 332, 113 S.Ct. 2106, 124 L.Ed.2d 228 (1993) (Stevens, J., concurring). When such a legislative intent is clear, the debtor must prosecute an adversary proceeding to obtain the desired relief. See In re Hanson, 397 F.3d 482, 486-87 (7th Cir.2005) (voiding discharge of student loan because debtor did not bring adversary proceeding for undue hardship determination under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8) and Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7001(6)).

Contra In re Andersen, 179 F.3d 1253, 1254 (10th Cir.1999), questioned in later 10th Circuit opinion Poland v. Educ. Credit Mgmt Corp., 382 F.3d 1185, at 1188-9 n. 2 (10th Cir.2004) and In re Pardee, 193 F.3d 1083 (9th Cir.1999). In Hanson, even though the Chapter 13 plan had been [819]*819confirmed and the confirmation order was final, the portion granting discharge from a student loan was held not enforceable. The opinion observed:

“Moreover, eases like Andersen and Pardee permit debtors to flaunt both substantive and procedural provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and Rules through a meaningless incantation ... on their proposed plans.”

Hanson, Id., 397 F.3d at 486.

In this case, Forrest seeks to strip off the junior mortgage on her residence through a provision in her Chapter 13 Plan. Her proposed Chapter 13 Plan provides in a sparse provision that, “[d]ue to the lack of equity in Debtor’s primary residence located at 116 West 126th Place, Litton Loan Servicing’s second lien is stripped from the property and will be paid as an unsecured creditor.” Modified Chapter 13 Plan, dated 08/25/09, ¶ G.4. Forrest is seeking to avoid entirely a Litton Loan Servicing mortgage on her primary residence, a relief sought that requires her to file an adversary proceeding. Litton Loan Servicing has not waived its right to that adversary proceeding, and its counsel in open court declined to waive its right to such proceeding. Therefore, under the Bankruptcy Code and the Bankruptcy Rules, she may not strip off Litton Loan Servicing’s mortgage through the Plan without filing an adversary proceeding.

II.

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Related

Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co.
339 U.S. 306 (Supreme Court, 1950)
Nobelman v. American Savings Bank
508 U.S. 324 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Andersen v. UNIPAC-NEBHELP (In Re Andersen)
179 F.3d 1253 (Tenth Circuit, 1999)
In Re: Craig D. Hanson, Debtor-Appellant
397 F.3d 482 (Seventh Circuit, 2005)
Espinosa v. United Student Aid Funds, Inc.
553 F.3d 1193 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)
In Re King
290 B.R. 641 (C.D. Illinois, 2003)
Mercantile Bank v. Canovas
237 B.R. 423 (N.D. Illinois, 1998)
Merrill Lynch Mortgage Corp. v. Narayan
908 F.2d 246 (Seventh Circuit, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
410 B.R. 816, 2009 Bankr. LEXIS 2732, 2009 WL 2971081, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-forrest-ilnb-2009.