In re Pajian

785 F.3d 1161, 73 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1255, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7763, 2015 WL 2182951
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMay 11, 2015
DocketNo. 14-2052
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 785 F.3d 1161 (In re Pajian) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Pajian, 785 F.3d 1161, 73 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1255, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7763, 2015 WL 2182951 (7th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

WOOD, Chief Judge.

After Edward Pajian filed for bankruptcy, Lisle Savings Bank, one of Pajian’s creditors, filed a proof of claim in the bankruptcy court. This is standard procedure, but there was a hiccup: the Bank missed the bankruptcy court’s deadline for filing such proofs by several months. The court had set the deadline in accordance with Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Proce[1162]*1162dure 3002(c), which requires creditors to file proofs of claim within 90 days of the date set for the meeting of the debtor’s creditors. The Bank excused its tardiness with the argument that Rule 3002(c) applies only to unsecured creditors; as a secured creditor, it asserted, it was entitled to file a proof of claim at any time, at least until plan confirmation. The bankruptcy court agreed with the Bank and overruled Pajian’s objection to the Bank’s claim. We now reverse that decision and hold that a secured creditor must file its proof of claim by the 90-day deadline specified by Rule 3002(c).

I

Edward Pajian filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition on June 25, 2013. The bankruptcy court clerk mailed a “Notice of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case, Meeting of Creditors, & Deadlines” to Pajian’s creditors, including Lisle Savings Bank. The notice instructed non-governmental creditors to file all proofs of claim by October 15, 2013, 90 days after the date set for the meeting of Pajian’s creditors. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3002(c). Missing the deadline by more than three months, the Bank filed a proof of claim for $330,472.19 on January 21, 2014. Its claim covered two debts. One was a secured debt for the first mortgage on a commercial property located in Lisle, Illinois; Pajian owned a one-half interest in the property. The second was an unsecured debt for a deficiency judgment resulting from a state foreclosure proceeding on a residential property in Naperville, Illinois.

The bankruptcy court docketed the Bank’s claim as Claim No. 5. Pajian filed an objection to the claim, arguing that it. was barred from inclusion in his Chapter 13 plan because the Bank had missed the deadline imposed by Rule 3002(c). The Bank countered vidth three arguments: 1) that - a secured creditor does not need to file a proof of claim in order to secure distributions under a Chapter 13 plan, 2) that a pleading it had submitted to the court before the deadline amounted to an “informal” proof of claim, and 3) that the Rule 3002(c) deadline is inapplicable to secured claims. The bankruptcy court rejected the first and second arguments but accepted the third, concluding that a secured creditor seeking distribution under a debtor’s plan need only file a proof of claim before the plan’s confirmation. The court thus sustained Pajian’s objection with respect to the unsecured portion of the claim, but overruled his objection as to the secured portion and deemed that latter portion allowed (in the amount of $233,229.68). Pajian took a direct appeal to this court to contest the bankruptcy court’s decision to allow the secured portion of the claim.

The bankruptcy court had jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157, which permits bankruptcy courts to hear and determine “core proceedings,” such as an objection to a proof of claim. See 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(1), (b)(2)(B). We have jurisdiction to hear this direct appeal from the bankruptcy court by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 158(d)(2)(A), which allows courts of appeals to hear appeals of bankruptcy court orders when, among other things, the order involves “a question of law as to which there is no controlling decision,” “a question of law requiring resolution of conflicting decisions,” or “a matter of public importance.” 28 U.S.C. § 158(d)(2)(A)(i)-(ii). The bankruptcy court certified that Pajian’s appeal met these requirements; we agreed with that assessment and granted Pajian’s request to take a direct appeal. The appeal raises a legal question that requires this court to break new ground and resolve conflicting decisions among bankruptcy courts. It also involves a mat[1163]*1163ter of public importance because this issue has been a thorn in the side of many Chapter 13 cases involving secured creditors. As this appeal involves only an issue of law, we review the bankruptcy court’s decision de novo. Adams v. Adams, 738 F.3d 861, 864-65 (7th Cir.2013).

II

Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code allows debtors to retain some assets and pay off their debts with future income. See 11 U.S.C. § 1322. The debtor makes regular payments to a trustee pursuant to a plan that the debtor must file. See id. §§ 1321-1322. After the bankruptcy court confirms the plan, the trustee begins to distribute payments to creditors, as specified in the debtor’s plan. See Fed. R. BankrP. 3021. Once the debtor makes all of the payments required by the plan, the bankruptcy court discharges most of the debtor’s remaining debts. See 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a).

A creditor must file a proof of claim in order to participate in Chapter 13 plan distributions. See Fed. R. BankrP. 3021 (permitting distribution to creditors “whose claims have been allowed”); 11 U.S.C. § 502(a) (providing that a claim is “deemed allowed” when a proof of claim is filed under section 501); see also In re Brisco, 486 B.R. 422, 430 (Bankr.N.D.Ill. 2013); In re Strong, 203 B.R. 105, 112 (Bankr.N.D.Ill.1996). But while -all creditors — secured and unsecured — must file a proof of claim in order to receive distributions, a secured creditor who fails to do so can still enforce its lien through a foreclosure action, even after the debtor receives a discharge. See In re Penrod, 50 F.3d 459, 461-62 (7th Cir.1995). In other words, a secured creditor’s lien is largely unaffected by the bankruptcy discharge, regardless of whether the creditor filed a proof of claim. (As we noted in Penrod, there can be practical effects on the secured creditor that might induce it to participate in the bankruptcy, but they do not affect the issue before us.)

A debtor may object — and a court must disallow the claim — if the creditor’s proof of claim is not timely filed. See 11 U.S.C. § 502(a), (b)(9). Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3002(c) notes that “a proof of claim is timely filed if it is filed not later than 90 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.” This subsection mentions six- exceptions to the 90-day deadline, but none is relevant here.

The issue before us is whether Rule 3002(c)’s deadline applies to all creditors or merely unsecured ones.

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Bluebook (online)
785 F.3d 1161, 73 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1255, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7763, 2015 WL 2182951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-pajian-ca7-2015.