In Re Robert Ray Harrison and Frankey Daylene Harrison, Debtors. Agricredit Corporation v. Robert Ray Harrison and Frankey Daylene Harrison

987 F.2d 677, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 3487, 23 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 1759, 1993 WL 53178
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMarch 3, 1993
Docket92-5068
StatusPublished
Cited by82 cases

This text of 987 F.2d 677 (In Re Robert Ray Harrison and Frankey Daylene Harrison, Debtors. Agricredit Corporation v. Robert Ray Harrison and Frankey Daylene Harrison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Robert Ray Harrison and Frankey Daylene Harrison, Debtors. Agricredit Corporation v. Robert Ray Harrison and Frankey Daylene Harrison, 987 F.2d 677, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 3487, 23 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 1759, 1993 WL 53178 (10th Cir. 1993).

Opinion

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.

Creditor Agricredit Corporation appeals from an order affirming the bankruptcy court’s order which confirmed the debtors’ first amended Chapter 12 bankruptcy plan (plan). We affirm.

Agricredit financed the debtors’ purchase of several items of Massey Ferguson farm machinery with a purchase price of $66,400.00. In 1989, the Massey Ferguson tractor became inoperable, forcing the debtors to surrender the equipment and default on the remaining indebtedness to Agricredit. Agricredit instituted a replevin action in state court. On December 19, 1989, Agricredit replevied all collateral. The debtors responded by filing a breach of warranty counterclaim against Agricredit and a third-party petition against Massey Ferguson.

The debtors filed their Chapter 12 petition for bankruptcy on February 22, 1991. On April 26, 1991, the bankruptcy court modified the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362 to allow the debtors to liquidate the warranty claim, and to allow Agricredit, the successor in interest to Massey Ferguson, “to liquidate whatever claim it may have against the Debtors’ estate.” Aplt.’s App. doc. 2.

Agricredit filed a proof of claim on April 30, 1991. On the form in the section titled “classification of claim” it checked only the box indicating that its $34,083.12 claim was secured. It attached agreements describing the collateral. It also attached to the form a separate sheet titled “Exhibit ‘B’ ” in which it stated that it has replevied the collateral and the debtors will be entitled to a setoff after the collateral is sold. The debtors did not object to the claim, and it was therefore deemed allowed. 11 U.S.C. § 502(a).

The debtors filed their plan on May 24, 1991. It listed Agricredit as a secured creditor with a claim of $34,083.12 that had a market value of $34,083.12. It provided that the debtors had surrendered all property securing Agricredit’s claim pre-petition, and the claim had therefore been fully satisfied and Agricredit had no further claim against the estate.

On July 3,1991, Agricredit filed an objection to the plan. It asserted that the plan failed to comply with certain subsections of 11 U.S.C. § 1225(a), 1 specifically: 1) it had *679 not been proposed in good faith, § 1225(a)(3); 2) the value, as of the effective date of the plan, of property to be distributed under the plan for each unsecured claim was less than would be paid if the estate were liquidated under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, § 1225(a)(4); 3) with respect to each secured claim provided for by the plan, the holder of such claim has not accepted the plan, the plan does not provide that the holder retain the lien securing the claim, the value of property to be distributed under the plan for each such claim is less than the allowed amount of the claim, and the debtors have failed to surrender the property securing the claims to such holders, § 1225(a)(5); and 4) the debtors would be unable to make all payments under the plan or to comply with the plan, § 1225(a)(6). Agricredit also objected to the plan “because of its failure to provide for Agricredit Acceptance Corporation’s unsecured claim.” Aplt.’s App. doc. 5 at 2. Agricredit had not filed an amended proof of claim for an unsecured claim.

A confirmation hearing was held on July 24, 1991. 2 After hearing evidence regarding Agricredit’s objections, the bankruptcy court found that: 1) the plan was proposed in good faith; 2) as of the effective date of the plan, the value of payments to be distributed on account of each unsecured claim was not less than the amount that would have been paid on such claims if the estate had been liquidated under chapter 7; 3) with respect to allowed secured claims, the requirements of § 1225(a)(5) had been met; and 4) the debtors provided sufficient evidence that they would be able to make all payments under the plan. It denied Agricredit’s objections.

With respect to Agricredit’s claim, the bankruptcy court found that

Agricredit Acceptance Corp., has filed a secured claim in the amount of $34,-083.12. Debtor has surrendered all property securing this claim pre-petition. By virtue thereof, this creditors [sic] claim has been fully satisfied and therefore, this creditor shall not receive any payments through this Plan either as a secured creditor or unsecured creditor.

Aplt.’s App. doc. 6 at 9. Although not explicitly stated in its order, the bankruptcy court apparently concluded that because Agricredit’s proof of claim asserted that its entire claim was secured, the surrender of the collateral satisfied the requirements of § 1225(a)(5)(C).

Agricredit appealed to the district court, raising one issue: whether the plan complied with § 1225(a)(4), which pertains to unsecured claims. The debtors responded that Agricredit had never objected to how its claim was treated in the plan, never asserted an unsecured claim until the plan was confirmed, and never filed a motion under 11 U.S.C. § 506(a) 3 to determine how much of its claim was secured versus unse *680 cured, which they asserted was Agricre-dit’s responsibility. The debtors represented that the collateral securing Agricredit’s claim was equal to the amount of the claim, a position they claim Agricre-dit had never disputed, and Agricredit therefore received the actual value of its claim as of the effective date of the plan. Debtor’s Dist. Ct. Br. at 8, 10. 4

The district court noted initially that the collateral had not yet been' sold and the state court trial on the breach of warranty claim was scheduled for March 1992. The court assumed that Agricredit had filed a secured claim, and concluded that because Agricredit did not file a motion to value its secured claim under § 506, and did not assert an unsecured claim until the plan was confirmed, Agricredit was estopped from appealing the order confirming the plan on the ground that it did not comply with § 1225(a)(4). In affirming the order confirming the plan, it did not address any other aspects of the bankruptcy court’s order.

Agricredit argues to this court that, regardless of which box it checked on the proof of claim form, its entire claim was unsecured as a matter of law under § 506(a). Consequently, Agricredit argues, the district court erred in concluding that it was estopped from challenging the plan under § 1225(a)(4) because it had not asserted an unsecured claim. Our standard of review is de novo. Sweet v. Bank of Oklahoma (In re Sweet), 954 F.2d 610, 611 (10th Cir.1992).

11 U.S.C. § 501

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Bluebook (online)
987 F.2d 677, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 3487, 23 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 1759, 1993 WL 53178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-robert-ray-harrison-and-frankey-daylene-harrison-debtors-agricredit-ca10-1993.