In Re Schwartz

68 B.R. 376, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 4705
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 29, 1986
Docket19-00040
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 68 B.R. 376 (In Re Schwartz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Schwartz, 68 B.R. 376, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 4705 (Pa. 1986).

Opinion

*377 OPINION

BRUCE FOX, Bankruptcy Judge:

This case raises an issue of first impression: whether a residential mortgage lender subject to the restrictions of Pennsylvania Act 6 of 1974, 41 P.S. §§ 101 et seq., may obtain counsel fees in excess of $50.00 for legal services incurred, in connection with a motion for relief from stay filed in bankruptcy court under 11 U.S.C. § 362, where those services were provided prior to commencement of a mortgage foreclosure or equivalent legal action. For the reasons set forth below, I hold that, under 41 P.S. § 406(3), the lender may not charge the debtors for counsel fees in excess of $50.00.

I.

The debtors, David Schwartz and Rochelle Schwartz, filed this chapter 13 bankruptcy case on February 11, 1986. They later filed a chapter 13 plan in which they proposed to cure delinquencies or pay off entirely various claims which are secured by their residential real estate. Their plan also provided for a 100% distribution on unsecured claims. The plan was confirmed by this court on July 15, 1988.

One of the secured claimants, The Money Store, is the holder of a mortgage on the debtors’ residence. On September 22, 1986, The Money Store filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay. The Money Store asserted that it was entitled to relief because the debtors had not made all of the postpetition payments under the mortgage it holds against the debtors’ residence. 1

At the hearing on the motion held on November 12, 1986, counsel for the lender and the debtors advised me that they had settled most of the issues between them. They agreed that, after the motion for relief from stay was filed, the debtors paid The Money Store more than $4,300.00. This sum cured the delinquent postpetition monthly payments for principal, interest, escrow and late charges. However, the lender contended that it was also entitled to $275.00 in attorney’s fees for filing the motion for relief from stay. The debtors disputed their liability for any attorney’s fees. Both parties requested a ruling on the issue. The Money Store agreed that it would not press for relief from stay pending my ruling on its claim of entitlement for attorney’s fees. 2

Subsequently, counsel for the parties advised the court that they had both erred in some of their factual representations at the hearing. They then filed a joint stipulation of facts and issues. It is now agreed that prior to bankruptcy, the lender sent an Act 6 notice to the debtors; that the debtors failed to exercise their right to cure the mortgage delinquency within 30 days; and that after the expiration of the 30 day notice period, but before the lender initiated any foreclosure or equivalent proceedings, the debtors filed this voluntary petition in bankruptcy.

The parties framed the issue as the “propriety, if any, of awarding a legal fee to movant, and, if answered in the affirmative ... [t]he reasonableness of the requested fee.” The parties also informed me that this issue is of greater significance than simply the size of the disputed counsel fees in this case. Counsel represented that this issue recurs frequently in chapter 13 cases and they pressed for a ruling on the matter.

II.

In order to place the current dispute in context, it is helpful to begin with a brief summary of the legal principles governing the foreclosure of residential mortgages in Pennsylvania. Foreclosure of residential *378 mortgages with a principal amount of $50,-000.00 or less is governed by statute: Act 6 of 1974, 41 P.S. § 101 et seq. By its own terms, one of the principal purposes of Act 6 is to “provid[e] protections to debtors to whom [residential mortgage] loans are made.” 41 P.S. § 101, Title of Act. The consumer protection provisions of Act 6 relative to mortgage foreclosure are found primarily in three sections of the statute.

First, 41 P.S. § 403 provides that before accelerating a residential mortgage obligation or commencing “any legal action including mortgage foreclosure to recover under such obligation,” the lender must send the debtor at least 30 days in advance, written notice of its intent to take such action. The notice must also clearly and conspicuously inform the debtor, inter alia, of the nature of the default, the legal right under Act 6 to cure the default, exactly what performance (including what sum of money, if any) must be tendered to cure the default and the time within which the debtor must cure the default in order to prevent foreclosure or other legal proceedings.

The notice requirements of Act 6 are mandatory. A lender who does not comply with 41 P.S. § 403 may not have access to the courts to enforce the mortgage obligation. Thus, in numerous cases, Pennsylvania courts have granted motions to dismiss complaints for failure to comply with 41 P.S. § 403. 3 Courts have also stricken default judgments on petition of the debtor where the lender did not send an adequate 30 day notice prior to suit. 4 In fact, this court has previously held that a foreclosure sale was invalid because the lender knowingly failed to send the requisite notice to the borrower. In re Sharp, 24 B.R. 817 (Bankr.E.D.Pa.1982).

Second, 41 P.S. § 404 provides a residential mortgage debtor with the substantive right to cure a default at any time up to one hour prior to sheriff or other judicial sale of the property. 5 Cure of a default restores the debtor to the same position as if no default had occurred. The cure may be effected by paying the lender all sums which have fallen due, including reasonable late charges provided in the mortgage instrument, reasonable costs and reasonable attorney’s fees as provided in 41 P.S. § 406. Thus, section 404 provides that even if the debtor does not take advantage of the right to cure within the 30 day notice period provided in 41 P.S. § 403, the right to cure continues to exist until an hour before sale. 6

Third, 41 P.S. § 406 strictly limits the attorney’s fees a debtor may be required to pay in order to cure a mortgage default under Act 6. Section 406 expressly provides that “no attorney’s fees may be charged for legal expenses incurred prior to or during the thirty-day notice period provided in section 403 of this act.” 41 *379 P.S. § 406(3). After the thirty day period has expired but “[p]rior to commencement of foreclosure or other legal action,” attorney’s fees which are reasonable and actually incurred may be charged but in no event in excess of $50.00. Id. § 406(2). Finally, “[u]pon commencement of foreclosure or other legal action,” reasonable and actually incurred attorney’s fees may be charged to the debtor. 7 Id.

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Bluebook (online)
68 B.R. 376, 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 4705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-schwartz-paeb-1986.