In Re Shin

306 B.R. 397, 51 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1755, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 254, 2004 WL 420016
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedFebruary 13, 2004
Docket02-00357
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 306 B.R. 397 (In Re Shin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Shin, 306 B.R. 397, 51 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1755, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 254, 2004 WL 420016 (D.D.C. 2004).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER RE SECOND AMENDED PLAN

S. MARTIN TEEL, JR., Bankruptcy Judge.

At the confirmation hearing on his First Amended Reorganization Plan,, the debtor, Dr. Peter C. Shin, filed a second Amended Reorganization Plan (Docket Entry No. 129) (“Second Amended Plan”) 1 under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C.). 2 The debtor must modify the Second Amended Plan for the reasons that follow, unless the debtor (who has not had an opportunity to address these issues) *400 files a motion convincing the court that its analysis is in error.

I

THE PLAN MAKES NO PROVISION FOR NON-TAX CLAIMS INCURRED POSTPETITION OF A NON-ADMINISTRATIVE CHARACTER, AND MUST LEAVE THOSE CLAIMS UNAFFECTED BY ANY DISCHARGE AND UNAFFECTED BY ANY RELEASE OR INJUNCTION PROVISION IN THE PLAN

After filing this case, Dr. Shin likely incurred debts for which he is personally liable based on activities not associated with being a debtor-in-possession (for example, a home heating bill). Claims unrelated to Dr. Shin’s being a debtor-in-possession will not be of an administrative character. 3 For ease of discussion, the court will refer to these claims as postpetition non-administrative claims.

Dr. Shin’s plan contemplates that all claims against Dr. Shin arising prior to confirmation will be discharged, and the plan has release and injunction provisions that apply to such claims. The Bankruptcy Code does not specifically require that postpetition non-administrative claims receive any particular treatment. However, a chapter 11 plan is obviously not proposed in good faith, as required by § 1129(a)(3), if it attempts to rid a debtor of such claims without providing for their payment. As developed below, a plan that fails to provide for payment of postpetition non-administrative claims cannot be confirmed unless the plan expressly excepts such claims from discharge, and from the plan’s release and injunction provisions.

A.

§ 1141(d)(1)(A) PLAINLY IS APPLICABLE TO POSTPETITION ADMINISTRATIVE CLAIMS INCURRED BY THE ESTATE

Under 11 U.S.C. § 1129(a)(9)(A), to be confirmed a plan must provide that any administrative expense claim allowed under 11 U.S.C. § 503(b) will be paid in full on the effective date of the plan, unless the holder of the claim agrees to a different treatment. The discharge provisions of § 1141(d)(1)(A), except as provided in § 1141(d)(2) and (3), apply to such an administrative claim. 4 The plan can provide a bar date for filing such a claim. 5 If the *401 claim is neither timely filed nor allowed to be filed tardily, a discharge under the plan will bar collection of the claim unless it comes within one of the exceptions to § 1141(d)(1)(A).

B.

§ 1141(d)(1)(A) IS ARGUABLY ALSO APPLICABLE TO POSTPETITION NON-ADMINISTRATIVE DEBTS

In Sequa Corp. v. Christopher (In re Christopher), 28 F.3d 512, 515 (5th Cir.1994), the court of appeals held that a postpetition claim was discharged under § 1141(d)(1)(A) even though there was some uncertainty (which the court found unnecessary to resolve) regarding whether the claim was an administrative claim (a debt of the estate as opposed to a personal liability of the debtor Christopher). 6 Accordingly, Christopher necessarily holds (albeit without much analysis) that a § 1141(d)(1)(A) discharge applies to post-petition non-administrative claims. 7

However, in enacting § 1141(d)(1)(A), Congress gave no indication in the legislative history that it was aware that the statute’s plain language would apply not only to prepetition and administrative claims against the estate, but also to those postpetition-preconfirmation claims against the debtor that are non-estate liabilities. 8 Indeed, at first glance, § 1141(d)(1)(A)© through (iii) 9 might lead one to think that in order for a claim to be discharged by § 1141(d)(1)(A), the claim must be one that (i) could be asserted via a proof of claim, (ii) could be allowed under § 502 (unless § 502 requires disallowance of the claim), and (iii) gives rise to a right to vote on the plan. Read that way, § 1141(d)(1)(A)® through (iii) would make § 1141(d)(1)(A) inapplicable to a postpetition non-administrative claim, for such a claim (i) is not one for which a proof of claim can be filed; 10 *402 (ii) would not be an allowed claim under § 502 in any event; 11 and (iii) does not give the holder of the claim a right to vote on a plan. 12 However, administrative claims share the same three characteristics: they (i) are not asserted via a proof of claim (but via a § 503(a) request); (ii) are not allowed under § 502 (but under § 503(b)); and (iii) do not give rise to a right to vote on the plan (see § 1126(a)). As already noted, § 1141(d)(1)(A) was intended to discharge administrative expense claims allowed under 11 U.S.C. § 503(b). It logically follows that § 1141(d)(1) (A) (i) through (iii) do not through implication except either administrative claims or the debtor’s postpetition non-administrative debts from the reach of a discharge under § 1141(d)(1)(A).

However, administrative claims are different from postpetition non-administrative claims in very important respects: the Bankruptcy Code provides a mechanism for their allowance against the estate, and explicitly requires that a plan provide for full payment of allowed administrative claims. See 11 U.S.C. §§ 503(a), 507(a)(1), and 1129(a)(9)(A). As more fully discussed next, this suggests that Congress did not realize that it was providing for a discharge of postpetition non-administrative claims, and that, even if the discharge does apply to such claims, the court should guard against a plan’s discharging such claims when a plan leaves them unpaid.

C.

PROPRIETY OF MAKING § 1141(d) DISCHARGE INAPPLICABLE TO AN INDIVIDUAL DEBTOR’S POSTPETITION NON-ADMINISTRATIVE DEBTS

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Bluebook (online)
306 B.R. 397, 51 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1755, 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 254, 2004 WL 420016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-shin-dcd-2004.