In re Terry

543 B.R. 173, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170570, 2015 WL 9287060
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 21, 2015
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 14-6195, CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-0913; BANKRUPTCY NO. 13-14780
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 543 B.R. 173 (In re Terry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District 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 Terry, 543 B.R. 173, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170570, 2015 WL 9287060 (E.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Savage, District Judge.

The City of Philadelphia appéals from the bankruptcy court’s orders approving a settlement between, the debtor and the purchaser of the debtor’s real estate at a Sheriffs tax sale, and confirming the debt- or’s Chapter 13 plan which enabled the debtor to redeem his real estate. The City’s central contention is that the bankruptcy court’s avoiding the Sheriffs deed conveying the debtor’s property to the purchaser at the Sheriffs .sale impermissibly allowed the debtor to redeem the property in contravention of Pennsylvania law. The City; contends that the avoidance deprived..it of the transfer tax paid.on the Sheriffs conveyance to the purchaser and the transfer tax that would have been due on the purchaser’s conveyance back to the debtor.

The threshold issue is whether the City, a creditor whose claim has been paid in full, can appeal the orders, which may, but not necessarily, affect its interest. We conclude that because the orders have no direct,and immediate impact on the City, it [176]*176lacks standing to appeal. Therefore, we shall dismiss the appeals. .

Factual and Procedural Background

Debtor Otis W. Terry, Jr.’s real property, 7128 Mount Airy Place, Philadelphia (“Property”), was sold at Sheriffs sale to 2013 N. 16th St., LLC (“2013 LLC”) for $120,000.00 on September 19, 2012. After 2013 LLC paid the bid price, the Sheriff signed and delivered a deed conveying thé Property to 2013 LLC on December 11, 2012. After recording the deed, 2013 LLC filed a complaint in ejectment in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Default judgment was entered on April 2, 2013. The next day, 2013 LLC fíléd a praecipe for writ of possession.

To stave off ejectment, Terry filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on May 30, 2013. Five days later, 2013 LLC filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay to allow the ejectment process to continue. After holding a hearing, the bankruptcy court denied the motion because it determined that Terry’s right to redeem the Property had not yet expired. 2013 LLC filed a second motion on October 7, 2013, arguing that Terry’s right of redemption had expired when he failed to pay the redemption amount on or before September 12, 2013, the last day of the redemption period under 53 P.S. § 7293. The bankruptcy court denied 2013 LLC’s second motion.' It held that Terry had exercised his right of redemption when he filed his Chapter 13 Plan within the redemption period even though Ms proposed plan called for payment of the redemption amount over time.1

Terry and 2013 LLC filed a Stipulation of Settlement,- requesting a consent order designating 2013 LLC as the holder of an allowed claim for $125,624.66, secured by Terry’s interest in the Property. The stipulation called for the Sheriff to pay Terry $64,000.00 from the sale proceeds. From this amount, Terry was required to pay $14,000.00 to 2013 LLC upon entry of the consent order, followed by forty-four monthly payments of $1,200.00 to commence twenty days after confirmation of the plan. It also called for the bankruptcy court to order the Sheriff to turn over to Terry the balance of the sale proceeds and to declare the Sheriffs deed conveying the Property to 2013 LLC void. The stipulation did not affect the Sheriffs distribution to the City from the sale proceeds.

At a hearing on its objection to the Stipulation of Settlement, the City argued that the Rooker-Feldmcm doctrine divested the bankruptcy court of jurisdiction to grant the relief sought in the Stipulation of Settlement. It also asserted that the bankruptcy court could not enter the proposed consent order without joining the Sheriff.2

The bankruptcy court determined that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine did not apply. The court made clear that it was not reviewing or rejecting the judgment that instigated the, Sheriffs sale, To moot the joinder issue, it directed removal from the proposed consent order of any reference directing the Sheriff to take action. The court entered a Consent Order, which incorporated. the Stipulation of Settlement, [177]*177with the revised language, oh September 18, 2014.

On February 6, 2015, the bankruptcy court entered an order (the “Confirmation Order”), confirming the First Amended Chapter 13 Plan (the “Plan”) submitted on June 25, 2014. The Plan provided for payment in full of all allowed claims, including 2013 LLC’s claim, and the priority claims of the City and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for unpaid taxes.

The City had moved to dismiss Terry’s Chapter 13 case on the basis that'Terry’s petition was filed in bad faith and that it constituted an impermissible exercise of Terry’s redemption rights under Pennsylvania law. It also argued 'that Terry’s death on November 1Ó, 2014 prevented confirmation of the Plan under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1016: The bankruptcy court denied the motion on February 10,2015.

The City appeals both the Consent Order and the Confirmation Order. With respect to the Consent Order, the City reiterates its argument that tYioRookerFeldman doctrine prevented the bankruptcy court from avoiding the transfer to 2013 LLC as provided in the Stipulation of Settlement because it disturbed a state court judgment. It also asserts that the. bankruptcy court erred when it avoided the transfer of the Property resulting from the tax sale under §§ 544 and 548 of the Bankruptcy Code.

With respect to the Confirmation Order, the City asserts that the Plan rests upon an impermissible exercise of Terry’s redemption rights. It reasserts its arguments that Terry’s petition was-filed-in bad faith and that the bankruptcy court should have dismissed the case due to Terry’s death under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1016.

Standard of Review

A district court reviews a bankruptcy court’s “legal determinations de novo, its factual findings for clear error, and its éxercise of discretion for abuse thereof.” In re Reilly, 534 F.3d 173, 175 (3d Cir.2008) (citing In re Trans World Airlines, Inc., 145 F.3d 124, 130-31 (3d Cir.1998)), rev’d on other grounds, Schwab v. Reilly, 560 U.S. 770, 130 S.Ct. 2652, 177 L.Ed.2d 234 (2010). Where the bankruptcy court’s decision involves a mixed question of law and fact, we must parse the factual and legal determinations, and then apply the appropriate standard of review to each one. In re Montgomery Ward Holding Corp., 326 F.3d 383, 387 (3d Cir.2003).

The bankruptcy court’s factual findings will not be disturbed unless they are clearly erroneous. Stern v. Marshall, — U.S. -,131 S.Ct. 2594, 2611, 180 L.Ed.2d 475 (2011) (quoting Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8013)); In re IT Grp., Inc., 448 F.3d 661, 667 (3d Cir.2006); Fed. R. Bankr.P.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
543 B.R. 173, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170570, 2015 WL 9287060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-terry-paed-2015.