Johnson v. First National Bank

719 F.2d 270
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedOctober 11, 1983
DocketNo. 82-1622
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 719 F.2d 270 (Johnson v. First National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. First National Bank, 719 F.2d 270 (8th Cir. 1983).

Opinion

ROSS T. ROBERTS, District Judge.

This case presents a troublesome question concerning whether a bankruptcy court possesses the authority to toll or suspend the running of a statutory redemption period created by state law in connection with real estate mortgage foreclosures.

The First National Bank of Montevideo (“First National”) appeals from an order of the District Court for the District of Minnesota.1 That District Court order affirmed a bankruptcy court order which enjoined First National from taking further action to foreclose a lien on certain real estate, and stayed the expiration of the redemption period allowed by Minnesota law. For the reasons set forth below we reverse the judgment of the district court, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The relevant facts are undisputed. Curtis H. Johnson and Gloria Jean Johnson (“debtors”) are the principal officers and shareholders of Oak Farms, Inc., and Oak Farms Service Co,, both Minnesota corporations engaged in agricultural business pursuits. In 1978 Oak Farms, Inc. executed a mortgage on certain parcels of real estate located in Yellow Medicine and Lac qui Parle counties, Minnesota, to secure a $300,-000 promissory note in favor of First National. In 1979, Oak Farms, Inc., Oak Farms Service Co., and the Johnsons executed a second mortgage to First National on the same property to secure nineteen additional promissory notes totaling approximately $650,000. Each mortgage contained a clause allowing First National to sell the mortgaged property at public auction in the event of default.

Following the debtor’s default in September of 1980, First National commenced foreclosure proceedings. A sheriff’s auction was held on October 31, 1980, in conformity with the requirements of Minnesota statutes. At that auction First National purchased the mortgaged property for the sum of $566,355.34.

Minn.Stat. § 580.23(2) provides that a mortgagor shall have twelve months following the sale of real estate within which to redeem the property by paying the sale price plus interest from the date of the sale.2 In this instance that redemption period would have expired on or about October 31, 1981. Approximately three weeks prior to the expiration date, however, without having redeemed the property, the debtors filed a joint petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (the “Code”), and an adversary complaint alleging, in part, that they had substantial equity in the mortgaged property and were entitled to an order staying the expiration of the redemption period.

At a hearing convened before the bankruptcy court on October 16, 1981, Curtis Johnson testified that he estimated the value of the mortgaged property at $2,720,000 and that the encumbrances against the property totaled $2,043,000. Based upon Johnson’s testimony, on October 20, 1981, the bankruptcy judge found that “an exigency exists, and that the debtors have substantial equity in [the] real property.” Upon these findings, he enjoined First National from taking any further action to foreclose the property and ordered that the running of the statutory redemption period be stayed until further order or until the bankruptcy cases concerning the property were closed, all pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 105.3 On March 17, 1982, the district [273]*273court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s order.

This Court subsequently granted First National leave to appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a), subject to reconsideration should it be determined that the grant of permission to appeal was improvident. We now conclude that this matter is properly before us for review under § 1292(a)(1), which grants the courts of appeal jurisdiction over “appeals from .. . [ijnterlocutory orders of the district courts ... granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions.... ”

The appropriate starting point for our analysis is to recognize the general rule that a bankruptcy court possesses only the jurisdiction and powers expressly or by necessary implication conferred by Congress. Chicago Bank of Commerce v. Carter, 61 F.2d 986, 988 (8th Cir.1932); First State Bank v. Sand Springs State Bank, 528 F.2d 350, 353 (10th Cir.1976); In Re Parr, 13 B.R. 1010, 1021 (D.C.E.D.N.Y.1981). Although a bankruptcy court is essentially a court of equity, Kenneally v. Standard Electronics Corp., 364 F.2d 642, 647 (8th Cir.1966), its broad equitable powers may only be exercised in a manner which is consistent with the provisions of the Code. In Re J.M. Wells, Inc., 575 F.2d 329, 331 (1st Cir.1978); In Re Texas Consumer Finance Corp., 480 F.2d 1261, 1265 (5th Cir.1973); In Re Candor Diamond Corp., 26 B.R. 850, 851 (Bkrtcy.S.D.N.Y.1983).

The issue as to whether the broad powers granted the bankruptcy court by § 105(a)— to “issue any order ... necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of [the Code]” — empowers the court to suspend the running of a statutory period of redemption is a matter of first impression among the circuit courts. An examination of the reported decisions of those district courts and bankruptcy courts which have considered the matter reveals a wide divergence of opinion.

Section 2(a)(15) of the Bankruptcy Act, from which § 105(a) is derived, allowed a bankruptcy court to issue such orders as might be necessary to prevent the defeat or impairment of its jurisdiction and to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy estate. 2 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 105.01 at 105-1 et seq. (15th ed. 1983); see also, In Re Merritt Lumber Co., 336 F.Supp. 325 (E.D.Penn. 1971); In Re Northern Boneless Meat Co., 9 B.R. 27 (D.C.S.D.N.Y.1981). Although § 105(a) is in certain respects broader in scope than its predecessor,4 the general equitable powers granted to the bankruptcy court by the statute are not unlimited, particularly in instances where property rights created and defined by state law are involved.

Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power to establish uniform bankruptcy laws throughout the United States. Where Congress has chosen to exercise its authority, contrary provisions of state law must accordingly give way. It is equally well-settled, however, that state laws are suspended only to the extent of actual conflict with the bankruptcy system provided by Congress, so that in the absence of any conflict between the state and bankruptcy laws, the law of the state where the property is situated governs questions of property rights. Stellwagen v. Clum, 245 U.S. 605, 38 S.Ct. 215, 62 L.Ed. 507 (1918); Sturges v. Crowninshield, 4 Wheat. 122, 4 L.Ed. 529 (1819); Ogden v. Saunders, 12 Wheat. 213, 6 L.Ed. 606 (1827);

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Bluebook (online)
719 F.2d 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-first-national-bank-ca8-1983.