Machele L. Goetz v. Victor F. Weber

CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJune 1, 2023
Docket22-6009
StatusPublished

This text of Machele L. Goetz v. Victor F. Weber (Machele L. Goetz v. Victor F. Weber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel 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
Machele L. Goetz v. Victor F. Weber, (bap8 2023).

Opinion

United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel For the Eighth Circuit _______________________________

No. 22-6009 ___________________________

In re: MACHELE L. GOETZ,

Debtor.

_______________________________

MACHELE L. GOETZ,

Appellant

v.

VICTOR F. WEBER, Chapter 7 Trustee,

Appellee ________________

Appeal from United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri ____________

Submitted: April 18, 2023 Filed: June 1, 2023 ____________

Before SHODEEN, RIDGWAY, AND HASTINGS, Bankruptcy Judges. ____________

Hastings, Bankruptcy Judge. Debtor/Appellant Machele L. Goetz appeals the bankruptcy court’s 1 order denying Goetz’s Motion to Compel Trustee to Abandon Real Property of Debtor. For the following reasons, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Goetz petitioned for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on August 19, 2020. She valued her residence at $130,000 at the time, and the parties stipulated that she claimed a $15,000 homestead exemption under section 513.475 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. On the petition date, Freedom Mortgage held a $107,460.54 mortgage lien against the property. The parties agreed that there would have been no proceeds in excess of the debt secured by the mortgage lien, exemption and costs of sale had the Trustee liquidated Goetz’s residence on the petition date.

Goetz filed her Chapter 13 Plan on the same date she petitioned for bankruptcy relief. The bankruptcy court confirmed her plan on October 16, 2020. Pursuant to the confirmation order and 11 U.S.C. § 1327(b), property of the estate vested in Goetz on confirmation.

The bankruptcy court granted Goetz’s motion to convert from a Chapter 13 case to a Chapter 7 case on April 5, 2022. The parties agreed that the value of Goetz’s residence increased from $130,000 to $205,000 between the petition date and the conversion date. Between these dates, Freedom Mortgage’s mortgage lien decreased to approximately $106,500. The parties stipulated that sale of Goetz’s residence would result in more than $62,000 in proceeds after satisfying the mortgage lien and paying the $15,000 homestead exemption and costs of sale.

Prompted by indications that the Trustee planned to sell her residence, Goetz filed a Motion to Compel Trustee to Abandon Real Property of Debtor. The bankruptcy court denied the motion, finding that the increase in equity acquired

1 The Honorable Brian T. Fenimore, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri. 2 between the petition date and the conversion date is property of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate and concluding Goetz’s residence is worth more than “inconsequential value and benefit to the estate” under 11 U.S.C. § 554. Goetz appealed. With the consent of the parties, Amici Curiae National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center filed a brief in support of Appellant, seeking reversal of the bankruptcy court’s order.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo. Ridings v. Casamatta (In re Allen), 628 B.R. 641, 642 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2021) (citing In re Zepecki, 277 F.3d 1041 (8th Cir. 2002)). “Where the bankruptcy court has determined the factual predicates for abandonment are present, we review the court’s decision and reverse only in the case of an abuse of discretion.” Kaler v. Nelson (In re Nelson), 251 B.R. 857, 859 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2000). Under this standard, this Court will not reverse without a definite and firm conviction that the bankruptcy court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the relevant factors and in reaching its conclusion. Id. (citations omitted).

DISCUSSION

The issues Goetz raises on appeal fall within two primary arguments. First, she argues that the bankruptcy court erred in concluding that postpetition preconversion market appreciation and an increase in equity resulting from payments toward the mortgage lien inure to the estate’s benefit upon conversion from a Chapter 13 case to a Chapter 7 case. The Amici Curiae join in this argument. Second, she argues that her residence was removed from the bankruptcy estate when the property vested in her on confirmation of her Chapter 13 plan or when she exempted it, and she claims all equity accruing after these events inures to her benefit.

3 A. The bankruptcy court correctly concluded that postpetition preconversion nonexempt equity resulting from market appreciation and payments toward a mortgage lien accrue for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate upon conversion from a Chapter 13 case to a Chapter 7 case.

Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code defines property of the bankruptcy estate to include all of a debtor’s interests both equitable and legal, except those specifically excluded. 11 U.S.C. § 541. Estate property includes “[p]roceeds, product, offspring, rents, or profits of or from property of the estate, except such as are earnings from services performed by an individual debtor after the commencement of the case,” and “[a]ny interest in property that the estate acquires after the commencement of the case.” 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(6) and (7).

Upon conversion from one chapter to another, this definition is adjusted. Section 348 qualifies the scope of bankruptcy estate property by clarifying that “property of the estate in the converted case shall consist of property of the estate, as of the date of filing of the petition, that remains in the possession of or is under the control of the debtor on the date of conversion[.]” 11 U.S.C. § 348(f)(1)(A). If a debtor converts a case under Chapter 13 to a case under another chapter, the property the debtor acquired between the petition date and the conversion date is not property of the converted case, unless the debtor sought to convert the case in bad faith. 11 U.S.C. § 348(f)(2).

On the date Goetz petitioned for relief under Chapter 13, her residence became property of the bankruptcy estate. The record shows no evidence of bad faith. Goetz remained in possession and control of her residence throughout her Chapter 13 case and on the date the bankruptcy court granted her motion to convert to a case under Chapter 7. Her residence is property of the converted bankruptcy estate. The question then becomes whether the increase in nonexempt equity resulting from market appreciation ($75,000) and a reduction in the mortgage lien ($960) is estate property or Goetz’s property.

4 As the bankruptcy court observed, courts are split on the question of whether postpetition preconversion market appreciation or an increase in equity resulting from payments toward a lien inures to a debtor’s benefit upon conversion to a Chapter 7 case. Goetz urges this Court to treat the postpetition preconversion increase in the value of her property as a separate interest that she acquired between petition and conversion.

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Machele L. Goetz v. Victor F. Weber, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/machele-l-goetz-v-victor-f-weber-bap8-2023.