Matter of DiCamillo

206 B.R. 64, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 281, 1997 WL 123015
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedMarch 13, 1997
Docket19-11774
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 206 B.R. 64 (Matter of DiCamillo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of DiCamillo, 206 B.R. 64, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 281, 1997 WL 123015 (N.J. 1997).

Opinion

AMENDED OPINION

JUDITH H. WIZMUR, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the court is an application by debt- or’s landlord for relief from the automatic stay to allow a warrant for the debtor’s removal to be issued to enforce the landlord’s pre-petition judgment for possession. The debtor proposes to assume his residential lease and to cure the rental arrearages owed to the landlord as part of his Chapter 13 plan.

We agree with the debtor that his interest in the lease did not “expire” upon the entry of a judgment of possession, and that he may assume the lease under § 365(a). However, we must reject debtor’s proposal to cure arrearages on the lease over a 36-month period. The proposal does not cure arrearages promptly, as required under 11 U.S.C. § 365(b)(1).

FACTS

Debtor, Gary D. DiCamillo, filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on January 15, 1997. Debtor scheduled as an unsecured nonpriority claim the rental arrearages owed to his landlord, James T. Klimek, Jr., in the amount of $2,300. Debtor proposes through a Chapter 13 plan to assume the residential lease, to cure the $2,300 in arrearages owed to the landlord by making payments of $63.89 per month over 36 months, and to make regular monthly rental payments to the landlord. The rental arrearages are the only debt provided for under debtor’s plan. The term of the lease is from September 1, 1996 to August 31,1997.

On January 30, 1997, debtor’s landlord moved for relief from the automatic stay to allow him to obtain a warrant for the debtor’s removal. A judgment for possession was entered against the debtor in state court on January 10, 1997. Before a warrant for removal was issued, debtor filed this bankruptcy proceeding.

DISCUSSION

A. Assumption of Unexpired Lease Under Section 365(a).

Under 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(7) 1 and § 365(a), 2 a Chapter 13 debtor may assume or reject an “unexpired lease of the debtor.” The term “unexpired” is not defined in the Code. We are asked here to determine whether the pre-petition entry of a judgment of possession in state court serves to classify the residential lease as “expired”.

Under New Jersey law, a landlord may use a summary dispossess action as an expedited remedy for possession. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53; 2A:18-61.1. The tenant has until the day of the judgment to pay his past due rent in order to avoid the summary dispos *67 sess action. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-55. 3 See Housing Authority of Morristown v. Little, 135 N.J. 274, 281, 639 A.2d 286 (1994); Musselman v. Carroll, 289 N.J.Super. 549, 555-56, 674 A.2d 612 (App.Div.1996); Olympic Indus. Park v. P.L., Inc., 208 N.J.Super. 577, 581, 506 A.2d 770 (App.Div.), certif. denied 104 N.J. 453, 517 A.2d 440 (1986). If the tenant fails to pay his rental arrearages, a judgment for possession is entered. The lessor is entitled to have a warrant of removal issued three days later. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-57. 4 The warrant may be executed three days after its issuance. N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.16. The additional time is designed to allow the tenant to remove his belongings from the property and to seek other quarters. Stanger v. Ridgeway, 171 N.J.Super 466, 473, 410 A.2d 59 (App.Div.1979).

Following the actual execution of the warrant for possession, the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part retains jurisdiction for 10 days to allow the tenant to seek “lawful relief’. N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.16. A form of relief that is commonly sought is a hardship stay of eviction under the Tenant Hardship Act, N.J.S.A 2A:42-10.6. Housing Authority of Morristown, 135 N.J. at 289, 639 A.2d 286. A stay under the Tenant Hardship Act offers to the tenant the opportunity to remain in the property for up to an additional six months from the time of the entry of the judgment of possession. 5 See also Stanger v. Ridgeway, 171 N.J.Super. 466, 410 A.2d 59 (App.Div. 1979) (The warrant of removal is merely the means by which the landlord can enforce the underlying judgment).

We believe that under New Jersey law, the entry of a judgment of possession terminates the tenant’s entitlement to possession. As noted above, the processes of issuing and executing a warrant of removal constitute only a “grace period” for the tenant. The prospect of remaining in possession for up to six months upon a showing of hardship does not provide the tenant with legal recourse to revive the lease. The tenant “may nullify the judgment [of possession] only if he pays the amount found due and owing on the day judgment is entered.” Id. at 473,410 A.2d 59.

Courts have disagreed on the opportunity of a Chapter 13 debtor to assume an unex *68 pired lease under § 365(a) where the lease has been terminated under state law prior to the filing of the petition. Some courts have concluded that a residential lease may be in default or may have been terminated under state law and may still be assumable in bankruptcy as an unexpired lease. These courts have looked to state law, not to determine the point at which a residential lease is considered to be terminated, but to determine the point at which the tenant’s leasehold interest, including actual possessory interest, is finally and conclusively extinguished, so that there is nothing to assume at the time the petition is filed. See, e.g., In re Morgan, 181 B.R. 579, 583 (Bankr.N.D.Ala.1994) (the terms “unexpired” and “terminated” have distinct meanings); In re Talley, 69 B.R. 219 (Bankr.M.D.Tenn.1986) (Congress was cognizant of the difference in the terms, as evidenced by section 365(c)(3) and 362(b)(10)). See also In re Ross, 142 B.R. 1013 (S.D.Fla. 1992), aff'd. 987 F.2d 774 (11th Cir.1993).

In In re Morgan, 181 B.R. 579, 583 (Bankr.N.D.Ala.1994), the court declined to accept a lessor’s argument that the words “expired” and “terminated” were synonymous for purposes of § 365. The court reflected that if the lessor was correct, § 365(c)(3) would be superfluous, and the use of both terms in §§ 541(b)(2) and 362(b)(10) would be meaningless. Id. Instead, the court reviewed the plain meaning of the two terms, as directed by the Supreme Court in United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 U.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
206 B.R. 64, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 281, 1997 WL 123015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-dicamillo-njb-1997.