Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC v. AIG Federal Savings Bank (In re Laddusire)

494 B.R. 383, 2013 WL 3155475, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 2505
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJune 20, 2013
DocketBankruptcy No. 12-16616-11; Adversary No. 13-42
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 494 B.R. 383 (Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC v. AIG Federal Savings Bank (In re Laddusire)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC v. AIG Federal Savings Bank (In re Laddusire), 494 B.R. 383, 2013 WL 3155475, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 2505 (Wis. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION ON BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.’s MOTION TO REMAND, ABSTAIN, OR DISMISS

CATHERINE J. FURAY, Bankruptcy Judge.

This proceeding was removed from the Oneida County Circuit Court by the Debt- or, Paula D. Laddusire. It is now before the Court on the motion of the Plaintiff, Bank of America, N.A. (“BANA”), for abstention, remand, or dismissal. On March 28, 2013, the Court held a telephone conference on the motion. Following oral argument on the record, the parties agreed that no additional written argument was necessary.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants the motion in part, denies the motion is part, and remands the proceeding to the Oneida County Circuit Court. The motion is denied with respect to BANA’s request that this Court dismiss the adversary proceeding and to BANA’s request for sanctions against the Debtor.

BACKGROUND

On January 7, 2009, Ocwen Home Loan Servicing, LLC (“Ocwen”) filed a Complaint against the Debtor, Paula Dean Laddusire, and her then-husband, Todd, in Oneida County Circuit Court. The Complaint asserts that Ocwen is the servicer of the mortgage on the Debtor’s residence, and that HSBC Bank USA, N.A. (“HSBC”) is the owner of the mortgage. Ocwen alleged that the Laddusires had defaulted on the note and mortgage and [387]*387that it was entitled to a foreclosure judgment.

A year later, on January 8, 2010, BANA also filed a Complaint in Oneida County Circuit Court against the Debtor, a John Doe defendant, AIG Federal Savings Bank, PNC Bank, N.A., and HSBC. Like Ocwen’s, BANA’s Complaint sought a foreclosure judgment against the Debtor’s residence, and alleged that BANA was the current holder of the note and mortgage.1

On July 19, 2010, the Oneida County Circuit Court entered an Order to Consolidate the two actions (“Foreclosure Action”). A stipulation was entered on February 23, 2011, in which Ocwen acknowledged that its interests are junior and subordinate to BANA, and agreed to withdraw its claims against all parties in the action. On February 6, 2012, BANA filed a Motion for Summary and Default Judgment. On May 21, 2012, the state court ordered BANA and the Debtor to begin mediation, and stayed the summary judgment proceedings until mediation was completed. Mediation was then adjourned pending the completion of a document exchange hearing scheduled for December 7, 2012.

The Debtor filed a Chapter 13 petition on December 7, 2012, the same day the parties were to meet and exchange documents in Oneida County Circuit Court. She filed a Chapter 13 plan on January 7, 2013, and then filed a motion to convert to a Chapter 11 case on February 13, 2013. Her motion to convert was granted on March 11, 2013. Her Notice of Removal was filed on March 5, 2013, and an essentially identical Amended Notice of Removal Under Bankruptcy Rule 9027 was filed the same day (“Amended Notice”). The Amended Notice invokes 28 U.S.C. §§ 157, 1334(b), 1334(e)(1), and 1452, as well as 11 U.S.C. § 105 and Bankruptcy Rule 9027 as the basis for removal. She asserts it is necessary to remove the Foreclosure Action because it “involves property of the [Debtor’s] bankruptcy estate” in the form of “the nonexempt portion of Debtor’s homestead” and nonexempt money damages arising from a variety of claims related to the origination and collection of her mortgage. She says the matter is a core proceeding because it involves recovery of money for the bankruptcy estate. On March 20, 2013, BANA filed a motion to remand, abstain, or dismiss (“Motion”).

ANALYSIS

Once a proceeding is removed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a), it may be remanded to the state court on any equitable ground. 28 U.S.C. § 1452(b) and Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9027(d). To determine whether the matter should be remanded, the court must first decide whether it has jurisdiction and, if it does, whether to exercise it.

Section 1452(a) of Title 28 permits a party to remove a “claim or cause of action in a civil action ... to the district court for the district where such civil action is pending, if such district court has jurisdiction of such claim or cause of action under section 1334 of this title.” A district court has jurisdiction under section 1334(b) “of all civil proceedings arising under title 11, or arising in or related to cases under title 11.” It may, however, refer such cases to the bankruptcy judges for its district. 28 U.S.C. § 157(a). The District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has made such a reference. Western District of Wisconsin Administrative Order 161 (July 12,1984).

[388]*388BANA asserts that the Debtor’s attempt to remove the Foreclosure Action is untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(2)(B). That provision requires that a notice of removal be filed within thirty days after the initial pleadings have been served. BANA notes that the Debtor was served with BANA’s original complaint on January 26, 2010, and with the amended complaint on August 24, 2010. As such, BANA argues, the notice of removal was not filed timely. But the Foreclosure Action was not removed pursuant to section 1446(b)(2)(B). Instead, the Amended Notice indicates that the matter was removed under 28 U.S.C. § 1452, which governs removals related to bankruptcy cases. As such, BANA’s argument misses the mark.

Bankruptcy Rule 9027 applies to civil actions removed from state court under 28 U.S.C. § 1452:

If the claim or cause of action in a civil action is pending when a ease under the Code is commenced, a notice of removal may be filed only within the longest of (A) 90 days after the order for relief in the case under the Code, (B) 30 days after entry of an order terminating a stay, if the claim or cause of action in a civil action has been stayed under § 362 of the Code, or (C) 30 days after a trustee qualifies in a chapter 11 reorganization case but not later than 180 days after the order for relief.

Under 11 U.S.C. § 301(b), the filing of a voluntary case under Chapter 13 constitutes an order for relief. Therefore, pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 9027(a)(2)(A) the Debtor had until March 7, 2013, ninety days from the date she filed her petition, to file a Notice of Removal. By filing the Notice of Removal and the Amended Notice on March 5, 2013, the Debtor met this deadline.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Untitled Case
W.D. Wisconsin, 2026
Holzhueter v. Groth (In re Holzhueter)
571 B.R. 812 (W.D. Wisconsin, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
494 B.R. 383, 2013 WL 3155475, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 2505, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ocwen-loan-servicing-llc-v-aig-federal-savings-bank-in-re-laddusire-wiwb-2013.