Rinehart v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (In re Rinehart)

482 B.R. 846, 2012 WL 5293024
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedOctober 26, 2012
DocketNo. 2:12CV465DAK; Bankruptcy No. 09-27541
StatusPublished

This text of 482 B.R. 846 (Rinehart v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (In re Rinehart)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rinehart v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (In re Rinehart), 482 B.R. 846, 2012 WL 5293024 (D. Utah 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

DALE A. KIMBALL, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on Appellant Robert C. Rinehart’s appeal of the [848]*848Bankruptcy Court’s April 27, 2012 final Order overruling Rinehart’s Objection to JP Morgan Chase’s Claim. The court held oral argument on the appeal on October 3, 2012. At the hearing, Rinehart was represented by Paul Toscano, and Appellee JP Morgan Chase (“Chase”) was represented by James D. Gilson. The court heard arguments from counsel and took the appeal under advisement. After carefully considering the briefs and exhibits submitted by the parties, the arguments advanced by counsel at oral argument, the ruling of the Bankruptcy Court, and the law and facts relating to this appeal, the court renders the following Memorandum Decision and Order affirming the Bankruptcy Court’s order.

BACKGROUND

Rinehart appeals the Bankruptcy Court’s denial of his Objection to Chase’s Claim in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy action. Chase’s claim was made based on a mortgage loan secured by property owned by Rinehart. Rinehart objected to the claim for the face amount of the Note or the value of the collateral, arguing that the claims should instead be for the amount Chase paid the FDIC for the purchase of the Note.

On June 7, 2007, Rinehart’s wife, Carolyn Rinehart, executed an adjustable rate note (“Note”) in favor of Washington Mutual (“WaMu”) in the original principal amount of $1,885,000.00. The Deed of Trust executed in connection with the Note states that the Note is secured by real property owned by Rinehart and his wife as joint tenants.

The Note expressly states that the “Lender may transfer this Note. Lender or anyone who takes this Note by transfer and who is entitled to receive payments under this Note is called the Note Holder.” Mrs. Rinehart also represented that she would make her “payments every month until I have paid all of the principal and interest and any other charges described below that I may owe under this Note.” The Trust Deed similarly states that “Borrower has promised to pay [$1,885,000.00 plus interest] in regular Periodic Payments and to pay the debt in full not later than July 01, 2037,” and that the “Note or a partial interest in the Note (together with this Security Instrument) can be sold one or more times without prior notice to Borrower.”

On September 25, 2008, the United States Office of Thrift Supervision (“OTS”) seized WaMu and placed it into an FDIC receivership. The FDIC sold and transferred WaMu’s assets to Chase that same day pursuant to a written Purchase and Assumption Agreement. Such assets included the Note and Trust Deed at issue in this matter.

On November 1, 2008, Chase and Mrs. Rinehart executed a Loan Modification Agreement that modified the Note, which, in part, increased the principal owing to $1,950,286.85. On July 20, 2009, Debtor filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. On January 16, 2012, Chase filed its Proof of Claim evidencing its claim against the property. On March 15, 2012, Rinehart filed an objection to the claim, arguing that it should be reduced to the amount that Chase allegedly paid to the FDIC to acquire the Note and Trust Deed.

The Bankruptcy Court held a hearing on the Objection and found that “there’s no basis in law for the relief requested by the debtor. No case authority and no — I don’t think the statute supports the argument. I also [conclude] that there’s no basis in equity. There has been no injury to the debtor. There has been-no injury to creditor’s by the assignment.” Accordingly, the Bankruptcy Court overruled Rinehart’s [849]*849Objection to JP Morgan Chase’s claim. Rinehart then filed this appeal.

DISCUSSION

Rinehart appeals the Bankruptcy Court’s denial of his Objection to Chase’s Claim and seeks correction of the Bankruptcy Court’s interpretation and application of the meaning of the language “creditor’s interest” in 11 U.S.C. § 506(a)(1). Section 506(a)(1) provides that

An allowed claim of a creditor secured by a lien on property in which the estate has an interest ... is a secured claim to the extent of the value of such creditor’s interest in the estate’s interest in such property ... and is an unsecured claim to the extent that the value of such creditor’s interest ... is less than the amount of such allowed claim. Such value shall be determined in light of the purpose of the valuation and of the proposed disposition or use of such property, and in conjunction with any hearing on such disposition or use or on a plan affecting such creditor’s interest.

Rinehart argues that the Bankruptcy Court erred in interpreting the language “creditor’s interest” to mean something other than the amount Chase paid the FDIC for Rinehart’s Note. Rinehart contends that he was prepared to testify that the estimated discounted price Chase paid the FDIC was approximately $.00068 of the face value of the Note — or $14,000 for a Note with a face value of approximately $1,950,000.00. Chase asserts, however, that Rinehart’s calculation of the acquisition price is pure speculation and, even if Chase acquired the Note and Trust Deed at a discount, Rinehart’s theory that the claim should be limited to such amount is a completely novel theory with no basis in law or equity.

In Timbers of Inwood, the Supreme Court analyzed Section § 506(a)(1) for purposes of interpreting the phrase “interest in property” in § 362(d)(1). United Savings Ass’n v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Assoc., 484 U.S. 365, 108 S.Ct. 626, 98 L.Ed.2d 740 (1988). The Court stated that “[i]n subsection (a) of [§ 506] the creditor’s ‘interest in property’ obviously means his security interest without taking account of his right to immediate possession of the collateral on default. If the latter were included, the ‘value of such creditor’s interest’ would increase, and the proportions of the claim that are secured and unsecured would alter.... The phrase value of such creditor’s interest in § 506(a) means ‘the value of the collateral.’ ” Id. at 372, 108 S.Ct. 626. Because the Court determined that a “creditor’s interest” under § 506(a) strictly means “the value of the collateral,” the court held that a creditor’s “interest in property” under § 362(d)(1) did not include the immediate right to foreclose. Id.

Therefore, in Timbers of Inwood, the Supreme Court has already decided the legal issue presented in Rinehart’s appeal. The phrase “creditor’s interest” refers to neither the “face value of the Trust Deed Note” nor to the alleged “discounted acquisition price” paid by Chase for the Note. Rather, as determined by the Supreme Court, that phrase refers to the value of the creditor’s collateral.

Rinehart claims that the legislative history of 11 U.S.C. § 506 and two other United States Supreme Court cases support his interpretation of the language “creditor’s interest.” The legislative history of the Bankruptcy Code states that “the bill requires the court to value the secured creditor’s interest.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
482 B.R. 846, 2012 WL 5293024, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rinehart-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na-in-re-rinehart-utd-2012.