Roost v. Newport (In re Southern Oregon Mortgage, Inc.)

125 B.R. 625, 15 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1340, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 430
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Oregon
DecidedApril 5, 1991
DocketBankruptcy Nos. 689-60581-R7, 689-60580-R7, 689-60579-R7 and 689-60578-R7; Adv. No. 690-6139-R
StatusPublished

This text of 125 B.R. 625 (Roost v. Newport (In re Southern Oregon Mortgage, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roost v. Newport (In re Southern Oregon Mortgage, Inc.), 125 B.R. 625, 15 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1340, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 430 (Or. 1991).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALBERT E. RADCLIFFE, Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter comes before the court on the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. All statutory references herein are to the Bankruptcy Code, Title 11 U.S.C. unless otherwise indicated.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 27, 1989, an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition was filed against the debtor, an order for relief was entered herein on July 14, 1989.

The plaintiff is the Chapter 7 trustee in this consolidated involuntary proceeding of Southern Oregon Mortgage, Inc., The Bay Company, REO Holding Company, Inc., and Gold Key Properties, Inc. He filed his complaint herein on May 4, 1990 against the defendant, a creditor of Gold Key Properties, Inc. (Gold Key) to avoid, under § 544, an asserted security interest on behalf of the defendant in a promissory note and trust deed. The defendant answered the complaint and filed a counterclaim alleging that the security interest is duly perfected and constitutes a valid security interest in and lien upon the promissory note and trust deed in question.1

FACTS

The facts in this case are undisputed, they are as follows:

On September 15, 1986, David L. Taylor executed a promissory note in the amount of $36,000, payable to Gold Key. He also executed, as grantor, a trust deed in favor of Gold Key, as beneficiary, to secure payment of that promissory note. (The Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed). The Taylor-Gold Key trust deed was recorded in the Douglas County, Oregon, deed records on September 15, 1986.

On October 5, 1987, Gold Key executed a promissory note in the principal amount of $17,847.96 payable to the defendant. In order to secure payment of this note, Gold Key executed an “Assignment for Collateral Security” which purportedly granted the defendant a security interest in the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed. The “Assignment for Collateral Security” was recorded in the deed records of Douglas County on October 19, 1987.

The defendant does not contend that she has ever had possession of the original [627]*627Taylor-Gold Key note or trust deed. Plaintiff, in his affidavit in support of motion for summary judgment, asserts that he has had possession of the Gold Key loan files, including the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed, since shortly after the entry of an order for relief in this case. It appears, by implication, that the debtor had possession of the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed on the date the petition was filed herein, February 27, 1989.

ISSUE

The sole question before this court is whether the defendant holds a valid and perfected security interest in the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed.

The trustee argues, that under Oregon law, the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed are considered “instruments” when used to secure payment of the October 5, 1987 note. Once 21 days have passed after the time the security interest is granted, the only way a secured party can perfect a security interest is to retain possession of the original note and trust deed. Here, the defendant did not possess the note and trust deed at the time the bankruptcy petition was filed; her security interest is, therefore, unperfected and the plaintiff may use his strong-arm powers under § 544 to avoid it.

The defendant argues, that under Oregon law, the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed are not instruments because a writing which itself is a security interest cannot be an “instrument”. Accordingly, her security interest in them was perfected when she recorded the “Assignment for Collateral Security” in the Douglas County Deed records.

Richard D. Dicob, relying heavily upon Security Bank v. Chiapuzio, 304 Or. 438, 747 P.2d 335 (1987) maintains that the defendant’s recording of the “Assignment for Collateral Security” provides constructive notice of her security interest to the plaintiff. In addition, he contends that the plaintiff cannot be a judicial lien creditor against the Taylor-Gold Key note and trust deed. In order to obtain a judicial lien upon these documents, the trustee would have to levy upon them by execution.

DISCUSSION

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as incorporated by Bankruptcy Rule 7056, provides that summary judgment shall be rendered if the record shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In re R & T Roofing Structures and Commercial Framing, Inc., 887 F.2d 981 (9th Cir.1989). Where the parties agree on all of the material facts relevant to the issue raised by the motion for summary judgment, the case can be resolved as a matter of law, and summary judgment is the proper procedural device. Ferguson v. Flying Tiger Line, Inc., 688 F.2d 1320 (9th Cir.1982); Smith v. Califano, 597 F.2d 152 (9th Cir.1979).

The plaintiff, as trustee, obtains his status as a judicial lien creditor pursuant to § 544(a) which provides, in pertinent part as follows:

(a) The trustee shall have, as of the commencement of the case, and without regard to any knowledge of the trustee or of any creditor, the rights and powers of, or may avoid any transfer of property of the debtor or any obligation incurred by the debtor that is voidable by—
(1) a creditor that extends credit to the debtor at the time of the commencement of the case, and that obtains, at such time and with respect to such credit, a judicial lien on all property on which a creditor on a simple contract could have obtained such a judicial lien, whether or not such a creditor exists;
(2) a creditor that extends credit to the debtor at the time of the commencement of the case, and obtains, at such time and with respect to such credit, an execution against the debtor that is returned unsatisfied at such time, whether or not such a creditor exists; or ... (emphasis added)

“The extent, however, to which the plaintiff may utilize the powers conferred by [628]*628§ 544 to avoid transfers of property of the debtor or obligations incurred by the debt- or is governed by state law. See In re Cox, 68 Bankr. 788 (Bankr.D.Or.1987).” In re Gold Key Properties, Inc., 119 B.R. 787, 789 (Bankr.D.Or.1990). In Oregon, the holder of an unperfected security interest has rights subordinate to the rights of a person who becomes a judicial lien creditor (even a judicial lien creditor with notice) before the security interest is perfected. O.R.S. 79.3010(1) and (4) provide (in part) as follows:

(1) ... [A]n unperfected security interest is subordinate to the rights of:
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(b) A person who becomes a lien creditor before the security interest is perfected.

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Bluebook (online)
125 B.R. 625, 15 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1340, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roost-v-newport-in-re-southern-oregon-mortgage-inc-orb-1991.