Schmidt v. Griffin (In re Schmidt)

215 B.R. 208, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19477
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedNovember 24, 1997
DocketBankruptcy No. 93-22424-13; Civil Action No. 95-2143-GTV
StatusPublished

This text of 215 B.R. 208 (Schmidt v. Griffin (In re Schmidt)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schmidt v. Griffin (In re Schmidt), 215 B.R. 208, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19477 (D. Kan. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VAN BEBBER, Chief Judge.

This case is before the court on an appeal from an order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas granting the United States of America’s motion to lift the automatic stay, nunc pro tunc, ruling that debtors were precluded from using any prejudgment credits to offset their tax liability, and dismissing the debtors’ Chapter 13 case. For the reasons set forth below, the bankruptcy court’s order is affirmed.

I. Factual Background

The debtors filed a pro se petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on December 21, 1993 — the day before the United States of America conducted a court-ordered judicial sale of debtors’ real property. The government was not notified of debtors’ filing until after the judicial sale. On January 5,1994, debtors filed their schedules and plan, proposing to pay $100.00 per month to their creditors.

The government filed a motion to dismiss debtors’ Chapter 13 petition or, alternatively, to lift the stay order nunc pro tunc. Shortly thereafter, the trustee filed a motion to dismiss the petition based on a lack of feasibility of the debtors’ plan.

On March 10, 1994, the Internal Revenue Service filed a proof of claim showing a secured claim of $90,910.41, an unsecured priority claim of $63,000.00, and an unsecured nonpriority claim of $4,195.60. The government had received $65,000.00 from the December 22,1993 judicial sale, but this amount had not been applied toward the debtors’ delinquent taxes.

On March 16, 1994, the government filed its objection to debtors’ Chapter 13 plan, contending that the plan was not feasible and had not been proposed in good faith. On April 6,1994, the bankruptcy court sustained the motion of the government to lift the stay order nunc pro tunc, but overruled the government’s motion to dismiss. The bankruptcy court reserved ruling on the trustee’s motion to dismiss for lack of feasibility of the plan until the final IRS claim was determined [210]*210and the debtors could submit an amended plan.

After receiving debtors’ tax returns for the years 1987 .through 1998, the government filed another motion to dismiss claiming that the debtors owed a total tax liability of $158,-106.01. The government contended that the plan was not feasible because the plan payments of $100.00 per month would not pay the secured claim or the unsecured priority claim.

On June 3,1994, debtors filed an objection to the allowance of the IRS claims. Debtors contended that the claims were fraudulent, exorbitant, and did not credit debtors for the property seized by the IRS. At a June 21, 1994 hearing, the bankruptcy court granted debtors permission to amend their plan and refused to grant either motion to dismiss at that time.

On July 1, 1994, the government filed a response to debtors’ objection to the allowance of the government’s claims. As a defense to debtors’ objection, the government argued that debtors had previously challenged their 1978-1986 tax liabilities in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; therefore, res judicata barred relitigation of this issue.

At an August 3, 1994 hearing, debtors requested an accounting on the properties that were allegedly taken by the government-prior to the October 6, 1992 judgment. The purpose of this requested accounting was to determine the actual amount owed by debtors. Once this amount was calculated, the bankruptcy court could determine the feasibility of debtors’ Chapter 13 plan. At the time of the hearing, the government had not supplied the trustee or debtors with documents showing which property had .been seized and whether the value of that property was credited toward debtors’ tax liability. The government agreed to make this information available, and debtors agreed to provide the government with a list of properties for which they claimed to have not received credit.

On December 8, 1994, the bankruptcy court determined that debtors were precluded from claiming any credit for property seized before the October 1992 judgment. In light of this ruling, the debtors could only claim credit for the $65,000.00 received from the December -22, 1993 judicial sale. The bankruptcy court set the case over for a confirmation hearing, and granted debtors an opportunity to amend their plan.

At the January 17,1995 confirmation hearing, the court noted that the government contended that it possessed a secured claim of $25,910.41 and that debtors had not filed an amended plan. The court ruled that it would sustain the government’s motion to dismiss and the trustee’s motion to dismiss unless the ease was converted with 10 days to Chapter 7. Debtors chose not to convert to Chapter 7, and this appeal followed.

II. Standard of Review

In reviewing decisions of the bankruptcy court, the district court must accept the factual findings of the bankruptcy court unless they are clearly erroneous, but must review the bankruptcy court’s legal conclusions de novo. In re Robinson, 987 F.2d 665, 669 (10th Cir.1993).

III. Discussion

A. Bankruptcy Court’s Order Lifting Stay Nunc Pro Tunc

Debtors’ first issue on appeal is that the bankruptcy court erred in granting the government’s motion to lift the automatic stay, nunc pro tunc. Bankruptcy court orders granting or denying relief from an automatic stay are appealable final orders. Eddleman v. United States Dept. of Labor, 923 F.2d 782, 784 (10th Cir.1991). Final orders must be appealed within ten days after entry. Fed. R. Bkrtcy. P. 8002(a); D. Kan. Rule 83.8.10. The bankruptcy court granted relief from the automatic stay in an order dated April 21, 1994; debtors filed their appeal over a year later on July 18, 1995. Accordingly, debtors’ appeal of the bankruptcy court’s April 21, 1994 order is dismissed as untimely.

B. Relitigation of Debtors 1978-1986 Tax Liability

Debtors’ second issue on appeal is that the bankruptcy court erred in ruling [211]*211that debtors were barred by res judicata from litigating whether their 1978-1986 tax liabilities should be credited for the value of property seized by the government prior to October 6, 1992. “Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment on the merits of an action precludes the parties or their privies from relitigating issues that were or could have been raised in that action.” Clark v. Haas Group, Inc., 953 F.2d 1235, 1238 (10th Cir.1992).

In an order dated July 29, 1992, this court granted summary judgment to the United States on the issue of debtors’ total 1978-1986 tax liability. See United States v. Schmidt, No. 91-2117-V, 1992 WL 193654 (D.Kan. July 29, 1992)'.

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215 B.R. 208, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19477, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmidt-v-griffin-in-re-schmidt-ksd-1997.