Sikirica v. Yanovich (In re Yanovich)

544 B.R. 306, 75 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 466, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 311
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 1, 2016
DocketBankruptcy No. 15-23089-JAD
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 544 B.R. 306 (Sikirica v. Yanovich (In re Yanovich)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sikirica v. Yanovich (In re Yanovich), 544 B.R. 306, 75 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 466, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 311 (Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JEFFERY A DELLER, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

The matter before the Court is the Objection to Debtor’s Exemptions (the “Objection”) filed by Jeffrey J. Sikirica in his capacity as Chapter 7 Trustee (the “Trustee”) for the bankruptcy estate of Lisa J. Yanovich. By the Objection, the Trustee challenges an exemption claimed by the debtor, Lisa J. Yanovich (the “Debtor”), with respect to her alleged primary residence located at 138 General Braddock Drive, Braddock, Pennsylvania 15104 (the “Braddock Property”).1

Through the Objection, the Trustee avers that the Debtor’s homestead exemption, claimed by the Debtor pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(1), is improper. According to the Trustee, the Debtor’s claimed exemption is not proper because the Braddock Property was not the Debtor’s primary residence at the time that she filed her bankruptcy petition.

Conversely, the Debtor contends that the exemption is indeed proper. As support for her position, the Debtor cites the uneontested fact that, as of the petition date, the Debtor intended to utilize the Braddock Property as her residence. As further support, the Debtor also points to uncontested facts that show that she was in the process of packing her things and had begun the initial steps of moving her belongings to the Braddock Property as of the commencement of this bankruptcy case. Thus, according to the Debtor, the Braddock Property was being “used as a residence” for purposes of 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(1) and the exemption is proper.

Upon due consideration of both the record made in this case and the arguments of counsel, and for the reasons set forth more fully below, the Court concludes that the exemption taken by the Debtor in the Braddock Property is proper. Conse[308]*308quently, an order shall be entered that overrules the Trustee’s objection.

I.

As an initial matter, the Court notes that the law provides that a claimed exemption is presumptively valid. See Carter v. Anderson (In re Carter), 182 F.3d 1027, 1029 n. 3 (9th Cir.1999), The burden is therefore on the objecting party to show that the exemption should not be allowed. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(c).

Where the objecting party, like the Trustee in this case, produces evidence to rebut the presumption, the burden of production then shifts to the debtor to demonstrate the propriety of the claimed exemption. See Walsh v. Hendrickson (In re Hendrickson), 274 B.R. 138, 149 (Bankr.W.D.Pa.2002). It is through this lens that the Court analyzes the merits of the Objection lodged by the Trustee.

II.

The record reflects that the Debtor commenced the instant bankruptcy case by filing a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on August 27, 2015 (the “Petition Date”). The front page of her bankruptcy petition identifies the street address of the Debtor as being the Braddock Property. (See Doc. # 1 at p. I).2

In connection with" the Debtor’s bankruptcy filing the Debtor also filed various schedules of assets and liabilities (collectively, the “Schedules” or singularly a “Schedule”) as required by Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007.

In particular, the Debtor filed Schedule A which sets forth the Debtor’s interests in real property. (Id. at p. 8). One property identified in Schedule A was a house located at 610 East Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard, North Versailles, Pennsylvania 15137 (the “North Versailles Property”). (Id.). In her filing with the Court, the Debtor valued the North Versailles Property as being worth $40,000.00 and she further described the realty as constituting her “Former Primary Residence.” (Id.).

The second piece of realty disclosed by the Debtor in Schedule A was her one-fourth interest in the Braddock Property. (Id.). Schedule A valued her interest as being worth $20,000.00 and further described the Braddock Property as constituting the Debtor’s current “Primary Residence.” (Id.).

As to the Braddock Property, in Schedule C the Debtor duly claimed an exemption pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(1) in the amount of $20,000.00. (Id. at p. 13). It is this exemption that the Trustee challenges.

The record also reflects that the Debtor previously filed a Chapter 13 case before this Court at Case No. 13-20052-JAD, which was dismissed on June 27, 2014. The petition in this prior case reflects that the Debtor listed the North Versailles Property as her address at that time.3 After dismissal of the prior bankruptcy case, a mortgage foreclosure action was commenced concerning the North Versailles Property. In those proceedings, a default judgment in mortgage foreclosure was entered and the North Versailles Property was listed for Sheriffs Sale on September 8, 2015. (See Doc. # 49, ¶¶ 14-18). Prior to the Sheriffs Sale taking [309]*309place, the Debtor commenced the present Chapter 7 case.

Against this background, the Debtor in the current bankruptcy case filed a Statement of Intention acknowledging that the North Versailles Property was to be surrendered. The Statement of Intention further indicated that the Braddock Property was to be retained with an intention to avoid a lien against the property. (See Doc. # 1 at p. 37).

Consistent with the Statement of Intention, the Debtor filed a Motion to Avoid Judicial Lien on September 11,2015. Pursuant to this motion the Debtor asserted that the judicial lien of Capital One Bank USA impaired the Debtor’s homestead exemption in the Braddock Property.4 (See Doc. # 13). After the Motion to Avoid Judicial Lien was set for hearing, the motion was duly served and no one objected to the relief requested. As a result, a default order was entered granting the motion and the judicial lien of Capital One Bank USA was avoided. (See Doc. # 30).

The record also reflects that pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 341,- the Trustee convened the meeting of creditors (the “Meeting of Creditors”) on September 28, 2015. The Trustee asserts that the Debtor testified at the Meeting of Creditors that she was living at the North Versailles Property— and not the Braddock Property — as of the commencement of this bankruptcy case. Given her testimony, the Trustee filed his Objection on October 6, 2015. It is in this Objection the Trustee argues that because “the Braddock Property was not the Debt- or’s primary residence at the time of the bankruptcy filing, the Debtor may not claim an exemption pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(d)(1) in the Braddock Property.” (See Doc. #26,¶6).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 B.R. 306, 75 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 466, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sikirica-v-yanovich-in-re-yanovich-pawb-2016.