Spadel v. Household Consumer Discount Co. (In Re Spadel)

28 B.R. 537, 1983 Bankr. LEXIS 6554, 10 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 506
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 23, 1983
Docket19-10434
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 28 B.R. 537 (Spadel v. Household Consumer Discount Co. (In Re Spadel)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spadel v. Household Consumer Discount Co. (In Re Spadel), 28 B.R. 537, 1983 Bankr. LEXIS 6554, 10 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 506 (Pa. 1983).

Opinion

OPINION

EMIL F. GOLDHABER, Bankruptcy Judge:

The threshold issue in the case at bench is whether the claim of the third mortgagee is an “unsecured claim” within the meaning of section 506(a) of the Bankruptcy Code (“the Code”). We conclude that, since there is no equity in the debtors’ residence over and above the first two mortgages, the claim of the third mortgagee is unsecured pursuant to section 506(a).

The second issue presented herein is whether the debtors can avoid the lien of the third mortgagee under section 506(d) of the Code. We conclude that, since no party in interest, including the debtors, requested us to determine and allow or disallow the claim of the third mortgagee pursuant to section 502 of the Code, the lien of the third mortgagee is not avoidable and passes through the debtors’ bankruptcy proceeding unaffected.

The final issue before us is whether the third mortgagee is bound by the terms of the debtors’ confirmed chapter 13 plan which proposes to make the third mortgagee’s claim unsecured and also proposes to avoid the third mortgagee’s lien. We conclude that, insofar as the confirmed plan provides for payments to the third mortgagee on its unsecured claim, the third mortgagee is so bound; but that the mortgage lien itself remains viable pursuant to section 506(d)(1) of the Code.

The facts of the instant case are as follows: 1 On April 4, 1981, Richard R. Spadel and Sarah M. Spadel (“the debtors”) filed a petition for relief under chapter 13 of the Code. The debtors’ residence has a fair market value of $22,779.00 but the combined totals of the first and second mortgages against said residence is $22,781.00. 2 On December 2, 1981, the debtors filed the instant complaint to avoid the mortgage lien of the Household Consumer Discount Company (“HCDC”), the holder of a third mortgage against the debtors’ residence in the amount of $3,300.00, pursuant to section 506 of the Code. The debtors allege that HCDC’s claim is unsecured and that, consequently, its mortgage lien securing said claim should be declared null and void.

We first address the debtors’ contention that the claim of HCDC is unsecured within the meaning of section 506(a) of the Code which provides:

(a) An allowed claim of a creditor secured by a lien on property in which the estate has an interest,, or that is subject to setoff under section 553 of this title, is a secured claim to the extent of the value of such creditor’s interest in the estate’s interest in such property, or to the extent of the amount subject to setoff, as the case may be, and is an unsecured claim to the extent that the value of such creditor’s interest or the amount so subject to setoff is less than the amount of such allowed claim. Such value shall be determined in light of the purpose of the valu *539 ation 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.

11 U.S.C. § 506(a).

Since the parties have stipulated that there is no equity in the debtors’ residence over and above the first two mortgages, we must conclude, in accordance with section 506(a), that HCDC has an unsecured claim for $3,300.00.

We next consider whether the debtors can avoid the lien of HCDC pursuant to section 506(d) of the Code. That section provides:

(d) To the extent that a lien secures a claim against the debtor that is not an allowed secured claim, such lien is void unless—
(1) a party in interest has not requested that the court determine and allow or disallow such claim under section 502 of this title; or
(2) such claim was disallowed only under section 502(e) of this title.
11 U.S.C. § 506(d).

But HCDC contends, inter alia, that its mortgage lien is not avoidable because no party in interest, including the debtors, requested us to determine and allow or disallow its claim under section 502(a) of the Code which provides that “[a] claim or interest, proof of which is filed under section 501 of this title, is deemed allowed, unless a party in interest, including a creditor of a partner in a partnership that is a debtor in a case under chapter 7 of this title, objects.” 11 U.S.C. § 502(a). We agree. 3 Collier’s states that:

Where a party in interest has not requested that the court make the determination concerning the allowability of the claim pursuant to the allowability provisions of section 502, the lien is not void notwithstanding that it secures a claim against the debtor that would not be an allowed secured claim under section 506(a) (emphasis in original).
3 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 506.07 at 506-19 (15th ed.).

Moreover, the legislative history behind section 506(d) establishes that a lien which secures a claim against a debtor that would not constitute an “allowed secured claim” under section 506(a) will nevertheless survive bankruptcy if there has been no determination of the “allowability” of said claim pursuant to section 502:

Subsection (d) permits liens to pass through the bankruptcy ease unaffected. However, if a party in interest requests the court to determine and allow or disallow the claim secured by the lien under section 502 and the claim is not allowed, then the lien is void to the extent that the claim is not allowed.

See H.R.Rep. No. 95-595, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 357 (1977). See also Nefferdorf v. Federal National Mortgage Association, 26 B.R. 962 (Bkrtcy.E.D.Pa.1983); 3 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 506.07 at 506-21 (15th ed.). While HCDC’s lien would not constitute an “allowed secured claim” under section 506(a) of the Code because there is no equity in the debtors’ residence over and above the first two mortgages, section 506(d)(1) of the Code, nevertheless, expressly prohibits the avoidance of said lien because a party in interest, including the debtors, did not request the bankruptcy court to determine and allow or disallow HCDC’s claim pursuant to section 502 of the Code. Therefore, in accordance with section 506(d)(1), we conclude that HCDC’s mortgage lien is not void and that it remains unaffected by the debtor’s bankruptcy.

Finally, the debtors argue that, since HCDC did not object to their chapter 13 plan, it is bound by the terms of the confirmed plan which proposes to avoid the mortgage lien held by HCDC against the debtors’ residence and make HCDC’s claim *540 unsecured pursuant to section 506 of the Code. 4 Section 1327 of the Code provides:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 B.R. 537, 1983 Bankr. LEXIS 6554, 10 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spadel-v-household-consumer-discount-co-in-re-spadel-paeb-1983.