Tim Wargo & Sons, Inc. v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States

809 S.W.2d 375, 34 Ark. App. 216, 1991 Ark. App. LEXIS 268
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 9, 1991
DocketCA 90-300
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 809 S.W.2d 375 (Tim Wargo & Sons, Inc. v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tim Wargo & Sons, Inc. v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, 809 S.W.2d 375, 34 Ark. App. 216, 1991 Ark. App. LEXIS 268 (Ark. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

Judith Rogers, Judge.

Tim Wargo and Sons, Inc., appellant, appeals from a decision denying its motion to set aside an order confirming a sale in foreclosure. On appeal, appellant advances two issues in which it contends that the confirmation of the sale was void, arguing that the chancery court was divested of jurisdiction upon the filing of its petition in bankruptcy and that the action of the court was in violation of the automatic stay provisions of the bankruptcy code. We affirm.

The history of this case needs to be set out for a full understanding of the questions presented on appeal. On April 11, 1986, appellee, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, filed a complaint in foreclosure in the Chancery Court of Desha County pursuant to a deed of trust it held on farmland owned by appellant. The following September, the chancellor entered a decree of foreclosure and on November 24, 1986, a sale of the property was held wherein Mankin Farms, Inc. was the purchaser as the highest bidder. Thereafter, on Decern-ber 22, 1986, appellant filed a petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 12 of the bankruptcy code. No further action was taken in the chancery court. Appellant’s bankruptcy petition was dismissed in June of 1987; however, appellant appealed the dismissal and a stay pending appeal was placed in effect. This stay was later dissolved on August 30, 1988, and on that date the appellee filed in the chancery court a report of sale relating to the November 24,1986, foreclosure sale. On the afternoon of August 31,1988, the chancellor entered an order confirming the sale and a commissioner’s deed to Mankin Farms was issued.

It is undisputed that, unbeknownst to the chancellor, appel-lee and Mankin Farms, appellant had earlier that morning filed yet another petition in bankruptcy, this time under Chapter 11. It was not until September 9,1988, that appellant filed notice in the chancery court of the latest bankruptcy proceeding. Appellant’s bankruptcy action was dismissed with prejudice by order of the bankruptcy court on October 16, 1989, in which the court expressed the reason for the dismissal as being appellant’s “continuing pattern of delay, abuse of the bankruptcy system, inattention and negligence.” In re Tim Wargo & Sons, Inc., 107 B.R. 622, 625 (Bkrtcy. E.D. Ark. 1989). On December 1, 1989, appellee filed a motion to distribute the purchase money funds of the foreclosure sale which had been held in escrow since the time of the sale. Two weeks later, appellant responded with a motion objecting to the distribution of the funds and seeking to set aside the order confirming the sale of August 31, 1988. After a hearing, the chancellor refused to grant appellant’s motion as reflected by his order on March 9, 1990. It is from this order that appellant brings this appeal.

As it did below, on appeal appellant maintains that the chancellor’s act of confirming the foreclosure sale was void because the court was without jurisdiction due to the filing of bankruptcy proceedings, and furthermore that the confirmation of the sale violated the automatic stay. Appellant bases its argument on the principle that a sale in foreclosure is not complete until confirmation, citing Fleming v. Southland Life Insurance Co., 263 Ark. 272, 564 S.W.2d 216 (1978). Although it is not expressly stated, based on this principle appellant assumes, or is implying, that it retained an interest in the property after the sale in foreclosure subject to protection in bankruptcy.1 As the foundation for appellant’s argument on appeal, we regard the question of whether or not appellant had an interest in the property as being a threshold issue. For if appellant retained no interest in the property after the sale, then the bankruptcy action would have had no effect on the chancellor’s confirmation of the sale.

The identifiable interests appellant may have had in the property are the statutory and equitable rights of redemption. The statutory right of redemption is found at Ark. Code Ann. § 18-49-106 (1987), which allows for redemption within one year from the date of the sale and is exercised by the payment of the purchase price for which the property was sold together with interest. The statute also provides that this right of redemption may be waived in the mortgage instrument or deed of trust. The equity of redemption is generally extinguished by the decree and sale; however, a court in its decree may, and usually does, allow a reasonable time for the mortgagor to pay the amount adjudged against him and redeem the property. See Martin v. Ward, 60 Ark. 510, 30 S.W.1041 (1895). Thus, it has been held that the time for exercising the equitable right of redemption is left to the sound discretion of the chancellor, Bentley v. Parker, 257 Ark. 749, 525 S.W.2d 460 (1975), and the limitation contained in the decree of foreclosure is determinative when assessing the time allowed for redemption. See Fleming v. Southland Insurance Co., supra. In Fleming, the supreme court, recognizing that a sale is not final until confirmation, noted that a chancellor may in his discretion permit redemption beyond the time stated in the decree, such as when confirmation is refused on grounds of fraud or some defect in the sale. The court expressed, however, that there is no absolute right to redeem at any time prior to confirmation.

We have had difficulty in evaluating this aspect of the case because the actual record on appeal includes neither the deed of trust nor the foreclosure decree. Thus, we do not know whether appellant waived the statutory right of redemption in the deed of trust, and there is no evidence in the record that a tender was made of the purchase price for the preservation of this right.2 And, without the decree, we have no way of determining whether appellant retained the equitable right of redemption. While it is the appellant’s duty to bring up a record demonstrating error, Smith v. Smith, 32 Ark. App. 175, 798 S.W.2d 443 (1990), we are unwilling to affirm on this basis alone. This precise issue has neither been raised nor argued, and it appears that the parties have proceeded on the assumption that an interest was retained without specifically addressing the issue; therefore, an affirmance for the lack of a complete record would be unduly harsh under the circumstances.

Even assuming that appellant retained an interest in the property, we find no merit in its argument that the trial court erred in failing to set aside the order confirming the sale. As stated earlier, it is the appellant’s contention that the confirmation was void ab initio based on the theory that the filing of its petition in the bankruptcy court deprived the chancery court of jurisdiction over property included in the bankrupt estate. In support of its position, appellant places reliance on the Supreme Court’s decision in Kalb v. Feuerstein, 308 U.S. 433 (1940). There it was held that under § 75 of the then existing Frazier-Lemke Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C. 203

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Bluebook (online)
809 S.W.2d 375, 34 Ark. App. 216, 1991 Ark. App. LEXIS 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tim-wargo-sons-inc-v-equitable-life-assurance-society-of-the-united-arkctapp-1991.