In re Clark
In re Clark
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This case presents the narrow question of whether a Chapter 13 trustee can file an objection to an unsecured claim after confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan. The creditor says no, arguing that once the plan is confirmed, all claim issues are precluded by the order of confirmation. The Chapter 13 trustee disagrees, arguing that neither the Bankruptcy Code nor the Bankruptcy Rules contain a deadline for objecting to unsecured claims and that an order of confirmation is not a guarantee of claim allowance. The parties agree as to the operative facts. The following findings of fact and conclusions of law are made pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7052, made applicable to this contested matter by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9014.
Jurisdiction
The Court has jurisdiction over this bankruptcy case pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 1334(b).
Findings of Fact
Donald Earl Clark (“Debtor”) filed an original petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code with this Court on June 11, 2015. Lonnie D. Eck (“Trustee”) was appointed to serve as the trustee in this case. The Court established October 19, 2015, as the deadline to file claims. On July 9, 2015, LVNV Funding, LLC (“LVNV”) filed an unse
All claims not specifically provided for above and those relegated to unsecured status above shall be paid as general unsecured claims, without priority, on a pro rata basis.
NOTE: The actual payback to unsecured claims may be more or less depending on claims actually filed and alloived4
An order confirming the Plan was entered on September 11,2015.
On March 4, 2016, Trustee filed an objection to the LVNV Claim (the “Claim Objection”).
Conclusions of Law
In order to complete a Chapter 13 case, two separate but related events need to happen: claims must be dealt with and a plan must be confirmed. In order for a claim, to be timely filed in a 'Chapter 13 case, the claim must be filed within 90 days of the first date set for the meeting of creditors.
In the Northern District of Oklahoma, the majority of Chapter 13 plans are filed with the petition. When that occurs, a copy of the plan is served by the Clerk of Court together with notice of the objection deadline and the date and time of the
LVNV argues that entry of the confirmation order closed and locked the door on all issues relating to the allowance of unsecured claims. LVNV relies upon § 1327(a) and principles of res judicata. Section 1327(a) states that “[t]he provisions of a confirmed plan bind the debtor and each creditor, whether or not the claim of such creditor is provided for by the plan, and whether or not such creditor has objected to, has accepted, or has rejected the plan.”
Res judicata is an affirmative defense on which the defendant has the burden to set forth facts sufficient to satisfy the elements.... Res judicata requires the satisfaction of four elements: (1) the prior suit must have ended with a judgment on the merits; (2) the parties must be identical or in privity; (3) the suit must be based on the same cause of action; and (4) the plaintiff must have had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the claim in the prior suit.16
The doctrine of res judicata serves private and public interests by requiring disputes between parties and their privies to be resolved within the context of a single litigation.
The question before the Court is whether the allowance of unsecured claims is adjudicated as part of the plan confirmation process. If LVNV is correct, every order of plan confirmation entered in every Chapter 13 case operates as a final order allowing every unsecured claim in the case. The Court rejects this premise for several reasons. Often, plan confirmation occurs prior to the claims bar date. It
Interestingly, LVNV does not argue that Trustee was required to object to plan confirmation in order to preserve his objection to the LVNV Claim. Instead, LVNV argues that Trustee was required to file an objection to the LVNV Claim prior to the entry of an order of confirmation. The filing of an objection to claim creates a contested matter governed by Bankruptcy Rule 9014.
LVNV relies upon a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, In re Andersen,
LVNV also relies upon In re Parmenter,
There are two lines of thought on the issue of whether an objection to claim must be filed prior to confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan. Those views were summarized by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit:
In making its decision, the bankruptcy court recognizes that the Bankruptcy Code does not impose a time frame for filing objections to claims in chapter 13 cases. In reaching its conclusion, the bankruptcy court relied on a line of cases holding that in chapter 13 cases, objections to secured claims must be raised prior to confirmation or the claim is deemed allowed through the confirmation process. See Simmons v. Saveli (In re Simmons), [7]65 F.2d 547, 553 (5th Cir. 1985) (“proof of secured claim must be acted upon — that is, allowed or disallowed — before confirmation of the plan or the claim must be deemed allowed for purposes of the plan.”); see. also, In re Starling, 251 B.R. 908, 910 (Bankr.S.D.Fla. 2000) (“Debtor waived the right to object to [bank’s] claim by failing to obtain an adjudication on the amount of the claim prior to confirmation of the [chapter 13 plan]”).
However, not all courts have agreed with this line of cases.
*915 That a Chapter 13 plan can determine the value for a secured claim at confirmation without addressing the allowance of claims is well recognized. As explained by the bankruptcy court in In re Fareed, 262 B.R. 761, 769-70 (Bankr.N.D.Ill. 2001):
There is ample ground for holding that confirmation should determine the value of a creditor’s security interest under § 506(a).... In contrast, there is nothing in the Code that requires claim objections, under § 502(b), to be determined at the time of confirmation.
[A] requirement that the allowance of claims under § 502 be fully adjudicated at the time of confirmation is not practicable, and would substantially delay confirmation and creditor payment.
Hildebrand v. Hays Imports, Inc. (In re Johnson), 279 B.R. 218, 224 (Bankr.M.D.Tenn. 2002). See also United States I.R.S. v. Kolstad (In re Kolstad), 928 F.2d 171, 174 (5th Cir. 1991) (“There is no bar date or deadline for filing objections.”); In re Barton, 249 B.R. 561, 566 (Bankr.E.D.Wash. 2000) (“If Congress had intended objections to claims to be filed prior to Chapter 13 plan confirmation, it would have been a simple matter to write such a deadline into the statute”); Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, § 287.1-(“Reading a confirmation deadline into Bankruptcy Rule 3007 creates almost insurmountable problems for Chapter 13 practice.”).
This latter line of cases appears to be the better reasoned approach and is the one that we will follow. Neither the Bankruptcy Code nor Bankruptcy Rules contain a bar date or deadline for filing objections to claims in a chapter 13 case
and we will not read one into the law where none exists. Therefore, this Panel concludes that the bankruptcy court erred in overruling the Debtor’s objection to Claim No. 8 on the basis that the objection was filed .too late because it was filed post-confirmation.27
A Georgia bankruptcy judge has offered a myriad of reasons why requiring objections to claims such as the LVNV Claim to be filed and resolved prior, to plan confirmation would be harmful to the Chapter 13 process.
Conclusion
A Chapter 13 trustee is not required to file an objection to an unsecured claim prior to entry of the order of plan confirmation. The Claim Objection is sustained. The LVNV Claim is disallowed in its entirety. A separate judgment consistent with this Memorandum Opinion is entered concurrently herewith.
. Unless otherwise noted, all statutory references are to sections of the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq.
. Claim No. 4.
. Docket No. 24.
. Id. (emphasis added).
. Docket No. 32.
. Docket No. 39.
. Docket No. 42.
. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3002(c). This deadline is commonly referred to as the ‘‘claims bar date.”
. Fed. R. Bankr, P. 9006(c)(2).
. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3007.
. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015(b).
. Fed. R. Bankr.P.2002(b).
. § 1324(b).
. Indeed, when it comes to secured claims such as home mortgages, it is not uncommon for debtor’s counsel to request an extension of time to file a plan until after the mortgage holder has filed its proof of claim, so that the debtor may file a plan that accurately determines the amount to be paid to that secured creditor.
. § 1327(a).
. Nwosun v. Gen. Mills Rests., Inc., 124 F.3d 1255, 1257 (10th Cir. 1997) (citations omitted).
. See 18 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Fed. Prac. & Proc. Juris. § 4403 (2d ed.).
. Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 326, 99 S.Ct. 645, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979).
. Brown v. Felsen, 442 U.S. 127, 132, 99 S.Ct. 2205, 60 L.Ed.2d 767 (1979).
. See § 1325.
. See Fed. R. Bankr. P, 3007 and 9014.
. 179 F.3d 1253 (10th Cir. 1999), overruled. by In re Mersmann, 505 F.3d 1033 (10th Cir. 2007), abrogated by United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa, 559 U.S. 260, 130 S.Ct. 1367, 176 L.Ed.2d 158 (2010).
. Andersen, 179 F.3d at 1254.
. 527 F.3d 606 (6th Cir. 2008).
. Id. at 608.
. Over 15 years ago, this judge posted several brief writing tips to the Court's website. One bears repeating here:
Know the facts of the cases you cite. At the writing of this little ditty, there are almost 300 volumes of West's Bankruptcy Reporter [Note: this number is closer to 600 today]. Suffice it to say that some judge, somewhere, sometime has written and published an opinion which contains the magic words which support your position. It is extremely tempting to insert that quotation (I call them "sound bites”) into your brief and say, "see, judge, other courts agree with me so I must be right.” This is a dangerous practice. Courts decide real disputes. Real disputes are fact driven. For me, the facts of a case are at least as important as the legal analysis. Be wary of the case which is factually dissimilar to yours, but has a great sound bite. Be sure (either in your brief or at oral argument) to explain why the factually dissimilar case is applicable to your situation. Also, be cognizant of the difference between the holding of a case and the dicta contained therein. Most judges (this one included) find little value in dicta unless we already agree with it.
Joe Friday was on to something: “Just the' facts, please.”
. In re Morton, 298 B.R. 301, 309-10 (6th Cir.BAP 2003).
. See In re Shank, 315 B.R. 799, 801-04 (Bankr.N.D.Ga. 2004).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE: Donald Earl CLARK, Debtor
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published