In re Weil
In re Weil
Opinion of the Court
This is a petition to review a referee’s report of audit of the above bankrupt estate which denied priority to the claim of the United States.
The Wyoming National Bank is a creditor of the bankrupts having a judgment lien on the bankrupts’ property, which lien attached to the said property prior in time to the lien of the First National Bank of Scranton, Pennsylvania, upon which the claim of the United States is based. The United States filed exceptions to the report of audit, which are now before the court.
The exceptions raise two questions: First, whether the referee should have allowed anything to the Wyoming National Bank before the claim of the United States Government is paid in full; and, secondly, the propriety in terming the claim of the United States of America as the claim of the “Federal Housing Administration”.
As to the latter question, the undisputed facts show that the claim of the United States did in fact arise out of a loan made by the Federal Housing Administration, a federal agency. Therefore, the referee’s action in terming such claim as the claim of the Federal Housing Administration was entirely proper. Furthermore, the mere use of such title to designate the claimant in no way affects its rights to come within the priorities given in Sec. 64, sub. a(5), of the Bankruptcy Act, as all parties admit that the disputed debt is a “debt owing the United States of America” as the real party in interest, and hence entitled to all the rights and priorities given by this section of the Act.
The primary question is simply this: Does the phrase “debts to have priority”, as employed in Section 64, sub. a(5), of the Bankruptcy Act refer solely to priority over unsecured debts, or does it apply to and include priority over all debts, those secured by fixed liens as well as those unsecured by lien? This question was not discussed by the Court in its prior opinion, and a decision of it now is necessary to determine the merit of the petitioner’s claim, and the rights of the Wyoming National Bank.
The petitioners claim to be entitled to be paid out of money now in the hands of the trustee in Bankruptcy awaiting distribution, in preference to the demands of those having fixed liens prior in time on the property of the bankrupt at the date of the adjudication, averring that the phrase “debts to have priority” applies to and includes priority over all the debts of the bankrupt, including those secured by lien.
This is not a new question and has been considered by the District Court of the Eastern District of Illinois, in the case of In re Centralia Refining Co., 1940, 35 F. Supp. 599, 602. That case dealt with the lien of a mortgage and the claim that administration expenses, given the same type of preference under Section 64, sub. a(5), as sought here, are entitled to payment before and in preference to the satisfaction of the claim secured by the mortgage lien. The Court held that: “Claims constituting valid and existing liens on property of the bankrupts at the time of bankruptcy, and not invalidated thereby, are entitled to priority and payment in full, from the property covered by the liens or the proceeds of such property, not only before the payment of the claims of general creditors but also before the payment of the claims designated in the section of the
The above decisions, while not dealing with the exact factual situations as this case, all involve a dispute as to priority between a holder of a secured debt in the nature of a lien, and a person claiming statutory priority by reason of Sec. 64 of the Bankruptcy Act. Hence they determine the issue here involved.
It is therefore ordered that the petition for review be denied, and the order of the referee is confirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re WEIL et ux.
- Status
- Published