KIRSCHER, Bankruptcy Judge.
Chapter 13
Debtors filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy case on February 8, 2011. They valued their residence located in Phoenix, Arizona at $187,500. Debtors identified two liens against the residence: Wells Fargo Bank NA ("Wells Fargo") held a first lien, amounting to $228,300; and MidFirst Bank ("MidFirst") held a second lien, amounting to $67,484.96. The bankruptcy court converted the case to a chapter 7 case on November 21, 2012. The chapter 7 trustee abandoned the residence, given it was burdensome and of inconsequential value to the estate. Debtors received a chapter 7 discharge on March 25, 2013.
Debtors filed the instant chapter 13 bankruptcy case on April 2, 2014, less than four years after the filing of Debtors' case
Debtors filed an amended chapter 13 plan on June 27, 2014, which provided the following regarding MidFirst's junior lien:
Am. Ch. 13 Plan, Dkt. no. 20 at 6. Debtors conceded they were ineligible for a chapter 13 discharge under § 1328(f)(1). Id. Appellee, Chapter 13 Trustee Russell A. Brown ("Trustee"), who supports Debtors on appeal, filed a motion to deny entry of discharge; the bankruptcy court granted that motion.
On July 7, 2014, Debtors filed a motion to determine the value of the residence, seeking to avoid or "strip off' MidFirst's wholly unsecured junior lien under §§ 506(a) and 1322(b)(2) (the "Lien Strip Motion"). MidFirst did not object to Debtors' amended chapter 13 plan or the Lien Strip Motion; Trustee did not object to the "Lien Stripping" provision in Debtors' amended plan.
On July 28, 2014, Debtors filed a Notice of No Objection as to the Lien Strip Motion. Despite the lack of any objection, the bankruptcy court denied the Lien Strip Motion on October 1, 2014. The bankruptcy court did not conduct a hearing. The court's order sets forth its limited findings and conclusions:
Order, Dkt. no. 40. Debtors timely filed their notice of appeal on October 7, 2014.
The bankruptcy court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157(b)(2)(K). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158.
Is a "chapter 20" debtor entitled to avoid a wholly unsecured junior lien against the debtor's principal residence when no discharge will be entered?
The bankruptcy court's conclusions of law, including its interpretation of the Bankruptcy Code, are reviewed de novo. Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Int'l Fibercom, Inc. (In re Int'l Fibercom, Inc.), 503 F.3d 933, 940 (9th Cir.2007).
The question before us is whether a chapter 20 debtor can avoid or "strip off' a
Two other Circuit Courts of Appeals and two Bankruptcy Appellate Panels have considered the issue before us, each holding that such liens may be stripped, regardless of the debtor's eligibility for a discharge. See Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Scantling (In re Scantling), 754 F.3d 1323, 1325 (11th Cir.2014), abrogating In re Gerardin, 447 B.R. 342 (Bankr.S.D.Fla.2011) (holding that chapter 20 debtors could not permanently strip off wholly unsecured junior liens) and In re Quiros-Amy, 456 B.R. 140 (Bankr.S.D.Fla.2011) (same); Branigan v. Davis (In re Davis), 716 F.3d 331, 337-38 (4th Cir.2013); In re Cain, 513 B.R. 316, 322 (6th Cir. BAP 2014); Fisette v. Keller (In re Fisette), 455 B.R. 177, 186-87 (8th Cir. BAP 2011). As we explain below, we agree that a chapter 20 debtor can strip off a wholly unsecured junior lien against the debtor's principal residence in the absence of a discharge.
In a chapter 13 case in which the debtor is eligible for discharge, §§ 506(a) and 1322(b) enable the debtor to strip off a wholly unsecured lien against the debtor's principal residence. Zimmer v. PSB Lending Corp. (In re Zimmer), 313 F.3d 1220 (9th Cir.2002). The lien strip procedure in a chapter 13 case is a two-step process. Id. at 1226-27 (following Nobelman v. Am. Say. Bank (In re Nobelman), 508 U.S. 324, 328-29, 113 S.Ct. 2106, 124 L.Ed.2d 228 (1993) (court must first engage in the § 506(a) valuation process before determining the claim's status for purposes of § 1322(b)(2))). Section 506(a),
Section 1322(b)(2)
If, after applying § 506(a), the creditor's claim is determined to be "secured," which includes partially secured claims (i.e., undersecured claims), the creditor is still the "holder of a secured claim" and the debtor is unable to reduce or "strip down" the undersecured claim to the principal residence's fair market value. See In re Nobelman, 508 U.S. at 329-332, 113 S.Ct. 2106; In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 93. However, if "the claim is determined to be wholly unsecured, the rights of the `creditor holding only an unsecured claim may be modified under § 1322(b)(2),' and the creditor's lien may be avoided, notwithstanding the antimodification protection provided for in [§ ]1322(b)(2)." In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 93-94 (quoting In re Zimmer, 313 F.3d at 1227); Lam v. Investors Thrift (In re Lam), 211 B.R. 36, 40 (9th Cir. BAP 1997) (antimodification provision protecting a loan secured by an interest in debtor's principal residence does not apply if no value exists to which the security interest can attach).
The question, therefore, becomes whether a chapter 20 debtor is entitled to strip off such liens when no chapter 13 discharge will be entered. Courts across the nation are split on the issue.
The Bankruptcy Code allows debtors to file chapter 20 cases. Johnson v. Home State Bank, 501 U.S. 78, 87, 111 S.Ct. 2150, 115 L.Ed.2d 66 (1991). The Supreme
As stated earlier, the two Circuit Courts and two Bankruptcy Appellate Panels that have addressed this issue have held that a chapter 20 debtor may strip a wholly unsecured junior lien in the absence of a discharge. This is one of three approaches courts have adopted. See In re Jennings, 454 B.R. 252, 256-57 (Bankr.N.D.Ga.2011).
Courts utilizing the first approach hold that stripping off wholly unsecured liens in chapter 20 cases is not permissible because it amounts to a "de facto discharge," which is prohibited by § 1328(f). Lindskog v. M & I Bank FSB (In re Lindskog), 451 B.R. 863, 865-66 (Bankr.E.D.Wis.2011) (permitting chapter 20 debtor to strip off lien would create an "end run" around § 1328(f)), aff'd, 480 B.R. 916 (E.D.Wis. 2012); In re Fenn, 428 B.R. 494, 500 (Bankr.N.D.Ill.2010) (allowing permanent strip off of junior mortgage lien after chapter 20 debtor completes plan "results in a de facto discharge"); In re Mendoza, 2010 WL 736834, at *4 (Bankr.D.Colo. Jan. 21, 2010) (allowing avoidance of second mortgage lien through subsequent chapter 13 filing would be tantamount to granting debtor a discharge as to that debt and would render § 1328(f) inoperable), abrogated by Zeman v. Waterman (In re Waterman), 469 B.R. 334 (D.Colo.2012); In re Winitzky, 2009 WL 9139891, at *3 (Bankr.C.D.Cal. May 7, 2009) ("a lien strip would allow a debtor to simply do indirectly what the Supreme Court has ruled he may not do directly"); Blosser v. KLC Fin., Inc. (In re Blosser), 2009 WL 1064455, at *1 (Bankr.E.D.Wis. Apr. 15, 2009) ("[A]llowing a debtor to file Chapter 7, discharge all dischargeable debts and then immediately file Chapter 13 to strip off a second mortgage lien would not be much different than simply avoiding the mortgage lien in the Chapter 7 itself. But Chapter 7 debtors are not allowed to use § 506 to avoid liens.").
To support their position that the Code prohibits lien stripping in chapter 20 cases, these courts rely on an interpretation of Dewsnup v. Timm, 502 U.S. 410, 417, 112 S.Ct. 773, 116 L.Ed.2d 903 (1992),
Courts adopting the second approach allow chapter 20 lien stripping but hold that the parties' prebankruptcy rights are reinstated by operation of law after the plan has been consummated absent discharge or payment in full; therefore, the lien avoidance can never be permanent. In, re Victorio, 454 B.R. 759, 781 (Bankr.S.D.Cal. 2011) (chapter 20 debtor cannot permanently avoid a wholly unsecured junior lien without discharge or paying it in full during the course of chapter 13 plan), aff'd sub nom. Victorio v. Billingslea, 470 B.R. 545 (S.D.Cal.2012); Grandstaff v. Casey (In re Casey), 428 B.R. 519 (Bankr. S.D.Cal.2010) (same); In re Jarvis, 390 B.R. at 605-06 (discharge is a necessary prerequisite to permanency of lien avoidance); In re Trujillo, 2010 WL 4669095, at *2 (Bankr.M.D.Fla. Nov. 10, 2010) (absent a discharge any modifications to creditor's rights are not permanent and have no binding effect once plan ends), aff'd sub nom. Trujillo v. BAC Home Loan Servicing, L.P. (In re Trujillo), 2012 WL 8883694 (M.D.Fla. Aug. 10, 2012), abrogated by In re Scantling, supra; In re Lilly, 378 B.R. 232, 236 (Bankr.C.D.Ill. 2007) ("Where a debtor does not receive a discharge, however, any modifications to a creditor's rights imposed in the plan are not permanent and have no binding effect once the term of the plan ends."). In this bankruptcy case, the bankruptcy court adopted this approach, relying on Victorio.
These courts posit that chapter 13 cases can end in only one of three ways: conversion, dismissal or discharge. This is true whether it be pre- or post-BAPCPA. See In re Victorio, 454 B.R. at 775, 778 (citing Leavitt v. Soto (In re Leavitt), 171 F.3d 1219, 1223 (9th Cir.1999)); In re Casey, 428 B.R. at 522-23. They further point out that actions taken to avoid a lien are undone if the case is dismissed or converted prior to the successful completion of all plan payments. The argument continues that because the debtor is ineligible for a chapter 13 discharge, the only way to make the lien avoidance "permanent" is by paying the debt in full during the course of the chapter 13 plan. See § 1325(a)(5)(B)(i)(I)(aa), (bb). Thus, without discharge, the only way to conclude the case is dismissal or conversion, either of which reinstates the avoided lien. See §§ 1325(a)(5)(B)(i)(II), 348(f)(1)(C)(I).
The bankruptcy court in In re Victorio rejected the notion that § 1328(f), added by BAPCPA, created what courts have
Courts adopting the third approach allow chapter 20 lien stripping "because nothing in the Bankruptcy Code prevents it." In re Jennings, 454 B.R. at 257. These courts contend the mechanism that voids the lien is plan completion and that chapter 20 cases end in administrative closing rather than dismissal. Section 350(a) provides: "After an estate is fully administered and the court has discharged the trustee, the court shall close the case." Rule 5009(a) provides: "If in a ... chapter 13 case the trustee has filed a final report and final account and has certified that the estate has been fully administered,..., there shall be a presumption that the estate has been fully administered." As discharge is not available in a chapter 20 case pursuant to § 1328(f), after the debtor completes all payments and complies with the terms of the confirmed plan, the bankruptcy case will be closed without entry of a discharge. See In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 99. Given closure and not dismissal after plan completion, "the code sections that reverse any lien avoidance actions contained within a chapter 13 plan upon conversion or dismissal are not implicated, and, thus, do not act to prevent the permanence of the lien avoidance. Once a debtor successfully completes all plan payments ..., the provisions of the plan become permanent, and the lien avoidance is, similarly, permanent." Id. at 100 (citations omitted).
A confirmed plan is binding on the debtor and the creditor and vests all property of the estate in the debtor "free and clear of any claim or interest of any creditor provided for by the plan." § 1327(c). Provided the confirmed plan remains in effect, avoided liens remain avoided, as the plan is binding and through "res judicata precludes a creditor from bringing a collateral attack of that order." In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 100. Only revocation of the confirmed plan or case conversion or dismissal can undo the res judicata effect of a confirmed plan. Id. If all confirmed plan payments are made and plan terms are satisfied, confirmation of the plan will not be revoked and the case will not be converted or dismissed; the case will be closed leaving the res judicata effect of the order confirming the plan in place. Id.
In other words, under this approach, the propriety of a lien strip is not dependent upon discharge. See, e.g., In re Scantling, 754 F.3d at 1329-30 (chapter 20 debtors can permanently strip off wholly unsecured junior liens; ineligibility for a discharge is "irrelevant"); In re Davis, 716 F.3d at 337-38 (Code allows chapter 20 debtors to strip off wholly unsecured junior liens; eligibility for discharge is "not determinative"); In re Cain, 513 B.R. at 322 (holding same and reasoning that the wholly unsecured status of the creditor's claim, rather that the debtor's eligibility for a discharge, is determinative); In re Waterman, 469 B.R. at 339-40 (same); In re Frazier, 469 B.R. at 895-96 (same); In re Fisette, 455 B.R. at 186-87 (same); In re Fair, 450 B.R. 853, 857-58 (E.D.Wis. 2011) (nothing in the Code ties the modification of an unsecured lien to obtaining a discharge under chapter 13); In re Blendheim, 2011 WL 6779709, at *5 (same); In re Jennings, 454 B.R. at 257; In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 103 (holding same and reasoning that lien avoidance under In re Zimmer is independent of the granting of
We join the "growing consensus of courts" that have followed the third approach and hold that nothing in the Code prevents chapter 20 debtors from stripping a wholly unsecured junior lien against the debtor's principal residence, notwithstanding their lack of eligibility for a chapter 13 discharge. This approach is consistent with Nobelman and Zimmer, because it starts by determining the status of the claim under § 506(a). See In re Scantling, 754 F.3d at 1326-27, 1329 (citing Nobelman and Tanner v. FirstPlus Fin., Inc. (In re Tanner), 217 F.3d 1357 (11th Cir. 2000), the Eleventh Circuit's equivalent to Zimmer); In re Davis, 716 F.3d at 338 (citing Nobelman to hold that § 506(a) valuation must be done first to determine claim's status before analyzing whether § 1322(b)(2) bars its modification); In re Cain, 513 B.R. at 322 (citing Nobelman and Lane v. W. Interstate Bancorp (In re Lane), 280 F.3d 663, 669 (6th Cir.2002), the Sixth Circuit's equivalent to Zimmer, to hold that by failing to first determine the proper classification of the creditor's claim under § 506(a), the bankruptcy court disregarded the "road map" set forth in Nobelman and Lane).
No one disputes that under § 506(a) MidFirst's lien has no value because the senior lien held by Wells Fargo exceeds the value of the property by approximately $40,000. Consequently, Nobelman and Zimmer dictate that MidFirst's claim is "unsecured" under § 506(a). See In re Zimmer, 313 F.3d at 1223 (for creditor to have a "secured claim" there must be value for the creditor's interest in the collateral). Therefore, MidFirst holds only an "unsecured claim" for purposes of § 1322(b)(2); the claim is not subject to its antimodification protections. See § 1322(b)(2) (protecting holders of "secured claims" secured only by a security in a debtor's principal residence).
Contrary to those courts adopting the second approach, because MidFirst's claim is unsecured, we determine § 1325(a)(5) (protecting the holder of a secured claim until the debt is paid or the debtor is discharged) does not apply. This is because wholly unsecured liens are not "allowed secured claims" as the opening language to that section specifies. See In re Scantling, 754 F.3d at 1329-30 (§ 1325(a)(5) does not involve unsecured claims and debtor's ineligibility for a discharge is "irrelevant" for lien strip in chapter 20 case); In re Davis, 716 F.3d at 338 ("Because the liens in these cases have no value, they are wholly unsecured claims, which leaves no role in the analysis for section 1325(a)(5)."); In re Cain, 513 B.R. at 322 (same); In re Frazier, 469 B.R. at 898 n. 10 ("Section 1325(a)(5) has no applicability to unsecured allowed claims, which are separately governed by the confirmation requirements of § 1325(a)(4)."); In re Fisette, 455 B.R. at 186 (the requirements of § 1325(a)(5) apply only to an "allowed secured claim," not a claim which has been classified unsecured via § 506(a)) (emphasis in original); In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 97 (for § 1325(a)(5) to apply, the claim would first have to be classified as "an allowed secured claim" within the meaning of § 1325(a)(5)); In re Hill, 440 B.R. at 183.
Moreover, we also disagree with the view that a lien strip in a "no discharge" chapter 20 case amounts to a "de facto" discharge. In rejecting this view, one court stated:
In re Waterman, 469 B.R. at 340. By seeking to strip off a wholly unsecured junior lien, Debtors seek to do just that: avoid the lien. They do not seek a discharge. In re Fisette, 455 B.R. at 186-87. See In re Fair, 450 B.R. at 857 ("Congress did not intend to prevent lien stripping through § 1328(f)(1), and it is inaccurate to characterize lien stripping as a de facto discharge under the bankruptcy code."); In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 101 (§ 1328(f) only prohibits discharge and court would not read any further restrictions into the Code); In re Hill, 440 B.R. at 182 ("Since the [creditor's] debt was already discharged, or changed to non-recourse status in the Chapter 7 case, a second discharge for the Debtors in this Chapter 13 case would be redundant."). The discharge imposes a statutory injunction preventing the creditor from enforcing the discharged debt against the debtor personally or against specified assets; it does not release the lien from the debtor's property. In re Frazier, 448 B.R. at 809 (citing Johnson, 501 U.S. 78, 111 S.Ct. 2150).
We conclude that § 1328(f)(1) does not prevent Debtors' ability to strip off Mid-First's wholly unsecured junior lien in their chapter 13 plan, because nothing in the Bankruptcy Code prevents chapter 20 debtors from stripping such liens off their principal residence under §§ 506(a)(1) and 1322(b)(2). We further conclude that plan completion is the appropriate end to Debtors' chapter 20 case. Unlike a typical chapter 13 case, the lien avoidance will become permanent not upon a discharge, but rather upon completion of all payments as required under the plan. In re Davis, 716 F.3d at 338; In re Frazier, 469 B.R. at 900; In re Blendheim, 2011 WL 6779709, at *6; In re Okosisi, 451 B.R. at 99-100; In re Frazier, 448 B.R. at 810; In re Tran, 431 B.R. at 235.
We conclude that the bankruptcy court erred when it denied the Lien Strip Motion on the basis that Debtors were not eligible for a chapter 13 discharge.
For the foregoing reasons, we REVERSE the decision of the bankruptcy
(bb) discharge under section 1328; and