JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge.
The litigation pending before me raises an interesting issue of interpretation created by a phrase utilized in the Bankruptcy Amendments of 2005. As may be apparent, those amendments placed several constrictions on consumer filers because of perceived past abuses. Among those changes was included an anti-modification provision found in § 1325 of the Bankruptcy Code regarding vehicle purchases. The provision is referred to as the "hanging paragraph" due to its unnumbered placement at some distance from subsection (a)(5) to which it refers. More specifically, modification of a purchase money security interest is prohibited if incurred within 910 days (roughly 2½ years) prior to the petition for a vehicle "acquired for the personal use of the debtor." In the absence of statutory definition or legislative history, the courts have struggled mightily to define such a vehicle. See, for example, citations found in Robin Miller, J.D., Effect of "Hanging" or "Anti-Cramdown" Paragraph Added to 11 U.S.C.A. § 1325(a) by Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), 19 A.L.R.Fed.2d 157 at §§ 14 & 15 (2007)(Motor vehicle acquired for debtor's personal use). One treatise has referred to the "horde of reported decisions that agree on just about nothing about the meaning of this phrase." Lundin & Brown, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, 4th Ed. § 451.4 at ¶ 2.
Obviously, the issue is fact intensive. In this case, the entire factual record consists of stipulated facts. Doc.
This raises the pivotal legal issue. Does the Debtor's dual business/personal intention at the time of purchase of the vehicle negate the impact of the statute's antimodification provision? I turn first to the statutory language for guidance to its meaning. I conclude that the antimodification clause applies to vehicles purchased for "personal use." "A fundamental canon of statutory construction is that, unless otherwise defined, words will be interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning." Perrin v. United States, 444 U.S. 37, 42, 100 S.Ct. 311, 314, 62 L.Ed.2d 199 (1979). While the Debtor hoped to use the vehicle more in his work as an assistant at the funeral home, it is rather apparent that the Uplander was to be used personally until that hope was rendered a reality. As pointed out by one court, "the hanging paragraph does not use the words `solely', `exclusively', `mostly', `primarily', `partially' or any other bright line." In re Solis, 356 B.R. 398, 409 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Tex.2006).
Some courts have focused on whether the original purpose of the purchase was a "significant and material" personal use. Id. at 409. In a given case, such language may be helpful, but not so here. I state that because the stipulation of facts makes it apparent that this vehicle purchase may have been useful at some future time in the business ventures of the Debtor, but, until then, it would be utilized for personal benefit. Even a current intention to use it incidentally in business efforts does not alter the fact that the Uplander was purchased for personal as well as business use. Otherwise, the Debtor, who utilized only one vehicle, would not have divested himself of the vehicle he had traded in. This conclusion is consistent with the overall legislative effort in the 2005 Amendments to limit the benefits of bankruptcy otherwise enjoyed by consumer filers in favor of what has popularly become known as the "job-creators" or
My Order will follow.
For those reasons indicated in the Opinion filed this date,