Gohar Aslanyan, 17-24195

Debtor Gohar Aslanyan filed Chapter 7 on June 26, 2017; Transport Funding, LLC holds a judicial lien (writ of attachment) recorded >90 days before the petition securing ~ $39,963.48.
Property: single-family home in Carmichael, CA; unavoidable mortgage senior lien $360,124; debtor claims $100,000 homestead exemption.
The only disputed factual issue was the market value of the home: debtor argued $460,000 (broker testimony), Transport argued $495,000 (appraiser testimony).
Court received testimony from the debtor’s listing broker (offers received after petition) and Transport’s appraiser; latest post-petition offer was $479,000 (Dec. 16, 2017).
Applying 11 U.S.C. § 522(f)(2)(A): whether the judicial lien impairs the exemption depends on property value as of the petition date; court determined market value of $479,000 as of the petition date.
Result: with $479,000 value, $21,087.48 of Transport’s lien impairs the exemption and is avoidable; $18,876 of the lien remains. Transport’s motion for relief from stay was dismissed as moot because the trustee abandoned the house and the debtor’s discharge entered.

Issue	Debtor's Argument	Transport's Argument	Held
Whether Transport’s judicial lien is avoidable under 11 U.S.C. § 522(f)(1)(A) given exemptions and senior liens	Debtor: home value $460,000 → lien fully impairs exemption and is avoidable	Transport: home value $495,000 → most of lien survives	Court: value $479,000 → $21,087.48 impairs exemption; that portion avoided, $18,876 survives
Proper valuation date and admissible evidence for § 522(a)(2) valuation	Debtor: may rely on broker testimony and post-petition offers if market unchanged	Transport: post-petition offer unreliable; appraisal shows higher value	Court: value determined as of petition date; post-petition $479,000 offer admissible because market conditions unchanged and broker testimony credible
Whether hypothetical sale/closing costs should reduce market value for lien-avoidance calculation	Debtor: transaction costs not to be deducted from market value	Transport: buyer-paid costs reduce debtor’s realized value (argues for lower net)	Court: transactional/closing costs are not deducted; market value is not reduced by hypothetical sale costs
Motion for relief from automatic stay to perfect lien	Transport sought leave to return to state court to obtain judgment to perfect attachment	Debtor opposed	Court: motion dismissed as moot — trustee abandoned property and discharge entered, so stay expired and nothing remains to modify

In re Chiu, 266 B.R. 743 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2001) (valuation for exemption and lien-avoidance determined as of petition date)
In re Dodge, 138 B.R. 602 (Bankr. E.D. Cal. 1992) (same principle on valuation date for exemptions)
In re Southern California Plastics, Inc., 165 F.3d 1243 (9th Cir. 1999) (discussion of judgment lien perfection and post-petition lien issues)