Mariah Lynne Tait, 662 B.R. 370

Mariah Lynne Tait (Debtor) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after a state court negligence suit by creditor Racheal Wasniewski.
The bankruptcy court issued an Agreed Order granting relief from stay so the state court could determine liability and damages only.
The state court entered an Order finding Tait liable and set damages at $2.5 million, stating a judgment "should be entered" per an alleged agreement.
Wasniewski filed a $2.5 million unsecured proof of claim in the bankruptcy case and received a small distribution as an unsecured creditor.
Tait moved to avoid a judicial lien on her property under 11 U.S.C. § 522(f), claiming the state court order created such a lien; Wasniewski objected, arguing no lien was created because there was no final judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Existence of Lien	State court order is a judgment that creates a lien on Tait’s property	Order was not a judgment and did not create a lien	No lien exists; motion denied
Appropriateness of § 522(f)	Lien can (or, if reduced to $225k, should) be partially avoided under § 522(f)	Not applicable if no lien exists	§ 522(f) inapplicable
Scope of State Court Order	Relief from stay allowed state court to determine liability/damages, not to enter a collectible judgment	Order exceeded allowable scope if it entered more than liability/damages	Court did not consider (moot)
Summary Judgment Motions	Wasniewski entitled to judgment as a matter of law	Tait contested; hearing needed	All summary judgment motions denied

Thomas v. McElroy, 420 S.W.2d 530 (Ark. 1967) (distinguishes judgments from orders for lien purposes under Arkansas law)
In re O’Sullivan, 841 F.3d 786 (8th Cir. 2016) (distinguishes between existent but unenforceable liens and nonexistent liens under § 522(f))
Moses v. Dautartas, 922 S.W.2d 345 (Ark. Ct. App. 1996) (orders determining liability/damages do not substitute for a judgment)