In Re Murray
MEMORANDUM OPINION
These matters come before the Court on the motion of Conrad Gacki (“Gacki”) to modify the automatic stay pursuant to
I. JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE
The Court has jurisdiction to entertain these matters pursuant to
II. FACTS AND BACKGROUND
The facts are undisputed. The Debtor was the last record owner in the chain of title of certain parcels of real property which he scheduled as “4 unimproved lots on Ann, Lombard, Illinois” (collectively, the “Property”). The Debtor, however, failed to pay the general real estate taxes assessed against the Property for 1997.
In accord with the relevant statutory provisions, on December 7,1998, the County of DuPage, Illinois sold the Property for the delinquent real estate taxes to Gacki. The last date the real estate taxes could be redeemed under state law was December 6, 2001. No redemption of the unpaid taxes was made by the Debtor or any other party. Prior to the date of the bankruptcy filing, on August 1, 2001, Gacki, as holder of the certificates of purchase from DuPage County, filed a petition for tax deed in the Circuit Court of Du-Page County, Illinois. See Gacki’s Exhibit No. 3.
The Debtor filed a Chapter 13 petition on October 16, 2001. The Debtor’s Schedules list the Property as an asset which he valued at $600,000.00, subject to a secured
On December 27, 2001, Patricia Murray, the former spouse of the Debtor, filed an objection to the plan. She contended that she is a secured creditor of the Debtor by virtue of an order entered on March 30, 2001 by the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois in the dissolution proceeding between her and the Debtor. On that date, she was granted a judgment hen in the amount of $131,615.90 against the Property and the Debtor’s residence. She argued that plan ignored her secured status and the judgment lien.
On January 3, 2002, West Suburban Bank filed an objection to the Debtor’s plan. West Suburban Bank argued that it is a secured creditor of the Debtor by reason of two judgment liens which were entered in its favor in the sums of $12,784.74 and $5,920.28. Both judgments were recorded as hens against the Debt- or’s residence. West Suburban Bank filed two proofs of claim on October 24, 2001. It objected to that plan on the basis that the plan failed to provide for the payment of its secured claims.
On January 15, 2002, Gacki filed his motion to lift the automatic stay pursuant to
On February 20, 2002, the Debtor filed an amended Chapter 13 plan. Thereafter, on February 22, 2002, Gacki filed an objection to the amended plan. He contended that the payments to be made to the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee by the Debtor ($1,550.00 per month for thirty-six months or $55,800.00) do not cover the outstanding mortgage arrearage of $58,611.72, owed to another creditor, let alone meet any of the other obligations under the plan, including the Debtor’s attorney’s fees ($2,985.00) and payment to unsecured creditors ($9,625.00). Further, Gacki argued that the amended plan made no provision for the payment of West Suburban Bank’s secured claim. On February 22, 2002, the Court sustained the objections of Patricia Murray and West Suburban Bank to confirmation of the Debtor’s original and amended plans. The Court afforded the Debtor the opportunity to file any further amended plan, which he did on March 14, 2002. This amended plan differs from the other versions in that it provides for payment of West Suburban Bank’s claim in full in monthly installments of $300.00 for thirty-six months and $658.00 for twenty-four months. The monthly plan payments to the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee have
III. DISCUSSION
A. Motion to Modify the Automatic Stay
The principal issue before the Court is whether the automatic stay should be modified so as to allow GacM to continue with the state court proceeding to obtain a tax deed on the subject Property.
(d) On request of a party in interest and after notice and a hearing, the court shall grant relief from the stay provided under subsection (a) of this section, such as by terminating, annulling, modifying, or conditioning such stay—
(1) for cause, including the lack of adequate protection of an interest in property of such party in interest;
(2) with respect to a stay of an act against property under subsection (a) of this section, if—
(A) the debtor does not have any equity in such property; and
(B) such property is not necessary to an effective reorganization....
(g) In any hearing under subsection (d) or (e) of this section concerning relief from the stay of any act under subsection (a) of this section- — •
(1) the party requesting such relief has the burden of proof on the issue of the debtor’s equity in property; and
(2) the party opposing such relief has the burden of proof on all other issues.
The heart of the argument centers around the interplay between
In addition, the Debtor maintains that the language in
Gacki, on the other hand, argues that the
Bates
ease goes against the weight of the case authority and effectively renders
Under Illinois law, taxes on real property constitute a lien on the assessed property.
If the property owner does not redeem the taxes within the statutorily allowed period, his interest in the property is extinguished and the tax purchaser may obtain a tax deed on the property.
Thus, the ultimate issue, as framed by the parties, is whether the Debtor can still redeem the taxes via
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, if applicable nonbank-ruptcy law, an order entered in a non-bankruptcy proceeding, or an agreement fixes a period within which the debtor or an individual protected under section 1201 or 1301 of this title may file any pleading, demand, notice, or proof of claim or loss, cure a default, or perform any other similar act, and such period has not expired before the date of the filing of the petition, the trustee may only file, cure, or perform, as the case may be, before the later of—
(1) the end of such period, including any suspension of such period occurring on or after the commencement of the case; or
(2) 60 days after the order for relief.
(b) Subject to subsections (a) and (c) of this section, the plan may—
(2) modify the rights of holders of secured claims, other than a claim secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor’s principal residence, or of holders of unsecured claims, or leave unaffected the rights of holders of any class of claims.
The Debtor contends that the language in
The Court declines to follow the view that a secured claim of a tax purchaser may be satisfied in a Chapter 13 case through a plan that provides for full payment of the claim, with interest, in installments over the life of the plan or even longer as contemplated in
nothing in§ 108(b) transforms the extension of a non-bankruptcy right into a negation of bankruptcy rights specifically accorded elsewhere in the Code. The Seventh Circuit made this clear in Moody v. Amoco Oil Co.,734 F.2d 1200 , 1215 (7th Cir.), cert. denied,469 U.S. 982 ,105 S.Ct. 386 ,83 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984), where it found that§ 108(b) could not limit the right to cure executo-ry contracts specifically accorded by § 365 of the Code. Similarly,§ 108(b) would not prevent a Chapter 7 trustee from selling property subject to a tax purchaser’s claim under § 363(f)(3), and§ 108(b) does not limit the right to modify secured claims specifically accorded by§§ 1322(b)(2) and 1325(a)(5).
As long as the redemption period has not expired prior to the bankruptcy filing, there is a claim that can be treated during the bankruptcy case — through ... plan treatment in Chapter 13 — even though the redemption period expires during the pendency of the case.
The
Bates
court concluded that
Moreover, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals specifically held in
In re Tynan,
If the Court were to allow the Debtor to pay the delinquent real estate taxes over the sixty month life of the amended plan, then the Court would be effectively ignoring the express holding in
Tynan
and rendering
The Court concludes that the better analysis limits the debtor to the shorter extension under
The Debtor contends that he has “certain equitable defenses” to the motion to modify the automatic stay. Specifically, he claims that to allow Gacki to purchase the subject Property with an approximate equity value of $450,000.00 for only $7,411.00 (the amount of the unpaid delinquent taxes) results in a windfall of approximately $440,000.00 to Gacki at the expense of the creditors of the estate, including the Debtor’s former spouse who hold a judgment hen against the Property pursuant to the dissolution proceeding. Gacki disputes the Debtor’s invocation of unjust enrichment on the basis that Gacki’s actions in purchasing the delinquent taxes were in accordance with Illinois law,
The Debtor has failed to establish the last critical element to invoke the unjust enrichment doctrine. The Court agrees with Gacki that his act of paying the delinquent real estate taxes on the subject Property as countenanced and approved under Illinois law resulted only because the Debtor failed to pay the Property’s real estate taxes when due. As such, Gacki’s conduct in following the relevant statutes is not unjust or wrongful. The fact that the equity in the Property at bar is valued at approximately $450,000.00 and Gacki paid the delinquent real estate taxes in the sum of $7,411.00, does not warrant the Court finding that such action constitutes an unjust enrichment. Rather, the Debtor failed to tender the required sum required for redemption prior to the expiration of the statutory period as extended by
The Debtor also argues that a potential action may be filed against Gacki under
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants the motion to modify the automatic stay under
This Opinion constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in accordance with Federal Rule of Bank