Pacifica L 51 LLC v. New Investments Inc.Pacifica L 51 LLC v. New Investments Inc.
Lead Opinion
Dissent by Judge BERZON
OPINION
In lоan agreements—and any subsequent bankruptcy proceedings—a borrower “defaults” on a loan when he fails to fulfill a material obligation under the terms of the loan agreement, such as making a payment by a particular date. A default can trigger certain consequences, such as foreclosure on any property securing the loan, late fees and penalties, or “acceleration,” which ocсurs when the entire unpaid amount of the loan becomes immediately due and payable. But the borrower can also “cure” the default, most often by paying the arrearages and bringing the loan current. A cure generally allows the borrower to avoid the consequences of default, restores the loan to its original terms, and allows the borrower to keep the property.
The Bankruptcy Code incorporates the concept of cure. Chapter 11 provides that a debtor’s plan of reorganization must “provide adequate means for the plan’s implementation,” including the “curing or waiving of any default.”
We held in Entz-White that a debtor who cures a default “is entitled to avoid all consequences of the default—including higher post-default interest rates.” Id. at 1342. In other words, if a loan agreement provided for a higher, post-default interest rate on arrearages in the event of default, a debtor who “cures” is entitled to repay, the arrearages at the lower, pre-default interest rate. We concluded that “the power to cure under the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a plan to nullify all consequences of default, including avoidance of default penalties such as higher interest,” even when the terms of the loan agreement called for a higher interest rate upon default. Id.
The case before us requires us to decide whether Entz-White ⅛ rule that a debtor may nullify a loan agreement’s requirement of post-default interest remains good law in light of
I.
New Investments, Inc. (“New Investments”) borrowed $3,045,760.51 from Paci-fica L 51, LLC’s (“Pacifica”) predecessor in interest to purchase a hotel property in Kirkland, Washingtоn. The note, which was secured by a deed of trust, provided for an interest rate of 8 percent. The note also specifically provided that in the' event of default, the interest rate would increase by 5 percent.
New Investments defaulted on the note in 2009. When Pacifica commenced nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings, New Investments filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. New Investments’s plan of reorganization рroposed to cure the default by selling the property to a third party and using the proceeds of the sale to pay the outstanding amount of the loan at the pre-default interest rate. Pacifica objected to the plan on the ground that, under the terms of the note, it was entitled to be paid at the higher, post-default interest-rate.
The bankruptcy court confirmed New Investments’s plan over Pacifica’s objection and authorized the sale of the hotel for $6,890,000. Of the sale proceeds, $2,830,877.28 would be paid to Pacifica, reflecting the pre-default interest rate and extinguishing any other late penalties. Anticipating an appeal, the bankruptcy court ordered that $100,000 of the proceeds be reserved for Pacifica’s attorney’s fees on appeal and that $670,000 be set aside as a disputed claim reserve for Pacifica. Pacifi-ca timely appeals from the confirmation order.
II.
We have jurisdiction under
III.
Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code provides that a plan of reorganization must, among other things, “provide adequate' means for the plan’s implementation,” including the “curing or waiving of any default.”
Entz-White was decided in 1988. In 1994, Congress amended
Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and sections 506(b), 1129(a)(7), and 1129(b) of this title, if it is proposed in a plan to cure a default the amount necessary to cure the default shall be determined in accordance with the underlying agreement and applicable non-bankruptcy law.
Subsection
The fact that Congress had a particular purpose in mind when enacting a statute does not limit the effect of the statute’s text, a principle Entz-White' itself recognized. See
This result is further consistent with the intent of
What
The common law treatment of cure is consistent with the Bankruptcy Code’s protections for creditors who would have been'еntitled to receive accelerated payment on a defaulted loan. For a debtor to render such a creditor. “unimpaired” and unable to object to the debtor’s plan, Platinum Capital, Inc. v. Sylmar Plaza, L.P. (In re Sylmar Plaza, L.P.),
Consistent with
We are mindful that “[t]he principal purpose of the Bankruptcy Code is to grant а fresh start to the honest but unfortunate debtor.” Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Mass.,
Both the text and the legislative history of
IV.
We conclude that Pacifica is entitled to receive payment of the loan at the post-default interest rate. We therefore reverse the decision of the bankruptcy court and remand for further proceedings.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
Notes
. We reject New Investments's argument that Washington's deed of trust law cannot constitute "applicable nonbankruptcy law” under
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
Neither
Instead of abiding by our longstanding case law, the majority concludes that Congress displaced Entz-White when it passed
I.
Chapter 11 requires that a debtor’s plan of reorganization “provide adequate means for the plan’s implementation, such as ... curing or waiving of any default.”
After this Court decided Entz-White, Congress enacted
Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and sections 506(b), 1129(a)(7), . and 1129(b) of this title, if it is proposed in a plan to cure a default the amount necessary to cure the default shall be determined in accordance with the underlying agreement and applicable non-bankruptcy law.
Pacifica mаintains—and the majority agrees—that this provision overruled Entz-White’s holding that a debtor who cures a default, thus “nullifyting] all consequences of’ that default, may repay ar-rearages at the pre-default interest rate. See
Pacifica bears the burden of showing that Congress, in passing
Pacifica has not carried this burden, as both the statutory text and the legislative history of
II.
The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, among other things, added nearly identical language regarding how one cures a default to Chapters 11, 12, аnd 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. Pub. L. No. 103-394, § 305, 108 Stat. 4106 (1994). Like the subsection here at issue,
Nowhere did the 1994 amendments define “cure a default” or suggest that this Circuit’s then-operative definition of “cure” was incorrect. Rather,
Neither
In short, the text of
III.
The legislative history of
In Rake, the Supreme Court held that an oversecured creditor was entitled to pre- and post-confirmation interest on mortgage arrearages paid to cure a default under a Chapter 13 plan.
Congress overtly rejected this result in enacting
Far from repudiating Entz-White ⅛ holding, the House Report reiterated Entz-White ⅛ interprеtation of “cure,” stating, “[i]t is the Committee’s intention that a cure pursuant to a plan should operate to put the debtor in the same position as if the default had never occurred.” Id. The legislative history thus indicates, at the very least, that the new provision was not meant sub silentio to enact a definition of “cure” conflicting with that adopted in Entz-White. It also suggests that the relevant provisions of the “underlying agreement” for a “cure” are thоse that would have applied “if the default had never occurred.” See id.
In sum, the pertinent 1994 amendments eliminated the possibility of a “court contrived windfall” for secured creditors. Id. Pacifica’s challenge to the Bankruptcy Court’s confirmation order does not implicate the concern that animated Congress. Like the text of the statute, the legislative history in no way suggests that Entz-White ’s definition of “cure” is incorrect or was overruled.
Here, the underlying agreement provides both pre- and post-default interest rates. As the statute requires, we look to that agreement in determining which rates may apply. And in selecting which provision of the contract governs, we rely on our precedent and use the pre-default rate. New Investments therefore could cure the default by paying interest on the debt at the pre-default rate.
IV.
Notwithstanding its recitation of the relevant text and legislative history, the majority somehоw concludes that Entz-White is no longer controlling. Relying on an incorrect interpretation of
A three judge panel of this Court' is “bound by decisions of prior panels unless an en banc decision, Supreme Court decision or subsequent legislation undermines those decisions.” Gen. Const. Co. v. Castro,
As discussed, Congress has not defined “cure the default” in the years since we decided Entz-White. There is thus no “clear indication that Congress intended .., a departure,” Hamilton,
Stare decisis thus requires us to apply Entz-White and hold that New Investments “is entitled' to’ avoid all consequences of the default—including higher