Okla. Stat. tit. 16, sec 34.2
Title Examination Standards
Chapter 1, App.
Chapter 34. Bankruptcies
§34.2. Bankruptcies on or after October 1, 1979.
EXEMPT ASSETS
Under Section 522 of the Bankruptcy Code a debtor may claim certain property as being exempt from forced sale for the benefit of its creditors. Therefore, a claim of exemption is a tool by which the debtor may retain property and exclude it from administration by the bankruptcy court.
Where the property under examination is claimed as exempt, the abstract being examined should contain, or the examiner should review certified copies of, the following:
A. The Petition and Order for Relief. 11 U.S.C. §§ 301, 302 or 303.
B. The Schedule of Real Property (Schedule "B-1" for cases filed prior to August 1, 1991, or Schedule "A" for cases filed on or after August 1, 1991) showing that the debtor(s)' interest in the property was disclosed. 11 U.S.C. § 521(1) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(b) and 4002(3).
C. The Schedule of Exempt Property (Schedule "B-4" for cases filed prior to August 1, 1991, or Schedule "C" for cases filed on or after August 1, 1991), showing that the subject property was claimed as exempt by the debtor(s). 11 U.S.C. §§ 522(b) and (l) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(a).
D. The docket sheet indicating whether the claim of exemption was subject to an objection by any party in interest.
4. Any liens or charges that were properly perfected prior to the instigation of bankruptcy proceedings will survive those proceedings unless specifically avoided pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(f) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(d). 11 U.S.C. §§ 522(c) and (f); Long v. Bullard, 117 U.S. 617, 6 S.Ct. 917, 29 L.Ed. 1004 (1886); Johnson v. Home State Bank, 111 S.Ct. 2150 (1991); Farrey v. Sanderfoot, 111 S.Ct. 1825 (1991); and Owen v. Owen, 111 S.Ct. 1833 (1991).
Comment: Except as provided in 11 U.S.C. 552(b) property acquired after commencement of the case is not subject to a pre-petition judgment lien.
5. For the title to real property passing through bankruptcy proceedings to be free and clear of a pre-petition judgment lien, the abstract being examined should contain, or the examiner should review certified copies of, the motion requesting that the lien be avoided pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(f) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4003(d) and the order granting said motion. Id. and Coats v. Ogg (In re: Ogg), 1999 WL 218774, BAP No. EO-98-028 (10th Cir. 1999).
Comment: BKR 4003(d) provides that a proceeding to avoid a lien under 11 U.S.C. § 522(f) is by motion pursuant to Rule 9014 Fed. R. Bankr. P., which provides at (b) that service shall be as in service of summons pursuant to Rule 7004(h) Fed. R. Bankr. P., which provides for service on an Insured Depository Institution.
ABANDONMENT
Abandonment of an asset can take place at any time during the pendency of the bankruptcy proceedings. The procedure can be initiated by a debtor-in- possession or case trustee via the filing a notice of abandonment with the bankruptcy court and the service of a copy of the notice on each of the parties in interest in the case.
Abandonment is also a creditor's remedy. Any creditor holding an interest in the subject property has the right to file a motion with the bankruptcy court requesting that its collateral be abandoned from the estate. Once its collateral is abandoned from the estate, and the automatic stay imposed by 11 U.S.C. § 362 is lifted, the creditor is free to pursue any of the remedies available to it in accordance with applicable law.
Where the property under examination is abandoned from the bankruptcy estate, the abstract being examined should contain, or the examiner should review certified copies of, the following:
A. The Petition and Order for Relief. 11 U.S.C. §§ 301, 302 or 303.
C. If a trustee has been appointed in the case, evidence of the qualification of the case trustee to serve in that capacity. Such evidence shall consist of either:
D. If no trustee has been appointed in the case, evidence of that fact.
NOTE: The elements indicated above regarding the qualification of a trustee to act in a particular case may be conclusively evidenced through a certificate from the clerk of the bankruptcy court in which the proceedings are pending certifying that either: 1) the debtor is acting as a debtor-in-possession, and thus retains the powers, duties and obligations of a trustee, or 2) that a trustee has qualified. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2011 (a).
E. If the property was affirmatively abandoned by either the case trustee or a debtor-in-possession:1. The notice of intent to abandon required by Fed.R.Bankr.P. 6007(a).
NOTE: The notice of intent to abandon property of the estate may be contained within the notice of the meeting of creditors (the "341 meeting") which is mailed to each party in the case at the outset of the proceedings. If the court file contains an order of abandonment, but no pleading specifically labeled as being a notice of abandonment, the examiner should review the notice of meeting of creditors to determine if it contains a general notice of the trustee's ability to abandon property at the 341 meeting.
2. Evidence that there was no objection to the notice of abandonment filed within fourteen 14 days of the date of mailing of the notice. Fed.R.Bankr.P. 6007(a) and 9006(f);or
3. The bankruptcy court's order abandoning the property.
F. If the abandonment is by virtue of a motion filed by a creditor having an interest in the subject property:
G. If the subject property is disclosed on the schedule of real property filed in conjunction with the Petition, but is not otherwise disposed of during the pendency of the bankruptcy proceedings, it is deemed abandoned to the debtor upon the closing of the case. 11 U.S.C. § 554(c). In that event, the examiner should review the order discharging the trustee, if one has been appointed, and closing the estate. Fed.R.Bankr.P. 5009 and 11 U.S.C. § 350(a).
NOTE: If the subject property is not disclosed on the schedule of real property filed in conjunction with the Petition, it remains unadministered property of the estate upon the closing of the case. 11 U.S.C. § 554(d). In that event, the examiner should require that the bankruptcy proceedings be re-opened in accordance with 11 U.S.C. § 350(b) so that the property can be scheduled and administered by the bankruptcy court.
SALES
Sales of realty held by a bankruptcy estate are governed by Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and Rules 2002 and 6004 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. In the event a bankruptcy trustee is selling an interest in realty that is subject to an ownership interest by someone that is not a debtor, the sale may be conducted only after the successful prosecution of an adversary proceeding within the bankruptcy case. See, Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7001(3). In the event an examiner encounters such a situation, the entire adversary proceedings should be reviewed.
Where the property under examination is sold by a bankruptcy trustee or a debtor-in-possession (other than in the ordinary course of business), the abstract being examined should contain, or the examiner should review certified copies of, the following:
C. If a trustee has been appointed in the case, evidence of the qualification of the case trustee to serve in that capacity. Such evidence shall consist of either:
D. If no trustee has been appointed in the case, evidence of that fact.
NOTE: The elements indicated above regarding the qualification of a trustee to act in a particular case may be conclusively evidenced through a certificate from the clerk of the bankruptcy court in which the proceedings are pending certifying that either: 1) the debtor is acting as a debtor-in-possession, and thus retains the powers, duties and obligations of a trustee, or 2) that a trustee has qualified. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2011(a).
E. Evidence that the debtor, the trustee, all creditors and indenture trustees, any committees formed pursuant to Sections 705 or 1102 and the United States trustee received at least twenty-one (21) days notice of the proposed sale. Fed.R.Bankr.P. 2002(a)(2), (i) and (k).
F. Evidence that the notice of sale served upon each of the parties delineated above contained at least the following information regarding the transaction:
1. Either
G. Evidence that either:
H. A properly executed conveyance from either:
A. The Plan and court approved Disclosure Statement
B. Approval of the Disclosure Statement
C. Confirmation of the Plan
6. If no objection is filed, the Court may rule that the Plan has been proposed in good faith and not by any means forbidden by law without receiving evidence on such issues. Id.
NOTE: Prior to the entry of an order confirming the Plan, the Court may order the debtor to deposit with the trustee or debtor-in-possession all consideration required to be paid on confirmation. If the Court so orders, those funds must be placed in a special account established for the exclusive purpose of making the distribution. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3020(a).xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /
NOTE: An objection to the claim of exemption must be filed within thirty days (30) days of the conclusion of the meeting of creditors held pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 341 and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2003(a). Fed. R. Rankr. P. 4003(b).
1. If the docket sheet indicates that no objection was timely filed, the property is deemed exempt. 11 U.S.C. § 522(l) and Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, 503 U.S. 638 (1992).
2. If the docket sheet indicates that an objection was timely filed, the examiner should review a copy of the bankruptcy court's order disposing of the objection.
E. Judgment Liens in Bankruptcy.
1. Judgment liens perfected before November 1, 1997, do not attach to homestead property and do not constitute a lien against such property. 12 O.S. § 706; Gerlach Bank v. Allen, 51 Okla. 736, 152 P. 399 (1915) and Finerty v. First Nat. Bank, 92 Okl. 102, 218 P. 859 (1923).
History: Adopted December 3, 1982. Standard proposed by Report of 1982 Title Examination Standards Committee, 53 O.B.J. 2731, 2736-38 (1982), approved by Real Property Section, December 2, 1982, and adopted by House of Delegates. Amendments proposed by 1985 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 56 O.B.J. 2535, 2539-41. On November 14, 1985, the Real Property Section amended the proposal by striking the parenthetical clause in (F)(2), Report, supra, 2541. On November 15, 1985, the House of Delegates adopted the amended proposal, 57 O.B.J. 5, 7 (1986) and 57 O.B.J. 147 (1986).
The 1986 Report of the Committee recommended substantial changes in this standard, 57 O.B.J. 2677, 2688 (1986). The report as published inadvertently indicated that section (F) was to be deleted. The proposal was amended by the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section to retain section (F). The amended proposal was approved by the Section November 20, 1986, and approved by the House of Delegates November 21, 1986.
The 1987 Title Examination Standards Committee Report recommended several amendments to this standard, 58 O.B.J. 2839, 2847-48 (1987). In the first sentence of the "Comment" to part (A), the words "or other lien creditor" were added and the words "so long as" were substituted for the word "unless". In the second sentence of the same part, all that which follows the parenthetical clause was added. In part (B)(1) following the first parenthetical clause, the words "or abstract of' and the second parenthetical clause were added. In the "Authority" in part (B), Bankruptcy Rule 2008 was added. In the Comment to part (B), the clause "unless the automatic stay ... above" and the words "or other lien creditor" were added to the second sentence. In part (D)(1). the words "or abstract" were added. In the "Authority" following part (D), Bankruptcy Rule 2008 was added. In part (E)(1)(a), the final parenthetical language was added. In the "Authority" following part (E), Bankruptcy Rule 2008 was again added. In part (F)(2), the parenthetical clause was added. These proposals were approved by the Real Property Section, November 12, 1987, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 13, 1987.
The Title Examination Standards Committee, in its 1988 Report, 59 O.B.J. 3098, 3106-09, proposed the addition of (G). Numerous other changes to conform the standard with recent amendments to the Bankruptcy Act and to the Bankruptcy Rules were recommended. Several corrections to numbers in citations were made by the Executive Committee of the Section before this proposed amendment was submitted to the Real Property Section which approved the proposed amendments as corrected, December 8, 1988. The House of Delegates adopted the amended standard as corrected, December 9, 1988.
The 1989 Title Examination Standards Committee Report, 60 O.B.J. 2502, 2515-18 (1989), proposed amending the standard's requirements regarding review of documents filed in a bankruptcy case to conform to the most current revision of the Bankruptcy Rules. In addition, the amendment proposed changing the language of the introductory paragraph from "review the following instruments" to "review duly certified or otherwise reliable evidence of the following matters"; adding parallel parenthetical language to paragraphs (13)(1), (D)(1) and (E)(1); revising paragraphs (G)(3) & (4); and adding a "Comment". These proposals were approved by the Real Property Section on November 16, 1989, and adopted by the House of Delegates on November 17, 1989, 60 O.B.J. 2941, 2952 (1989).
The 1991 Title Examination Standards Committee Report, 62 O.B.A.J. 3269 (1991), proposed altering rules references from the old bankruptcy rules, and certain interim rules, to the recently adopted Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and making certain additional statutory and rules citations in the authorities. The proposal was approved by the Real Property Section on November 14, 1991, and adopted by the House of Delegates, on November 15, 1991, 62 O.B.A.J. 3531 (1991).
The Report of the 1999 Title Examination Standards Committee recommended revising 34.2 for the purpose of making it more clear, concise and usable. 70 O.B.A.J. 2932 (10/16/99). The Real Property Law Section adopted the proposal on November 11, 1999 and the House of Delegates adopted it November 12, 1999. 70 O.B.A.J. 3376 (11/20/99).
The 2000 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee proposed amending that portion of Standard 34.2 dealing with Exempt Sales by adding paragraph E thereunder to establish how judgment liens, which may or may not attach to homestead property depending on the date of the judgment lien's filing, are dealt with in a bankruptcy proceeding. 71 O.B.J. 2629 (10/14/00). The Real Property Law Section adopted the proposal on November 16, 2000 and the House of Delegates adopted it November 17, 2000. 71 O.B.J. 3136 (12/9/00).
The 2013 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee recommended amending this Standard 34.2 E to reflect that the current law as to judgments obtained in bankruptcy proceedings. The Real Property Section approved the amendment on November 14, 2013 and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 15, 2013.
The Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee recommended Standard 34.2 be amended as follows to correct references and time limits. The Real Property Section approved the amendment on November 7, 2019 and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 8, 2019. (superseded document available)