Crouser v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP
- Citation:
- Crouser v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP (In re Crouser), Case No. 13-14304 (11th Cir. June 6, 2014) (unpublished) (per curiam).
- Tag(s):
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- Ruling:
- The Eleventh Circuit held that settlement proceeds derived from the post-confirmation settlement of claims against the debtor's mortgagor for violation of the automatic stay were property of his chapter 13 estate under Section 1306(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code.
- Procedural context:
- Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia affirming bankruptcy court's judgment in favor of chapter 13 trustee concluding that certain settlement funds were property of the bankruptcy estate, reviewed de novo.
- Facts:
- George Crouser ("Crouser"), the chapter 13 debtor, obtained settlement proceeds from settling claims against his mortgagor for violation of the automatic stay after confirmation of his chapter 13 plan. The chapter 13 trustee argued that the settlement proceeds were property of the estate pursuant to Section 1306 of the Bankruptcy Code.
Section 1306 of the Bankruptcy Code provides that property of the estate in a chapter 13 case includes all property of the debtor that is property of the estate under Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code, in addition to all property acquired after the commencement of the case but before it is closed dismissed or converted. The Eleventh Circuit concluded that Crouser's cause of action against the mortgagor for violating the automstc stay arose post-petition, but that the settlement proceeds were still property of the estate under Section 1306 because Section 1306 incorporates even claims that arise post-petition and the claim was settled before the case was closed. Consequently, under the plain language of Section 1306, the settlement proceeds were property of the estate to which the chapter 13 trustee was entitled.
- Judge(s):
- Wilson, Pryor and Anderson, Circuit Judges.
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