Goudelock v. Sixty-01 Association of Apartment Owners
Circuit court bases its decision on the omission of Section 523(a)(16) from Section 1328(a).
- Rochelle Quick Take
View Rochelle Summary- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Reversed and Remanded
- Citation:
- 16-35384 (9th Circuit, Jul 10,2018) Published
- Tag(s):
- Ruling:
- Disagreeing with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in In re Rosenfeld, 23 F.3d 833 (4th Cir. 1994), the Ninth Circuit held that post-petition condominium association assessments are discharged as claims against the debtor that arose before the petition date.
- Procedural context:
- The bankruptcy court ruled that condominium association assessments made after the debtor filed her Chapter 13 petition were nondischargeable. The district court affirmed the bankruptcy court. The debtor appealed.
- Facts:
- The debtor purchased a condominium before filing a Chapter 13 petition. The deed to the condominium was subject to declarations that authorized the condominium association (CA) the right to charge property owners assessments for maintenance, repairs and capital improvements. The declaration provided that unpaid assessments are a lien on the condominium unit, and authorized the CA to sue an owner for unpaid assessments, The debtor failed to pay CA assessments and moved out of the condominium before the commencement of her bankruptcy case. The debtor surrendered her condominium as part of her Chapter 13 plan. The CA commenced an adversary proceeding against the debtor for unpaid assessments that accrued between the petition date and the date on which the condominium was foreclosed. The bankruptcy court granted the CA summary judgment, finding that the assessments "were not dischargeable under section 1328 because they arose at the time of their assessment and were an incidence of legal ownership of the burdened property.”
- Judge(s):
- SMITH, MURGUIA, and EDUARDO C. ROBRENO (E.D. Pa., sitting by designation)