Santiago-Monteverde v. Pereira (In re Santiago-Monteverde)
- Summarized by Cassandra Porter , Cognizant Technology Solutions
- 10 years 9 months ago
- Citation:
- Santiago-Monteverde v. Pereira (In re Santiago-Monteverde), No. 12-4131 (2d Cir. Mar. 31, 2014)
- Tag(s):
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- Ruling:
- The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) certified to the New York Court of Appeals the question: “may a rent-stabilized tenant prevent the assumption and assignment of his or her lease by claiming that the lease (or its value) is a “local public assistance benefit” exempt from the bankruptcy estate?”
- Procedural context:
- The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”) ruled that the Debtor’s claim of exemption did not qualify as a “local public assistance benefit” under N.Y. Debt. & Cred. Law § 282(2). The Debtor appealed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “District court”). The District Court upheld the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling on similar grounds. The Debtor appealed to the Second Circuit.
- Facts:
- Mary Veronica Santiago-Monteverde (the “Debtor”) filed for relief (“Petition”) under chapter 7 of title 11 of the United States Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq. (the “Bankruptcy Code”). The Debtor lives in a rent-stabilized apartment located in lower Manhattan (“Apartment”). Upon filing her Petition, the Debtor listed the lease for the Apartment (“Lease”) on Schedule G. The Debtor consistently paid rent owed on the Apartment and complied with the Lease. The owner of the Apartment approached John Pereira, the Chapter 7 Trustee (“Trustee”) assigned to the Debtor’s case, and offered to purchase the Debtor’s interest in the Lease. Upon learning that the Trustee intended to accept the offer, the Debtor amended her Petition by removing the Lease from Schedule G and including it on Schedule B as exempt personal property of the bankruptcy estate as a “local public assistance benefit” under N.Y. Debt. & Cred. Law § 282(2). The Trustee moved to strike the Debtor’s claim of exemption.
- Judge(s):
- Sack, Parker Raggi
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