Goudelock v. Sixty-01 Association of Apartment Owners, No. 16-35384 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's decision affirming the bankruptcy court's summary judgment in favor of a condominium association. The panel held that condominium association assessments that become due after a debtor has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 were dischargeable under 11 U.S.C. 1328(a). In this case, debtor's personal obligation to pay the assessments was not the result of a separate, post-petition transaction but was created when she took title to the condominium unit. Therefore, the debt for the assessments arose pre-petition and was dischargeable under section 1328(a), unless the Bankruptcy Code provided an exception to discharge. The panel held that the personal debt arising from the assessments was not excepted from discharge under section 1328(a). Finally, the Takings Clause was not implicated and equitable arguments did not override the express provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.
Court Description: Bankruptcy The panel reversed the district court’s decision affirming the bankruptcy court’s summary judgment in favor of a condominium association, which sought in an adversary proceeding to determine the dischargeability of a debtor’s personal obligation to pay condominium association assessments that accrued between the date the debtor filed her Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition and the date the condominium unit was foreclosed upon. Agreeing with the reasoning of the Seventh Circuit in a Chapter 7 case, the panel held that condominium association assessments that become due after a debtor has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 are dischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a). The panel concluded that the debt arose prepetition and was not among exceptions listed in § 1328(a). The panel held that the Takings Clause was not implicated because the condominium association retained its in rem interest. The panel also concluded that equitable arguments did not override the express provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.
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