Opinion
Case No. 00-14403.
May 2, 2001
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER RE MOTION TO MOVE UNION PLANTERS TO AN UNSECURED STATUS
The Court conducted a hearing on the Debtor's Motion to Move Union Planters to an Unsecured Status and Union Planters' objection thereto on March 29, 2001. FED. R. BANKR. P. 9014. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2), this is a core proceeding. After reviewing the testimony from the hearing and the record as a whole, the Court makes the following findings of facts and conclusions of law. FED. R. BANKR. P. 7052.
The instant case was filed on November 17, 2000. At that time, the debtor, Cary Bills, listed Union Planters as an unsecured creditor with a claim of $8,035.20. On December 15, 2000, the debtor filed a pre-confirmation modification of the plan which amended Union Planters' claim to a fully secured one in the amount of $18,160.11. The purpose of this change, as stated in the modification, was to protect the co-maker, who was the debtor's wife. The collateral for Union Planters' claim is a 1996 Chevy.
Sometime after the modification, the debtor and his wife were divorced. In dividing up the marital property, the divorce court ordered the debtor's ex-wife to assume the debt on the 1996 Chevy. As a result of this change in ownership, the debtor filed a "Motion to Move Union Planters to an Unsecured Status." This motion was filed on February 16, 2001. The order confirming Debtor's chapter 13 plan was entered on the same day. The plan attached to the confirmation order lists Union Planters as a secured creditor with a claim of $18160.11.
Pursuant to FED. R. BANKR. P. 8002, bankruptcy court orders do not become final until ten days after their entry. A debtor may file a motion to rehear or reconsider or a notice of appeal within this ten-day time period. FED. R. BANKR. P. 8002. The debtor in the case at bar filed his "Motion to Move" on the same day the order confirming the plan was filed. As a result of this timing, the Court finds that the debtor's motion is tantamount to a motion to reconsider.
When the state court awarded the debtor's exwife to assume the debt on Union Planters' collateral, the debtor was divested of an ownership interest in the vehicle. His only liability on the debt to Union Planters now is as his wife's co-signer. As a result, the only proper classification for Union Planters in the debtor's chapter 13 plan is as an unsecured creditor.
ORDER
It is therefore ORDERED that the Debtor's Motion to Move Union Planters to an Unsecured Status is GRANTED. It is so ordered.