The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal applied the “snapshot rule,” and applied the Homestead Exemption that applied to the debtor’s residence on the date the bankruptcy petition was filed ($600,000), and not the amount of the exemption in existence on the date the creditor’s $477,000 judgment was entered (which was 4 years before the bankruptcy petition was filed). Because the total of debtor’s 1) homestead exemption ($600K) + 2) the balance of 2 outstanding mortgages ($551K) + 3) the creditor’s judgment ($477K), was greater that the value of the debtor’s home ($1.1 million), the entire judgment was uncollectible (the debtor avoided the judgment).
The Court of Appeal cited to 11 USC Sec. 522(f) [debtor’s avoidance of liens]; Owen v. Owen, 500 U.S. 305, 308, 111 S.Ct. 1833, 114 L.Ed.2d 350 (1991) and White v. Stump, 266 U.S. 310, 313, 45 S.Ct. 103, 69 L.Ed. 301 (1924) (describing the “snapshot rule”).
Barclay v. Boskoski, 52 F.4th 1172, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Argued and Submitted September 23, 2022 Pasadena, California.
Court’s Opinion Filed November 14, 2022.
