Kristy Ellen Brown

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
RALEIGH DIVISION
IN RE:
KRISTY ELLEN BROWN
DEBTOR
CASE NO.
05-01908-5-ATS
ORDER DISAPPROVING REAFFIRMATION AGREEMENT
The matter before the court is consideration of the reaffirmation
agreement between the pro se chapter 7 debtor, Kristy Ellen Brown, and
American Honda Finance Corporation. A hearing was held in Raleigh,
North Carolina on August 2, 2005.
The debtor contacted the clerk’s office the day before the hearing
to state that she would not be present for the hearing due to a family
emergency and that she intended to file a motion to continue.
Ordinarily, the court would reschedule the hearing, but it appears from
the face of the agreement that the agreement is not in the best
interest of the debtor, and for that reason should not be approved.
Rather than requiring the debtor to attend a rescheduled hearing, the
court will disapprove the reaffirmation agreement, but will reconsider
the matter upon the debtor’s request. If the debtor wishes to continue
to pursue reaffirmation, then upon the debtor’s request, the court will
schedule a further hearing to reconsider the proposed agreement.
In order to approve a reaffirmation agreement, the court must find
that the agreement is "in the best interest of the debtor." 11
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U.S.C. § 524(c)(6)(A)(ii). In this case the agreement is not in the
debtor’s best interest because she was current in her payments when her
petition was filed and is still current. In this circuit a creditor
may not repossess an automobile if the debtor is current in her
payments. In re Belanger, 962 F.2d 345 (4th Cir. 1992). Therefore, a
debtor who is current with her payments derives no benefit from the
reaffirmation, and the reaffirmation is not in her best interest.
The debtor financed her 2004 Honda CR-V vehicle through a Closed-
End Vehicle Lease Agreement dated June 11, 2004, and she is presently
current in her payments to American Honda. The court finds that the
agreement is not in her best interest as that term is used in 11 U.S.C.
§ 524(c)(6)(A)(ii).
Accordingly, the reaffirmation agreement is NOT APPROVED. If the
debtor wishes to seek reconsideration of this order, she must file her
motion to reconsider with the clerk’s office within ten days of the
date of entry of this order.
SO ORDERED.
DATED: August 4, 2005
Case 05-01908-5-ATS Doc 18 Filed 08/04/05 Entered 08/04/05 15:03:56 Page 2 of 2