Willie Lee Jamison and Jackie Shuler Jamison

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WILMINGTON DIVISION
IN RE:
WILLIE LEE JAMISON and
JACKIE SCHULER JAMISON,
Debtors. 	Case No. 07-03353-8-JRL
Chapter 13
____________________________________________________________________________
ORDER
This case is before the court on the debtors’ motion to avoid the judicial lien of
Vanderbilt Mortgage (Vanderbilt). On January 24, 2008, the court conducted a hearing on this
matter in Wilmington, North Carolina.
On November 19, 2007, the debtors filed for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy
Code. The debtors own real property consisting of a house and lot located at 614 N. Wilson
Street, Chadbourn, North Carolina. Vanderbilt holds a judicial lien on the debtors’ real property
in the amount of $73,702.67, which was perfected on April 26, 2007. Vanderbilt’s lien is
subordinate to a lien in the amount of $125,165.08 to State Employee’s Credit Union (SECU).
The debtors have claimed the property as exempt under 11 U.S.C. § 522(f)(2) and Chapter 1C of
the North Carolina General Statutes. Pursuant to this authority, the debtors claim an exemption
SO ORDERED.
SIGNED this 29 day of January, 2008.
________________________________________
J. Rich Leonard
United States Bankruptcy Judge
____________________________________________________________
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of $18,500.00 each in the real property. The debtors therefore move the court to avoid the
subordinate judicial lien of Vanderbilt Mortgage because it impairs the debtors’ right to their
exemptions in the real property.
Section 522(f) provides that a debtor may “avoid the fixing of a lien on an interest of the
debtor in property to the extent that such lien impairs an exemption to which the debtor would
have been entitled . . . if such lien is a judicial lien[.]” 11 U.S.C. § 522(f)(1). A lien is
considered to impair an exemption “to the extent that the sum of (i) the lien; (ii) all other liens on
the property; and (iii) the amount of the exemption that the debtor could claim if there were no
liens on the property . . . exceeds the value that the debtor’s interest in the property would have
in the absence of any liens.” Id. § 522(f)(2).
Here, in order for any equity to attach to Vanderbilt’s judicial lien, the value of the
debtors’ property would have to exceed the sum of SECU’s first lien on the property of
$125,165.08 and the $37,000.00 in exemptions that the debtors claim under North Carolina law.
The debtors assert that the value of the property is $123,000.00. The debtors purchased the
house six years ago for approximately $89,000.00. On March 6, 2003, the house was appraised
at $149,000.00. However, since the time of that appraisal, the condition of the house has
deteriorated. At the hearing, the debtors presented testimony regarding the condition of the
house. First, the house is currently in need of a new roof. The roof has caved in, which created
a large hole and led to water damage in several parts of the home. The garage door in also
currently broken. Further, at the time of the 2003 appraisal, there was an operable swimming
pool on the property. The pool is now inoperable because of a broken lining. The debtor
estimates that the cost of all repairs to the house is between $20,000.00 and $25,000.00.
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Based on the foregoing, the court finds that the value of the property is largely consumed
by the first lien to SECU. To the extent there is any equity left, Vanderbilt’s lien would impair
the debtors’ exemption of $37,000.00. Therefore, the court ALLOWS the debtors’ motion to
avoid the judicial lien of Vanderbilt Mortgage in its entirety.
“END OF DOCUMENT”
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