Timothy G Duppstadt

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEW BERN DIVISION
IN RE:
TIMOTHY G. DUPPSTADT,
DEBTOR. 	CASE NO. 08-01138-8-JRL
Chapter 13
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ORDER
This matter is before the court on the debtor’s motion to avoid the judgment lien of Jim
Bishop Cabinets, Inc.
Section 522(f)(1) allows the debtor to “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 under subsection (b) . . . .” 11 U.S.C. § 522(f)(1). Because exemptions are determined on
the petition date, a lien must ordinarily exist on the petition date to impair an exemption. In re
Pettaway, Case No. 02-02619-08-JRL (Bankr. E.D.N.C. Mar. 10, 2004).
The debtor asserts that Jim Bishop Cabinets, Inc. obtained a money judgment in the amount
of approximately $12,895.64 plus interest and $1,934.35 reimbursement for attorneys fees against
the debtor on September 6, 2007 in Guilford County, North Carolina. According to the debtor’s
SO ORDERED.
SIGNED this 17 day of April, 2008.
________________________________________
J. Rich Leonard
United States Bankruptcy Judge
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Case 08-01138-8-RDD Doc 21 Filed 04/17/08 Entered 04/17/08 15:59:36 Page 1 of 2

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petition and schedules, the debtor does not own real property in Guilford County to which a
judgment lien would attach. 	While the debtor claims that the judgment impairs his homestead
exemption granted to the debtor under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1C-1601(a)(1), the debtor has not claimed
an exemption in property located in Guilford County. 	As the judgment was unsecured on the
petition date, the discharge injunction has invalidated the underlying debt and deprived the judgment
any legal effect.
Based on the foregoing, the court DENIES the debtor’s motion to avoid the lien of Jim
Bishop Cabinets, Inc.
“END OF DOCUMENT”
Case 08-01138-8-RDD Doc 21 Filed 04/17/08 Entered 04/17/08 15:59:36 Page 2 of 2