Opinion

Ledford v. Brown (In re Brown)

  • 48 B.R. 19
  • 1984 Bankr. LEXIS 4457
Court
United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Ohio
Filed
Dec 12, 1984
Status
Published
Author
Anderson
On the bench
Anderson
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 46.9%

The opinion

ORDER

CHARLES A. ANDERSON, Bankruptcy Judge. ■

Presently before the Court is the Chapter 13 Trustee’s Complaint objecting to debtor’s claim of exempt property.

Debtor, Forrest A. Brown, filed a Chapter 13 petition on July 12, 1984. He is the owner of a 1980 Ford Mustang with a fair market value of $3,600, which he claimed is entirely exempt by virtue of 11 U.S.C. § 522 (d). Debtor’s exemption in his Mustang would be $1,400, if he were required to use the Ohio exemption statute § 2329.66(A)(2), (17).

In support of his claimed exemption, debtor claims

that Ohio’s ‘opt out’ of the federal exemptions by § 2329.662 O.R.C. was repealed by operation of law on 28 September 1983 as the expiration date of the extension by House Bill 291, passed 30 June 1983, was violative of the “one subject rule” of Article II, § 15 of the Ohio Constitution.

Debtor then cites in support this Court’s prior opinion in In re Lewis 38 B.R. 113 , 10 C.B.C.2d 437 (Bankr.S.D.Ohio 1984), the Supreme Court of Ohio’s opinion, State, Ex rel, v. Celeste, 11 Ohio St.3d 141 , 464 N.E.2d 153 (1984), and decisions from other bankruptcy courts In re Lawson, 42 B.R. 206 , 12 B.C.D. 62 (Bankr.E.D.Ky.1984) and In re Lunsford, 41 B.R. 822 (Bankr.N.D. Ohio 1984).

As this Court recently wrote in In re Thompson, 44 B.R. 530 (Bankr.S.D.Ohio 1984):

However, subsequent action by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio after the Lewis decision has mooted this constitutional issue. In Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 171, File 99, effective as of June 13, 1984, the Ohio opt-out section was extended until January 1, 1986. This extension appears proper and not in violation of the Ohio Constitution’s “one issue rule.” Given such intent by the Ohio General Assembly, this Court will not distinguish between those debtors filing during any gap period and those filing after such valid extension.

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the Trustee’s Objection is well taken and that the debtor claim his exemptions under applicable Ohio law.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.