Rodriguez v. Barrera ( 2022 )


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  • Appellate Case: 20-1376      Document: 010110633794     Date Filed: 01/19/2022   Page: 1
    FILED
    United States Court of Appeals
    PUBLISH                         Tenth Circuit
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                  January 19, 2022
    Christopher M. Wolpert
    TENTH CIRCUIT                    Clerk of Court
    In Re: JULIO CESAR BARRERA;
    MARIA DE LA LUZ MORO,
    Debtors.
    -----------------------------------                      No. 20-1376
    SIMON E. RODRIGUEZ, Chapter 7
    Trustee,
    Appellant,
    v.
    JULIO CESAR BARRERA; MARIA
    DE LA LUZ MORO,
    Appellees.
    -----------------------------------
    NATIONAL CONSUMER
    BANKRUPTCY RIGHTS CENTER;
    NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
    CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY
    ATTORNEYS,
    Amici Curiae.
    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE
    PANEL OF THE TENTH CIRCUIT
    (BAP No. 20-003-CO)
    Appellate Case: 20-1376      Document: 010110633794    Date Filed: 01/19/2022    Page: 2
    David V. Wadsworth (Lindsay S. Riley, Wadsworth Garber Warner Conrady,
    Littleton, Colorado, with him on the briefs), Sender Wasserman Wadsworth,
    Denver, Colorado, for Appellant.
    Erik B. Atzbach, Englewood, Colorado, for Appellees.
    Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, HOLMES, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.
    TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge.
    Julio Cesar Barrera and Maria de La Luz Moro filed for bankruptcy under
    Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code hoping to reorganize their assets and
    finances. Instead of selling most of their assets to obtain an immediate discharge
    of their debts, they opted to keep their assets, try a reorganization plan to repay
    creditors, and receive a discharge later. For some time they continued to meet the
    terms of their reorganization plan. But they changed their minds following the
    sale of their home, which had appreciated in value significantly since they filed
    for bankruptcy.
    Instead, Barrera and Moro converted their Chapter 13 bankruptcy to a
    liquidation of their estate under Chapter 7. The Chapter 7 trustee (Trustee)
    claimed a right to a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the home, including
    the appreciation that occurred after their Chapter 13 petition was filed. This case
    is about who is entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the home. Specifically,
    do the sale proceeds from the real property of the estate belong to the Chapter 7
    estate or to the debtors?
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    To answer this question, we must analyze 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(1)(A), which
    states that “property of the estate in the converted case shall consist of property
    of the estate, as of the date of filing of the petition, that remains in the possession
    of or is under the control of the debtor on the date of conversion[.]” We conclude
    this statutory language directs that the sale proceeds from the home belong to the
    debtors. We therefore AFFIRM the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
    I. Background
    We first discuss background bankruptcy principles and then turn to the
    relevant facts.
    A. The Bankruptcy Code
    An understanding of a few bankruptcy mechanics is necessary to
    comprehend this case and our conclusions. Bankruptcy provides “a fresh
    [financial] start to the honest but unfortunate debtor.” Marrama v. Citizens Bank
    of Mass., 
    549 U.S. 365
    , 367 (2007) (internal quotations omitted). Debtors can
    liquidate their assets or promise future income to repay their creditors in
    exchange for a discharge of their debts. Individuals have two common paths to
    discharge in the Bankruptcy Code: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.
    In Chapter 7 bankruptcies, debtors give up their property that is not entitled
    to an exemption in exchange for a discharge of their debts. A trustee liquidates
    the debtor’s pre-petition, non-exempt property and then distributes the proceeds
    to the debtor’s creditors. See 
    11 U.S.C. § 704
    (a)(1). The debtor receives an
    immediate discharge and is therefore entitled to keep his future income and any
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    assets acquired post-discharge. 
    Id.
     § 727. But this often comes at a cost, as the
    debtor may lose a home and all other non-exempt assets. See Harris v.
    Viegelahn, 
    575 U.S. 510
    , 513–14 (2015) (recognizing the “steep price” of
    Chapter 7’s immediate discharge, which is that a debtor “must forfeit virtually all
    his prepetition property”).
    In Chapter 13 bankruptcies, debtors reorganize their finances and commit
    future disposable earnings to the repayment of creditors instead of liquidating
    assets. 
    11 U.S.C. § 1322
    (a)(1). The debtor’s existing assets—like a house or
    car—are generally not liquidated; instead, the debtor keeps them. 
    Id.
     § 1325(b).
    Distribution of the debtor’s future disposable earnings to creditors is dictated by a
    court-approved plan, which typically lasts three to five years. Upon confirmation
    of the plan, “all of the property of the estate” vests “in the debtor.” Id. § 1327(b).
    A discharge is granted only after the debtor successfully completes the plan. Id.
    § 1328. A reorganization is beneficial to both debtors and creditors. Debtors can
    protect existing assets from liquidation, and creditors are assured they will
    receive at least as much repayment—and often more—as they would have under
    Chapter 7. See id. § 1325(a)(4), (5); see also Harris, 575 U.S. at 514.
    Because of the benefits to debtors and creditors stemming from Chapter 13
    bankruptcies, Congress has enacted statutes to incentivize debtors to opt for
    reorganization over liquidation. See In re Dewsnup, 
    908 F.2d 588
    , 591–92 (10th
    Cir. 1990). One of these incentives is the non-waivable right of debtors to
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    convert a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to another chapter at any time. See 
    11 U.S.C. § 1307
    (a).
    Before the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, circuit courts disagreed about
    whether a debtor’s converted Chapter 7 estate included property interests
    acquired after the Chapter 13 filing but before conversion to another chapter.
    Compare In re Bobroff, 
    766 F.2d 797
     (3d Cir. 1985) (holding Chapter 13 debtor’s
    tort claims that accrued post-petition, pre-conversion were not part of the
    converted Chapter 7 estate), with In re Lybrook, 
    951 F.2d 136
     (7th Cir. 1991)
    (holding real estate inherited by Chapter 13 debtor post-petition, pre-conversion
    was part of the converted Chapter 7 estate).
    Congress resolved this pre-Bankruptcy Reform Act circuit split by enacting
    
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f) in 1994. This statute provides that conversion from one
    chapter to another does not start a new bankruptcy case, but instead it transforms
    the nature of the existing bankruptcy case. See 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (a) (explaining
    conversion “does not effect a change in the date of the filing of the petition, the
    commencement of the case, or the order for relief”).
    The statute also specifically addresses conversions from Chapter 13 to
    Chapter 7. When a case is converted from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, “property of
    the estate in the converted case shall consist of the property of the estate, as of
    the date of filing of the petition, that remains in the possession of or is under the
    control of the debtor on the date of conversion[.]” 
    Id.
     § 348(f)(1)(A) (emphasis
    added). In other words, after conversion, the Chapter 7 estate generally consists
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    of the same interests in property that would have been included in the estate had
    the debtor originally filed under Chapter 7, so long as the debtor has possession
    or control of those interests at conversion. But if a debtor converts in bad faith—
    broadly defined, as we explain below—more of the debtor’s interests are included
    in the converted estate: “[T]he property of the estate in the converted case shall
    consist of the property of the estate as of the date of conversion.” Id. § 348(f)(2)
    (emphasis added); see also Harris, 575 U.S. at 518.
    Those debtors who try a repayment plan, but ultimately fail, are generally
    no worse off upon a good-faith conversion than if they had originally filed under
    Chapter 7. And those debtors who convert from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 in bad
    faith are punished because their otherwise immune post-petition property
    interests are available for liquidation and distribution to creditors.
    Notwithstanding Congress’s apparent attempt to clarify the proper makeup
    of a converted estate with the enactment of 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f), courts have since
    split on whether property interests acquired post-petition, but pre-conversion are
    property of the converted estate or of the debtor. This interpretive conflict
    underlies this appeal.
    B. The Bankruptcy
    Julio Cesar Barrera and Maria de La Luz Moro (Debtors) filed for
    bankruptcy on April 5, 2016. Instead of liquidating their assets in exchange for
    an immediate discharge via a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, they opted for a Chapter 13
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    reorganization plan, committing to a long-term repayment plan using future
    income to pay creditors.
    On the petition date, the property of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy estate
    included real property jointly owned by the Debtors in Highlands Ranch,
    Colorado. The Debtors included the following information in their schedules:
    Value of the Property:            $396,606.00
    Liens on the Property:            (1) lien in favor of
    CitiMortgage, Inc. and
    (2) lien in favor of the
    U.S. Department of
    Housing and Urban
    Development, totaling
    $336,209.62
    Exempt Equity in                  $60,396.38 per the
    the Property:                     Colorado Homestead
    Exemption (can claim up
    to $75,000)
    Because the combination of the liens and the homestead exemption
    exceeded the value of the house, the Debtors’ equity in the house was exempt as
    of the petition date. In June 2016, the Debtors’ Chapter 13 plan was confirmed
    and all of the property of the estate was revested in the Debtors. See 
    11 U.S.C. § 1327
    (b) (“Except as otherwise provided in the plan or the order confirming the
    plan, the confirmation of a plan vests all of the property of the estate in the
    debtor.”). Following confirmation, the Debtors made monthly cure payments on
    their mortgage arrears to the Chapter 13 trustee and paid regular mortgage
    payments directly to CitiMortgage, Inc. in accordance with the confirmed plan.
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    Time passed, and the value of the Debtors’ home increased. In April 2018,
    while still complying with the confirmed Chapter 13 plan, the Debtors sold the
    house for $520,000. After payment of the liens, taxes, and closing costs, the
    Debtors pocketed $140,251 in sale proceeds. About two weeks later, the Debtors
    filed a notice of voluntary conversion to Chapter 7 under 
    11 U.S.C. § 1307
    . The
    Debtors also spent some of the proceeds from the sale. Thus, as of the
    conversion date, the Debtors retained only $100,700.12 of the sale proceeds in a
    savings account.
    After the Trustee contacted the Debtors about whether the non-exempt
    portion of the equity should be part of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate, the
    Debtors filed a motion to convert their case back to Chapter 13, which the
    bankruptcy court denied. Now stuck in Chapter 7, the Debtors were forced to
    combat the Trustee’s attempts to require them to turn over the non-exempt
    portion of the house proceeds to the Chapter 7 estate.
    C. Procedural History
    The Trustee filed a motion to compel the Debtors to turn over property of
    the estate, targeting the non-exempt portion of the house proceeds. To eliminate
    factual disputes, the Trustee stipulated that the petition-date value of the house
    equals the value scheduled by the Debtors in their initial Chapter 13 filing
    ($396,606). The bankruptcy court denied the Trustee’s motion. The court
    reasoned that 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(1)(A) is ambiguous as to what constitutes
    “property,” but based on the legislative history of the statute, it means the
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    property of the estate as it existed on the Chapter 13 petition date, with all its
    attributes, including the amount of equity that existed on that date. Thus,
    according to the bankruptcy court, “property” in § 348(f)(1)(A) does not include
    any of the appreciation in value of the house that occurred from the filing of the
    Chapter 13 petition to the filing of the Chapter 7 conversion. That value is
    therefore excluded from the Chapter 7 estate upon conversion.
    The Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) affirmed the
    bankruptcy court’s denial of the Trustee’s motion for similar reasons.
    II. Analysis
    We must interpret 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(1)(A) to determine whether the sale
    proceeds from the appreciation in value of a debtor’s property after filing a
    Chapter 13 petition but before converting the bankruptcy to Chapter 7 is property
    of the Chapter 7 estate or the debtor. We conclude it is property of the debtor.
    Our review of this statutory interpretation question is de novo. See In re
    Taylor, 
    899 F.3d 1126
    , 1129 (10th Cir. 2018). We start with the statutory
    language and look to the plain meaning of 
    11 U.S.C. §§ 348
     and 541. Section
    348(f)(1)(A) explains that “property of the estate in the converted case shall
    consist of property of the estate, as of the date of filing of the petition, that
    remains in the possession of or is under the control of the debtor on the date of
    conversion[.]” (Emphasis added).
    Section 348(f)(1)(A)’s explicit reference to “property of the estate” is
    defined in § 541 to include “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in
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    property[.]” 
    11 U.S.C. § 541
    (a)(1). It also defines “property of the estate” to
    include “[p]roceeds . . . from property of the estate.” 
    Id.
     § 541(a)(6). If proceeds
    were the same interest as the anchor legal or equitable interest, the inclusion of
    § 541(a)(6) would be redundant alongside § 541(a)(1). Thus, § 541 recognizes
    that “all legal and equitable interests” are legally distinct from “proceeds” from
    those interests. 1
    The Trustee cites a long list of cases that he insists establishes that
    proceeds gained post-petition, pre-conversion are property of the estate. 2 But the
    cases he relies on are distinguishable. They address primarily whether proceeds
    from the sale of property are generally part of a Chapter 7 estate or whether
    appreciation in the value of property is part of the estate in a Chapter 13 to
    Chapter 7 conversion. They do not address our question here: whether, in a post-
    1
    The parties discuss at length whether post-petition, pre-conversion appreciation
    in value of the house is included in the Chapter 7 estate upon conversion. And
    this is the question the bankruptcy court and the BAP addressed in finding for the
    Debtors. But we need not decide whether appreciation in a house still owned by
    debtors at the time of conversion is property of the debtors or the estate. That is
    not the case before us. We are dealing with proceeds from the sale of the house,
    not the house itself. Thus, our conclusion relies only on whether cash remaining
    from a post-petition, pre-conversion real property sale is included in the Chapter
    7 estate upon conversion. As we explain in this section, it is not.
    2
    See Aplt. Br. at 17–18 (citing Wilson v. Rigby, 
    909 F.3d 306
    , 308–09 (9th Cir.
    2018); In re Orton, 
    687 F.3d 612
    , 619 (3d Cir. 2012); In re Gebhart, 
    621 F.3d 1206
    , 1211 (9th Cir. 2010); Hyman v. Plotkin, 
    967 F.2d 1316
    , 1321 (9th Cir.
    1992); In re Potter, 
    228 B.R. 422
    , 424 (9th Cir. BAP 1999); In re Celentano, No.
    10-22833 NLW, 
    2012 WL 3867335
    , at *5 (Bankr. D.N.J. 2012) (unpublished); In
    re Prospero, 
    107 B.R. 732
    , 735 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1989); In re Paolella, 
    85 B.R. 974
    , 976 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 1988)).
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    confirmation conversion from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, proceeds from the post-
    petition sale of property are identical to the underlying property that the debtor
    possessed on the Chapter 13 petition date. Based upon § 348(f)(1)(A)’s plain
    language, when read alongside § 541(a), they are not.
    Based on the plain language of § 348(f)(1)(A), then, the sale proceeds—a
    property interest distinct from the physical house from which they were derived—
    do not enter the converted Chapter 7 estate. See 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(1)(A); see
    also David Carlson, The Chapter 13 Estate and Its Discontents, 
    17 Am. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 233
    , 280 (2009) (“If this principle is taken seriously, then proceeds
    of what historically was property of the estate do not go to the chapter 7 trustee.
    Although it is easy to forget, proceeds are, strictly speaking, after-acquired
    property.” (emphasis in original)). The physical house was not “in the possession
    of or . . . under the control of the [D]ebtor[s] on the date of conversion”—they
    had sold it. 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(1)(A). And the proceeds from the sale of the
    physical house did not exist on the date of filing the Chapter 13 petition, so the
    proceeds cannot have “remain[ed] in the possession of or [have been] under the
    control of the debtor on the date of conversion[.]” 
    Id.
     (emphasis added).
    The automatic vesting provision of § 1327(b) supports our conclusion that
    the proceeds from the sale of the Debtors’ house are not included in the Chapter 7
    estate. Under § 541(a)(6), only proceeds “of or from property of the estate”
    become property of the bankruptcy estate. In a typical Chapter 13 case, this
    provision is operative only before confirmation of the Chapter 13 plan because
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    confirmation “vests all of the property of the estate in the debtor.” Id. § 1327(b).
    Thus, proceeds generated from the debtor’s property after confirmation do not
    § 348(f)(1)(A): “property of the estate in the converted case
    shall consist of property of the estate, as of the date of filing of
    the petition, that remains in the possession of or is under the
    control of the debtor on the date of conversion”
    
    Chapter        Confirmation         Sale of home       Chapter 7
    13 petition                                            conversion
    filing date                                            date
    = all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property
    as of the commencement of the case (§ 541(a)(1))
    = proceeds from property of the estate (§ 541(a)(6))
    = confirmation of a plan vests all the property of the
    estate in the debtor (§ 1327(b))
    become property of the estate as the underlying property no longer belongs to the
    estate. 3
    3
    We recognize this interpretation potentially creates a conflict with 
    11 U.S.C. § 1306
    , which provides that property of the estate includes all
    property—as defined in § 541—that the debtor “acquires after the
    commencement of the case but before the case is closed, dismissed, or
    converted to a case under chapter 7, 11, or 12 of this title.” 
    11 U.S.C. § 1306
    (a)(1). Many courts have attempted to resolve the inherent tension
    between § 1327’s revestment provision and § 1306’s after-acquired
    property provision. See In re Larzelere,    B.R. , 
    2021 WL 3745428
    , at
    *3–4 (Bankr. D.N.J. Aug. 24, 2021) (collecting cases); In re Baker, 
    620 B.R. 655
    , 665 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2020) (same). Given that the Debtors’
    proceeds here did not exist at the commencement of the case and thus did
    (continued . . .)
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    The Trustee’s view that the post-confirmation proceeds from the sale of the
    Debtors’ house became property of the estate ignores § 1327(b)’s revestment
    provision. At the time the Debtors sold their house, the Debtors’ Chapter 13 plan
    had been confirmed and the house had been revested in the Debtors. As a result,
    the Debtors’ house was not property of the Chapter 13 estate when the Debtors
    sold it. The proceeds generated from the sale of the house were therefore not
    “proceeds . . . of or from property of the estate.” See id. § 541(a)(6).
    Although the bankruptcy court and the BAP reached the same outcome we
    do here, they did so by asserting the statutory language is ambiguous and pivoting
    to legislative history. The BAP quoted the House of Representatives’ Committee
    on the Judiciary Report on the Bankruptcy Act of 1994, which discussed the
    amendment to § 348 as follows:
    This amendment would clarify the Code to resolve a
    split in the case law about what property is in the
    bankruptcy estate when a debtor converts from chapter 13
    to chapter 7. The problem arises because in chapter 13
    (and chapter 12), any property acquired after the petition
    becomes property of the estate, at least until confirmation
    of a plan. Some courts have held that if the case is
    converted, all of this after-acquired property becomes
    part of the estate in the converted chapter 7 case, even
    though the statutory provisions making it property of the
    estate do not apply to chapter 7. Other courts have held
    that property of the estate in a converted case is the
    not become part of the converted Chapter 7 estate under § 348(f)(1)(A), we
    need not decide whether the proceeds ever became part of the Chapter 13
    estate.
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    property the debtor had when the original chapter 13
    petition was filed.
    ...
    This amendment overrules the holding in cases such
    as Matter of Lybrook, 
    951 F.2d 136
     (7th Cir. 1991) and
    adopts the reasoning of In re Bobroff, 
    766 F.2d 797
     (3d
    Cir. 1985). However, it also gives the court discretion, in
    a case in which the debtor has abused the right to convert
    and converted in bad faith, to order that all property held
    at the time of conversion shall constitute property of the
    estate in the converted case.
    Aplt. App. at 250–51. The Third Circuit in Bobroff determined that a Chapter 13
    debtor’s tort claims that accrued post-petition, pre-conversion were not part of the
    converted Chapter 7 estate. Conversely, the Seventh Circuit in Lybrook
    concluded that real estate inherited by a Chapter 13 debtor post-petition but pre-
    conversion was part of the converted Chapter 7 estate. See In re Bobroff, 
    766 F.2d at 803
    ; In re Lybrook, 
    951 F.2d at 137
    . So, the legislative history supports
    the outcome to which the plain text already points: the pre-conversion house-sale
    proceeds are not property of the Chapter 7 estate. Because the text, structure, and
    context of these provisions confirm our analysis, we need not rely on the
    legislative history.
    We recognize that our interpretation of § 348(f)(1)(A) potentially allows
    converting debtors to sell property of the estate after confirmation of the Chapter
    13 plan prior to conversion to shield the value of those assets from creditors. But
    
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(2) already ensures that if a debtor converts in “bad faith,” “the
    property of the estate in the converted case shall consist of the property of the
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    estate as of the date of conversion.” 4 (Emphasis added.) What’s more, the
    Bankruptcy Code appears to anticipate that debtors may be able to take these
    types of actions in some instances. Specifically, it permits a debtor to protect
    assets to the detriment of his creditors as long as those actions are not taken in
    bad faith. See, e.g., Hanson v. First Nat. Bank in Brookings, 
    848 F.2d 866
    , 868
    (8th Cir. 1988) (“[U]nder the Code, a debtor’s conversion of non-exempt property
    to exempt property on the eve of bankruptcy for the express purpose of placing
    that property beyond the reach of creditors, without more, will not deprive the
    debtor of the exemption to which he otherwise would be entitled.”); but see In re
    Fobber, 
    256 B.R. 268
    , 279 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. 2000) (“[Section] 348(f) was
    never designed to be a safe harbor for debtors who fraudulently and
    surreptitiously dispose of property of the estate while in chapter 13.”).
    Nevertheless, the issue of bad faith is not before us, so we need not decide
    4
    Indeed, the power of bankruptcy courts to make bad-faith determinations is
    broad. See 
    11 U.S.C. § 105
     (stating that a bankruptcy court may, “sua sponte,
    tak[e] any action or mak[e] any determination necessary or appropriate to enforce
    or implement court orders or rules, or to prevent an abuse of process”); see also
    Marrama, 
    549 U.S. at 375
     (discussing the “broad authority granted to bankruptcy
    judges to take any action that is necessary or appropriate ‘to prevent an abuse of
    process’ described in § 105(a) of the Code”). In these fact-intensive inquiries,
    bankruptcy courts look at the “totality of circumstances” and have wide
    discretion in considering all the facts. See, e.g., In re Pac. Rim Invs., LLP, 
    243 B.R. 768
    , 773 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2000); In re Siegfried, 
    219 B.R. 581
    , 585 (Bankr.
    D. Colo. 1998) (finding a debtor’s conversion from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 was
    in bad faith due in part to the debtor’s “pattern of dissembling, failure to fully or
    accurately disclose financial affairs, disingenuous explanations of wrongful
    conduct and unfair manipulation of the bankruptcy system to the detriment of his
    creditors”).
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    whether the Debtors acted in bad faith here. 5 It is our job to interpret the
    statutory text, and it is up to Congress to set the parameters in which debtors and
    creditors operate. 6
    5
    Though not at issue in this case, the Bankruptcy Code may also limit the extent
    to which debtors converting from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 can shield their assets
    from secured creditors. The Code states that
    if the debtor and an entity entered into a security
    agreement before the commencement of the case and if
    the security interest created by such agreement extends
    to property of the debtor acquired before the
    commencement of the case and to proceeds . . . of such
    property, then such security interest extends to such
    proceeds . . . acquired by the estate after the
    commencement of the case to the extent provided by
    such security agreement and by applicable
    nonbankruptcy law, except to any extent that the court,
    after notice and a hearing based on the equities of the
    case, orders otherwise.
    
    11 U.S.C. § 552
    (b)(1). Creditors may also request a modification of a confirmed
    Chapter 13 plan to account for proceeds from the post-confirmation sale of an
    asset by the debtor. See 
    id.
     § 1329(a). Creditors are protected when a plan is
    modified because any modification of a confirmed plan requires the bankruptcy
    court to consider the best interests of the creditors. See id. § 1329(b)
    (incorporating § 1325(a)(4)). The court will only modify a plan if creditors
    receive the same or greater value under the modified plan as they would under a
    Chapter 7 liquidation. Id.; In re Baker, 620 B.R. at 658. There may also be other
    techniques creditors can deploy if they fear surviving assets will be sold after
    Chapter 13 confirmation.
    6
    We understand that several bankruptcy courts have reached the opposite
    conclusion in similar cases, electing to treat post-petition, pre-conversion
    proceeds as property of the estate. See, e.g., In re Laflemme, 
    397 B.R. 194
    , 203
    (Bankr. D.N.H. 2008) (treating commissions the debtor earned pre-petition, but
    did not receive until after filing the petition, as property of the estate upon
    conversion from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7); In re Grein, 
    435 B.R. 695
    , 702 (Bankr.
    D. Colo. 2010) (“[E]ven though the Debtors . . . did not possess nor control the
    [assets] at the time of reconversion, these assets are property of the reconverted
    (continued . . .)
    -16-
    Appellate Case: 20-1376   Document: 010110633794      Date Filed: 01/19/2022   Page: 17
    *    *     *
    The most faithful reading of the statutory text supports the conclusion that
    the proceeds from the sale of the Debtors’ house belong to the Debtors, not the
    Chapter 7 estate.
    III. Conclusion
    We accordingly AFFIRM the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
    Chapter 7 estate because literal application of 
    11 U.S.C. § 348
    (f)(1)(A) would
    produce absurd results and permit debtors to engage in carte blanche fraud.”).
    Nevertheless, we believe the text is plain and guides our result here. If Congress
    believes that debtors are abusing § 348(f)(1)(A), it can address any unintended
    consequences.
    -17-