In re Parker, Brattleboro Hous. Auth. v. Parker

269 B.R. 522 (D. Vt. 2001) ; Clearinghouse Number: 54340

Description

Payment of Prepetition Attorney Fees, Utility and Repair Charges Not Required for Assumption of Public Housing Lease as Part of Chapter 13 Plan

Abstract

Affirming the Bankruptcy Court’s grant of debtor-appellee’s motion to assume her public housing lease, the district court did not require her to pay various utility and repair charges and prebankruptcy attorney fees as a condition of assumption. Debtor-appellee, a public housing resident who had fallen behind in her rental payments, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, which stayed her eviction. After converting to a Chapter 13 case, debtor-appellee filed a motion to assume her residential lease, which the Bankruptcy Court conditioned on payment of the prebankruptcy rent arrearage and court costs. Creditor-appellant appealed, claiming that assumption should have been conditioned on repayment of all debtor-appellee’s debts to it, including prebankruptcy attorney fees and various utility and repair charges. Reviewing de novo, the district court interpreted the fee-shifting provision in the lease narrowly. The district court found that, because a public housing lease was a contract of adhesion and because U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations prohibited the automatic imposition of attorney fees regardless of outcome, the fee-shifting provision applied only where a final judgment entered against a tenant. The court further found that utility and repair charges did not constitute unpaid rent for purposes of cure and assumption.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Appellee represented by: Geoffry Walsh, Vermont Legal Aid, Inc., 56 Main Street, Suite 301, Springfield, VT 05156, (802.885.5181)
Docket Date
2001-10-31 00:00:00+00:00