Lien Strip Poker – Do Mortgage Companies Have a New Ace Up Their Sleeve?

By John Gustafson
Standing Chapter 13 Trustee
Northern District of Ohio, Western Division (Toledo)

Recent decisions on the ability to remove wholly unsecured mortgages where the debtor is not eligible for a discharge appears to have produced a new “majority rule” in favor of allowing stripping. See e.g., Branigan v. Davis (In re Davis), 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 9535, 2013 WL 1926407 (4th Cir. Mary 10, 2013); In re Wong, 488 B.R. 537 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 2013).

While eligibility for a discharge may not be a prerequisite for lien . . .

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