Mora

The debtors-appellants in this case, Joseph and Toshiko Mora, mailed a cashier’s check in the sum of $24,660.27 to their home (and homestead) mortgage lender, BancBoston Mortgage Corporation (“BancBoston”) and the next day filed for bankruptcy. The debtors intended for the mailing to constitute a prepetition transfer of assets to BancBoston and to be free from claims of creditors as incorporated into the homestead exemption. 1 When, upon demand, BancBoston paid over those funds to the trustee in bankruptcy, the debtors brought this action to recover the funds from the trustee. The bankruptcy court ruled in favor of the debtors, but the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“BAP”) reversed on appeal, holding that the date of mailing did not constitute delivery to the mortgagee, and therefore, the debtors engaged in an avoidable postpetition transfer under 11 U.S.C. § 549 (a) (1994). 2 This court has jurisdiction of this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158 (d) (1994).

The issue before this court is a narrow one: does a transfer of an interest in a cashier’s check occur at the time the check is mailed, for purposes of avoiding postpe-tition transfers under section 549(a) of the United States…