In re Fowler

MEMORANDUM DECISION ON OBJECTIONS TO CONFIRMATION OF CHAPTER 13 PLAN

The court is asked to determine whether Cal. Rev. & Tax Code (“RTC”) § 4103(b) is unconstitutional as pre-empted by the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. Debtor contends that RTC § 4103(b) is not “applicable nonbankruptcy law” within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 511 (a), that RTC § 4103(b) is therefore pre-empted by the Bankruptcy Code and that the interest rate to be paid on a secured real property tax claim in a chapter 13 plan is determined under Till et ux. v. SCS Credit Corp., 541 U.S. 465 , 124 S.Ct. 1951, 1955-56 , 158 L.Ed.2d 787 (2004). For the reasons set forth herein, the court holds that RTC § 4103(b) is “applicable nonbankruptcy law” within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 511 (a), that RTC § 4103(b) is therefore not pre-empted by the Bankruptcy Code and that RTC § 4103(b) does control the interest rate to be paid on a secured real property tax claim in a chapter 13 plan.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The debtor, John Fowler, commenced the above-captioned chapter 13 bankruptcy case by the filing a voluntary chapter 13 petition on September 27, 2011. Concurrently with the filing of the petition, the…