In re Wilkins

MEMORANDUM

When calculating a chapter 13 1 debtor’s total unsecured debt for eligibility purposes under § 109(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, should the court include the unsecured portions of undersecured automobile claims? When a court lacks sufficient certainty as to whether such claims may be bifurcated under § 506(a) because of § 1325(a)’s hanging paragraph, then the answer is*no.

I. FACTS

The parties do not dispute the material facts. Chapter 13 debtors Tim M. Wilkins and Cherie R. Wilkins operate several businesses according to their Statement of Financial Affairs (the “SOFA”). These businesses include Sleep Sensations, Inc., and TCJJ, Inc.,

Schedule E/F contains priority unsecured claims and general unsecured claims totaling $332,707. The debtors list four secured claims on Schedule D (the “Secured Claims”). Three of the Secured Claims have motor vehicles as collateral. On their face, each of the Secured Claims appears to have an undersecured component, and they.are described more particularly as follows:

Based on the petition date of March 28, 2016, the date that is 910 days before the petition is September 30, 2013. See 11 U.S.C. § 1325 (a) (hanging paragraph). And…