United States Third Circuit

District court's affirmance of a Bankruptcy Court's determination that Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (Countrywide) did not have a pre-petition claim against the debtors and thus did not violate the automatic stay when it recalculated the debtors' post-petition escrow payments on their mortgage account to include certain pre-petition escrow arrears, is vacated and remanded where: 1) the terms of the debtors' mortgage establish that the obligation to pay into the escrow account was enforceable, and as such, Countrywide had a claim for the unpaid escrow for purposes of section 101(5); and 2) whether Countrywide willfully violated the automatic stay and, if so, to the extent, if any, of the debtors' damages, are matters to be resolved on remand.

Appellate Information

• Argued 09/14/2010
• Decided 12/23/2010
• Published 12/23/2010

Judges

• BARRY

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Steven J. Abelson, W. Scott Hastings