Darla J. Weltlich

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION
In Re:
Darla J. Weltlich,
Debtor.
) 	Case No. 12-30181
)
) 	Chapter 13
)
)
) 	JUDGE MARY ANN WHIPPLE
ORDER OVERRULING OBJECTION TO CONFIRMATION OF
CHAPTER 13 PLAN
This case came before the court on August 28, 2012, for a further hearing on confirmation of
Debtor’s pending proposed amended Chapter 13 plan [Doc. # 60]. The Chapter 13 Trustee, Debtor, and
Attorney for Debtor all appeared in person, and Debtor testified briefly at the hearing. Attorney for creditor
Edward B. Weltlich appeared by telephone.
The court had previously denied confirmation of Debtor’s previously proposed plans by orders
entered on May 3, 2012, and June 28, 2012 . [Doc. ## 41, 54]. Leave was afforded Debtor to try again, and
she eventually filed her fourth amended plan on July 20, 2012.
The plans previously 	denied confirmation are what is known as a “sale” plan, as is the instant
amended plan. Debtor currently has no earned income and she relies on gifts from her mother to pay her
mortgage payments and other living expenses. The plans previously denied confirmation instead proposed
to pay essentially nothing to the Chapter 13 Trustee while she tried to sell her home, which is the subject
of pre-petition state domestic relations court orders and a resulting state court receivership requiring its
the record of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
of this court the document set forth below. This document has been entered electronically in
The court incorporates by reference in this paragraph and adopts as the findings and orders
Dated: August 31 2012
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disposition to remove her former spouse, creditor Edward B. Weltlich (“Weltlich”), from liability and
exposure for the joint home mortgage debt. Debtor has not complied with those state court orders. The
original proposed plan sale price for the home was $209,000, or whatever lesser amount Debtor agreed to.
Unsecured creditors were not provided any firm percentage or other reasonably certain 	basis for any
distribution whatsoever under the plan, with any receipts by them wholly dependent upon whether “the sale
garners a sufficient sum to pay her 	$20,000 exemption along with all such other allowed claims.”
Meanwhile, unsecured creditors were to be stayed from pursuing collection claims, obtaining judgments
and securing judgment liens against the equity Debtor insists she has in the property, all to their legal
detriment. She had also proposed an injunction against the Huron County Court of Common Pleas, which
would violate the federal anti-injunction act. Finally, while she proposed to continue to keep the property
insured and pay the mortgage debt on it while she said she would try to sell it, real estate taxes due post-
petition by January 31, 2012, had not been paid and the plan did not propose or indicate that she would pay
them or the additional taxes coming due. The Chapter 13 Trustee did not recommend confirmation of the
plans already denied confirmation, and Weltlich filed written objections to confirmation, as he did again
with respect to the fourth amended plan heard on August 29, 2012. [See Doc. # 63].
Weltlich’s pending objection, as has been the confirmation standard repeatedly found wanting by
the court until now, is that the sale plan does not meet the good faith standard of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3).
While the court agreed on previous iterations of the plan, the court finds this time that Debtor ‘s instant
proposed plan, as it will be further modified by a stipulated order to be submitted to the court, does meet
the good faith standard of § 1325(a)(3).
Among other changes, the plan conditions to ensure sale of the property(which is what Weltlich is
entitled to under the state court orders) have been strengthened substantially, Debtor has the property listed
and has been showing it, she has reduced the asking price materially to spur sale, and the agreed order will
impose conditions to insure that the property remains listed and to alleviate the potential impact of a
dismissal of this case at the last minute before sale under 11 U.S.C. § 1307. Moreover, the court’s
conditional stay relief order, which remains in place through confirmation, contains material financial
protections to Weltlich all of which Debtor has successfully met to date, showing that she can perform the
plan and that any risk of liability exposure to Weltlich is minimized. Debtor herself through testimony and
appearance personally presented a much-improved attitude and capability toward performance of the sale
plan than she has previously, in part because of her progress in recovery from a serious accident.
The court finds that the instant plan finally presents a sincere and reasonable effort to address all of
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her financial difficulties, repay her debts and maximize her assets and financial resources within the letter
and the spirit of the Bankruptcy Code for the benefit of all creditors and parties in interest, including
Weltlich, a broad mission that the state court does not have. Debtor also has a powerful incentive to see
bankruptcy through now because the claims bar date has passed and 	many of her creditors failed to file
claims but will nonetheless be bound by a discharge. The spectre of a plan proposed just to stymy rights
of her former spouse and avoid the state court orders has been lifted with the current plan as it will be
modified voluntarily with the additional conditions imposed by the stipulated order and with the conditional
stay relief order in place.
Based on the foregoing reasons, and as otherwise stated on the record by the court at the hearing,
for good cause shown,
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Objection to Confirmation of the 4th Amended Plan filed
by Edward B. Weltlich [Doc. # 63] is overruled. A separate confirmation order will be submitted by the
Chapter 13 Trustee and entered by the court after submission of the additional proposed stipulated order.
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