Clark v. Banc One Mortgage Corp. (In Re Gilbert)

MEMORANDUM OPINION 1

JOHN T. FLANNAGAN, Bankruptcy Judge.

In 1995, Richard and Earlene Gilbert, the debtors, granted Bank One Milwaukee, N.A., a mortgage in improved real estate located in Johnson County, Kansas, and the bank recorded the mortgage with the Johnson County Register of Deeds. Two years later, in July 1997, the bank recorded a satisfaction and discharge of the mortgage debt.

Another two years passed and the Gil-berts filed for Chapter 7 relief, but did not exempt the property from the bankruptcy estate. When the trustee, Carl Clark, examined the record and saw the mortgage had been…