Sprague v. John Williams, Ellen B. Williams(In re Van Winkle)

David T. Thuma, United States Bankruptcy Judge

This matter is on remand from the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (the "BAP"). The BAP reversed this Court's ruling that, under New Mexico law, real property redeemed after entry of a chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge is not encumbered by a pre-discharge judgment lien. The BAP, citing two New Mexico Supreme Court cases,1 held that a pre-discharge judgment lien re-attaches to property redeemed post-discharge, so foreclosure of that lien does not violate the discharge injunction.

The Court also held that Defendants violated the January 27,…