Kovacs v. First Union Home Equity Bank (In Re Huffman)

AMENDED OPINION

SCHWARZER, Senior District Judge.

These are three consolidated appeals from judgments of the district court allowing the bankruptcy trustee to avoid mortgages held by the defendants, First Union Home Equity Bank and ContiMortgage Corporation, under 11 U.S.C. § 544. In In re Rice, No. 02-4468, the district court exercised its appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a) and reversed a judgment by the bankruptcy court, which had rejected the trustee’s challenge to the validity of the mortgage. In In re Huffman and In re Tucholski, Nos. 03-3174 and 03-3175, the district court…