In re Brownlee (Ch. 7 Case No. 17-70283, Adv. No. 18-07005)

This opinion concerns a preference action seeking to avoid the attachment of a judicial lien on the Debtors’ real estate.  The issue before the Court was whether the judicial lien was created within 11 U.S.C. § 547(b)(4)(A)’s look-back period.  The Trustee, the plaintiff in the case, argued that the lien was created when the judgment was recorded in the applicable county’s general execution docket.  The Defendant argued the entry of the judgment, which occurred outside the look-back period, created the judicial lien and that recording merely perfected that lien.  The Court determined that, by operation of O.C.G.A. § 9-12-86(b), only recording a judgment creates a judicial lien on real estate.  Therefore, for purposes of the preference action, the transfer occurred within the applicable look-back period.

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Monday, December 3, 2018