Maxie Higgason v. Vanderbilt Mortgage and Fin.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 13a0627n.06 No. 12-5763 FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Jul 02, 2013 FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk In re: WILLIAM W. PIERCE, JR., ) ) Debtor, ) ) MAXIE E. HIGGASON, JR., ) CHAPTER 7TRUSTEE, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED Plaintiff-Appellee, ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR ) THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF v. ) KENTUCKY VANDERBILT MORTGAGE AND FINANCE, ) INC., ) ) AMENDED OPINION Defendant-Appellant. ) Before: MOORE, SUTTON, and DONALD, Circuit Judges. Bernice B. Donald, Circuit Judge. Maxie E. Higgason, Jr., a Chapter 7 Trustee, brought a strong-arm proceeding against Appellant Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. (Vanderbilt) to avoid a lien claimed by Vanderbilt against William W. Pierce, Jr.’s manufactured home. Vanderbilt failed to submit its Certificate of Title and title lien statement to the county clerk in Pierce’s county of residence for notation of its security interest on the Certificate of Title. We quite recently confronted virtually identical factual and legal issues in Vanderbilt Mortgage & Fin., Inc. v. Westenhoefer, No. 11-6216, (6th Cir. March ___, 2013). There, we concluded, that a security interest in a manufactured home is not properly perfected under Kentucky law unless the Certificate No. 12-5763 Vanderbilt Morg. & Fin., Inc. v. Higgason of Title has been submitted to the county clerk in the debtor’s county of residence for the security interest to be noted on the Certificate of Title by that clerk. That did not happen here. On the basis of Westenhoefer, we AFFIRM. -2-