PASKAY, Bankruptcy Judge
A bankrupt may invoke Section 67a of the Bankruptcy Act to void a judicial lien if the lien attached to exempt property and all the other elements of a voidable lien are present. Under Section 67(a) of the Bankruptcy Act every lien against the property of a person obtained by legal or equitable process within four months before filing of the petition is null and void. Thus, since a lien was obtained in a judicial proceeding, attached to properties which were exempt, and satisfied the voidable preference requirements of Section 67(a), the bankrupt was entitled to a denial of the creditor's claim to dismiss. See Sec. 67(a)(1) at ¶ 2638 and Sec. 547(d) at ¶ 9537.
[Digest of Opinion]
The bankrupt brought a complaint seeking a determination that a judgment lien obtained by the creditor within four months of the commencement of these bankruptcy proceedings was invalid and void.
Contrary to the bankrupt's arguments, the creditor urged that there was an identical proceeding pending in the State Court, where the bankrupts sought a cancellation of the lien pursuant to a state statute, and therefore, as a matter of comity, this court should abstain, permitting the state proceeding to resolve the controversy involved.
The court considering all the arguments before it, held that the creditor's motion to dismiss was not well-taken and should be denied for the following reasons:
First, the complaint was based on Section 67(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Act which provides that every lien against the property obtained within four months of bankruptcy is null and void. Further, Section 67(a)(3) provides that property discharged from a lien shall pass to the trustee or debtor. Second, it was without dispute that the property in question was claimed and set aside as exempt in this proceeding. Therefore, Sec. 67(a)(3) made it clear that a bankrupt may invoke the aid of Section 67(a) to challenge a judicial lien if it affected property set aside as exempt. Accordingly, the court held that a lien obtained pursuant to a judicial proceeding is voidable at the insistence of the trustee or the debtor, if, as in this case, 1) the lien attaches to properties of the bankrupt which passed to the trustee under Section 70(a) or is exempt pursuant to Section 6; 2) it was acquired within four months prior to the initiation of the bankruptcy proceedings; and 3) it attached during the insolvency of the bankrupt. Since all these requirements were met in the present situation, the bankrupt had standing to challenge this particular lien and, therefore, the motion to dismiss was without merit.
Further, the fact that the bankrupt also attempted to invalidate this particular lien in the state court where an action was still pending, had no bearing on this present proceeding since, by virtue of the mandate of Section 67(a)(4), the bankruptcy court was vested with exclusive summary jurisdiction.