Agenda

Return

C. 15

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Thomas L. Geiger, County Counsel
Date:	August 1, 2023

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Counsel to negotiate and execute an agreement with Debtors Paul G. and Tamara L. Attard to accept payment of $23,114

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 08/01/2023

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Ken Carlson, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Linda Wilcox, 925 655-2241

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: August 1, 2023
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Counsel to negotiate and execute an agreement with Debtors Paul G. and Tamara L. Attard to accept payment of $23,114 to the County, in monthly installments, as full satisfaction of a 2013 judgment, provided that the payment is made under a confirmed plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, Case No. 19-42108.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The County would be paid $23,114, in monthly installments, in full satisfaction of a 2013 judgment, but would not collect accrued interest on the judgment.

BACKGROUND:

On June 7, 2010, Paul G. and Tamara L. Attard filed a petition for writ of mandate and complaint for damages against the County and the Board of Supervisors in Contra Costa County Superior Court (Case No. N10-0835). The case concerned building permits issued by the County for development on two properties, one at 21 Old Tunnel Road and the other at 1000 Fish Ranch Road, both in the Orinda area of unincorporated Contra Costa County, near the Caldecott Tunnel. The County prevailed in the litigation, and on September 6, 2013, a judgment was entered against the Attards in the amount of $23,113.77, for costs incurred by the County. The Attards appealed and lost. To date, the Attards have not paid the judgment. Currently, the County is barred from taking action to enforce the judgment under an automatic stay that took effect on September 17, 2019, when the Attards filed a voluntary petition for protection under Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, Oakland Division (Case No. 19-42108).

On September 28, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court issued an order confirming a Chapter 12 Plan in the Attards’ case. The confirmed plan sets forth a schedule for payments of debts owed to creditors of the Attards who filed claims. Under the confirmed plan, payments must be made over a period of 60 months, ending on October 20, 2026, in monthly installments. The plan does not provide for any payment of the County’s judgment, however, because the Attards did not list the County as one of its creditors; as a result of not being listed, the County did not receive notice of the case in time to file a claim.

If a judgment is unpaid, it expires after 10 years unless the judgment creditor renews the judgment with the court. In the course of efforts to renew the County’s 2013 judgment, the County learned of the Attards’ bankruptcy case. The Attards now propose to satisfy the County’s judgment voluntarily, by paying the original amount of the judgment, without any interest, through monthly installment payments by the bankruptcy trustee, as part of the confirmed plan. By statute, interest on a judgment accrues at the annual rate of 10 percent. Under this proposal, the County would not collect approximately $37,760 in interest, but would potentially incur savings in the form of avoided costs of enforcement and future renewals of the judgment.

The proposal would require that the Attards, by and through their attorney, file a late claim on the County’s behalf, and that the Bankruptcy Court approve the compromise of the County’s claim and modification of the confirmed plan to include a requirement that the compromise amount of $23,114 be paid in full to the County by the end of the confirmed plan. If any of these conditions were not satisfied, the County would have the right to try and collect the remaining balance of the judgment, including interest, once the bankruptcy case is over.

The Department of Conservation and Development has reviewed the proposal and concurs with the recommendation to accept payment of $23,114.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

The County would remain barred from enforcing the judgment until termination of the automatic stay in Case No. 19-42108.