In re Booth, 19 B.R. 53 (Bankr.D.Utah)
PUBLISHED
Debtor, a buyer and seller of real property under contracts for deed, which require transfer of the deed by the seller to the buyer upon full payment under the contract, had purchased property from creditor and later sold it to a third party. Creditor asserted that 11 U.S.C. § 365(i) and (j) make contracts for deed executory contracts, and requested that debtor be compelled to either accept or reject the parties' agreement. The court held that contracts for the sale of real property to the debtor are classified as liens rather than executory contracts, both because § 365(i) and § 365(j) were intended to protect non-debtor sellers in the same way that mortgage holders were protected, and because classification of the debt as a lien benefits the estate by enlarging its value. Treatment of such contracts as liens where debtor is the buyer both furthers debtor's rehabilitation and provides protection to sellers.