Bodecker experiences slight victory on homestead

PARADISE – Renn Bodecker, a World War II veteran and Sanders County resident, experienced a slight victory in court after battling to regain the rights to his home for the past several years. That victory was later thwarted with an appeal.

After declaring bankruptcy back in February of 2012, Bodecker’s home went up for sale after he signed a waiver of homestead exemption. The exemption was rescinded based upon a recent United States Supreme Court decision of Law v. Siegel, granting Bodecker the rights to his property once again. The decision “held that a court cannot surcharge a debtor’s exempt property to satisfy administrative expenses except under the limited instances specified,” state the documents.

At the time he signed the waiver, Bodecker stated he was under mental duress due to the loss of his wife, Lorna, who he lost to cancer before he filed for bankruptcy.

“Renn admitted that he released his homestead, but he testified that he didn’t understand any part of what he was doing,” court documents state.

The documents state that Bodecker, after waiving his homestead, went to the Sanders County Courthouse and recorded a new declaration of homestead in order to protect his property.

Bodecker, now 91, never recorded an abandonment of his homestead in Sanders County.

“(The judge) is honoring my homestead, which is what he’s supposed to do,” Bodecker said.

Roxsanna Ryan, a friend of Bodecker’s, said he was shocked when she told him he was able to keep his home.

“We’re praying it will stay that way,” Ryan said. “This is the first time the judge has ever done anything in Renn’s favor. Without the Supreme Court decision, I don’t think we would have got it.”

Although Bodecker was granted his homestead once again, the duo knew that Christy Brandon, the trustee in this case, was trying to appeal.

The appeal went through late last week and now another waiting game begins before Bodecker knows the status of his home.

If the appeal goes through, Ryan admitted she was unsure of what the next step would be.

Currently the only property Bodecker maintains, which is worth value, is his home. After being billed almost $42,000 for the other side’s lawyer fees, the only way the money will be paid is if they get the home, said Ryan.

“It’s an impossibility for me to ever give anything back. I can’t go to work, I wish I could,” Bodecker explained.

Bodecker also filed a waiver of discharge in hopes to rescind his bankruptcy filing; something he claims was also filed during a time of mental duress. The court did not waive the discharge, stating that Bodecker’s failure to disclose buried gold and silver was inexcusable.

“His age, grief, military service and paeans to his philosophy of self-reliance and religious faith do not excuse his dishonesty….by contrast a discharge in bankruptcy is a privilege, not a right, and only inures to the benefit of the honest debtor,” the court documents state.

Now Bodecker waits to hear the final ruling on his homestead. If the appeal is granted, Bodecker is unsure of where he may go, but sticks strong to his belief that his home is rightfully his forever to keep.