The court denied the debtor's motion to avoid the fixing of a non-possessory, non-purchase-money lien on his vehicle for two reasons: failure to properly serve the creditor, and failure to demonstrate that the vehicle is a tool of the trade or whether he is even claiming it is.
The court explained that federal law, rather than state law, determines the availability of lien avoidance under § 522(f), pursuant to Cleaver v. Warford (In re Cleaver), 407 B.R. 354 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2009). "At its essence, Cleaver holds that the bankruptcy court must first look to see if the creditor has a nonpossessory, non-purchase money security interest in a tool of the trade as defined by federal law. If so, the bankruptcy court then looks to state law to determine if the lien impairs an exemption to which the debtors would have been entitled. The exemption can be any exemption to which the debtors would have been entitled and does not need to be a tool of the trade exemption." *4.
The motion was denied without prejudice.