Judge Williamson of the Middle District of Florida issued his decision in the case of In re Buonopane, ___ B.R. ____, 2007 WL 247888 (Bkrtcy. M.D. Fla.) on January 26, 2007 in which he held that the cap imposed by the BAPCPA on the state homestead exemption that a debtor can claim in residential property acquired within 1,215 days of the petition date applied only to the Florida homestead exemption that the debtor could claim under 522(b)(3)(A) and not to the separate entireties exemption available under section 522(b)(3)(B). Section 522(b)(3)(B) provides for the exemption of property held as a tenant by the entireties. This decision is in accord with Judge Olson’s recent decision in the Southern District of Florida in the case of In re Schwarz, __ B.R. ___, 2007 WL 247649 (Bkrtcy. S.D. Fla.).
The Court stated while its ruling would appear to provide a way for a debtor to “end run” the $125,000 cap contained in section 522(p), that its ruling is consistent with the legislative history of section 522(p)(1) which was directed to close the “mansion loophole” and not against a state’s common law on tenancy by the entireties property.
