Facts
In two mortgage enforcement proceedings against [A.] as debtor and mortgagor, various properties were auctioned. The encumbrance registers listed statutory tax liens of the municipality of X. After the distribution of the proceeds, some junior mortgage creditors remained unsecured. Through a decision of the Administrative Court, the tax assessment underlying the tax liens was annulled. Thereupon, bankruptcy proceedings were opened against A.
The debt collection office instructed the municipality of X. to distribute the refundable taxes to the mortgage creditors. The bankruptcy estate of [A.] filed a complaint against this, with the aim that the municipality should transfer the taxes to it.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that the amount freed up from the annulment of the tax liens must belong to the mortgage creditors, not the bankruptcy estate. Even if the junior mortgage creditors had not contested the deletion of the tax liens, this does not mean that they had…