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recognition (or, in bankruptcy parlance, “allowance”) of his
claim for purposes of sharing in the distribution of estate
assets as part of the bankruptcy proceeding. See 3 Cowans,
Bankruptcy Law and Practice, sec. 12.5(a), at 247 (7th ed. 1998).
There is no requirement that a creditor file a proof of claim;
that is, some creditors may seek recovery outside of the normal
estate distribution procedure. See 11 U.S.C. sec. 501(a) (2000)
(creditor “may” file a proof of claim); see also In re Simmons,
765 F.2d 547, 551 (5th Cir. 1985) (a proof of claim should be
filed only when some purpose would be served thereby). For
instance, a secured creditor can seek recovery by requesting
relief from the automatic stay in order to exercise his
foreclosure rights. See 11 U.S.C. sec. 362(d) (2000). A secured
creditor who is content to use foreclosure as his sole means of
recovery might opt not to bother with a proof of claim. Such
apparently was the case here.
By failing to file proofs of claim with respect to the CMI
debts, CMI waived its right to participate, vis-a-vis the CMI
deficiencies, in the distribution of estate assets as provided in
the trustee’s final report. See 11 U.S.C. sec. 506(a) (2000) (an
allowed claim of a creditor secured by a lien is an unsecured
claim to the extent the value of the property is less than the
amount of such allowed claim); 11 U.S.C. sec. 726 (2000)
(distribution of property of the estate). That is not to say,
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