Caples Land Company, L.L.C. v. the City of El Paso, Texas and Its Building and Standards Commission

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 6, 2018
• Docket: 08-18-00005-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS §

Caples Land Company, L.L.C., § No. 08-18-00005-CV

Appellant, § Appeal from the

v. § 327th District Court

The City of El Paso, Texas and Its § of El Paso County, Texas Building and Standards Commission, § (TC# 2016DCV2118) Appellee. § ORDER

The Court has reviewed the notice of bankruptcy filed by Appellee, City of El Paso, asserting that this appeal is subject to an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. §362 because a non-party to the appeal, William D. Abraham, filed a bankruptcy petition. Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §362(a)(1), a bankruptcy petition operates as a stay of the commencement or continuation of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor. Because Caples Land Company is not the debtor, the stay does not protect it. Under unusual circumstances, the bankruptcy court can extend the stay to a non-debtor entity, but the City of El Paso has not shown that such circumstances exist in this case. Further, such an extension of the stay is a matter which must be determined by the bankruptcy court. We conclude that the automatic stay does not apply to this appeal. It is therefore ordered that the appeal proceed. Appellant’s brief is due to be filed on or before April 17, 2018. IT IS SO ORDERED this 6th day of April, 2018.

PER CURIAM

Before McClure, C.J., Rodriguez and Palafox, JJ.