Cousins Properties, Inc. v. Treasure Isles HC, Inc. (In re Treasure Isles HC, Inc.)

462 B.R. 645, 66 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1242, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 3613
CourtBankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 29, 2011
DocketBAP No. 10-8075
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 462 B.R. 645 (Cousins Properties, Inc. v. Treasure Isles HC, Inc. (In re Treasure Isles HC, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cousins Properties, Inc. v. Treasure Isles HC, Inc. (In re Treasure Isles HC, Inc.), 462 B.R. 645, 66 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1242, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 3613 (bap6 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

THOMAS FULTON, Bankruptcy Judge.

Appellant appeals the bankruptcy court’s September 22, 2010 order (the “Appealed Order”), which held that the deadline set forth in 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4) for assuming a nonresidential real property lease is satisfied upon the debtor filing a motion to assume the lease. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the Appealed Order.

I. ISSUES ON APPEAL

Is the deadline set forth in 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4) for assuming a nonresidential real property lease satisfied by the filing of a motion to assume the lease or must the court order approving the motion be entered prior to the deadline?

II. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit (the “BAP”) has jurisdiction to decide this appeal. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has authorized appeals to the BAP.

We must first address whether the Appealed Order is final and appealable by right under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1). For purposes of appeal, an order is final if it “ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment.” Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States, 489 U.S. 794, 798, 109 S.Ct. 1494, 1497, 103 L.Ed.2d 879 [647]*647(1989) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). “ ‘[T]he concept of finality applied to appeals in bankruptcy is broader and more flexible than the concept applied in ordinary civil litigation.’ ” Millers Cove Energy Co. v. Moore (In re Millers Cove Energy Co.), 128 F.3d 449, 451 (6th Cir.1997) (quoting 16 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3926.2 (2d ed.1996)). The finality requirement is considered “in a more pragmatic and less technical way in bankruptcy cases than in other situations. In bankruptcy cases, a functional and practical application [of Section 158] is to be the rule.” In re Dow Corning Corp., 86 F.3d 482, 488 (6th Cir. 1996) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). In bankruptcy cases, an order that finally disposes of discrete disputes within a larger case may be appealed immediately. Id. This relaxed rule avoids the “waste of time and resources that might result from reviewing discrete portions of the action only after a plan of reorganization is approved.” In re Dow Corning Corp., 86 F.3d at 488 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

There is case law stating generally that an order addressing the assumption of a lease under 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4) is reviewable as a separate and discrete matter in a bankruptcy case. See Arizona Appetito’s Stores, Inc. v. Paradise Village Inv. Co. (In re Arizona Appetito’s Stores, Inc.), 893 F.2d 216, 218 (9th Cir.1990) (citing Turgeon v. Victoria Station Inc. (In re Victoria Station Inc.), 840 F.2d 682, 684 (9th Cir.1988)). Both of those cases, however, involved appellate review of denials of motions to assume as untimely. Thus, absent appellate review, the parties’ respective rights regarding their leases were fully resolved-the leases were deemed rejected.

In this case, the bankruptcy court did not address the merits of Appellee’s motion to assume the lease in question. It only concluded that Appellee timely assumed the lease for purposes of 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4), reserving consideration of the merits of Appellee’s proposed assumption, and Appellant’s substantive objections thereto, for an as yet undetermined hearing date. Thus, even if we decide in Ap-pellee’s favor here, Appellee would still have to persuade the bankruptcy court that it is entitled to assume the lease under the substantive requirements of 11 U.S.C. § 365, including, for example, 11 U.S.C. § 365(b). In that respect, the discrete issue of whether Appellee may assume the lease is not fully resolved, rendering the Appealed Order interlocutory.

An interlocutory order may nevertheless be appealed with leave of court. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3). While Appellant has not sought leave of court by filing a motion, in certain circumstances, we may construe a timely filed notice of appeal as a motion for leave to appeal. See Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8003(c); Simon v. Amir (In re Amir), 436 B.R. 1, 8 (6th Cir. BAP 2010). The decision to grant leave to appeal is a discretionary one which should be guided and instructed, but not constrained, by the standards set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). Id. (Panel is not constrained by standards defining Courts of Appeals’ jurisdiction over interlocutory orders, but they are instructive). The factors to be considered in determining whether to grant leave to appeal are: (1) the question must be one of “law;” (2) it must be “controlling;” (3) there must be substantial ground for “difference of opinion” about it; and (4) an immediate appeal must “materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation.” Id. (citing Cardwell v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co., 504 F.2d 444, 445 (6th Cir.1974)).

We have considered these factors and the request of both parties in their letter [648]*648briefs submitted after oral argument to proceed so that this matter can be concluded as expeditiously and inexpensively as possible, and grant leave to appeal in this case. Accordingly, we will consider the merits of Appellant’s argument.

III. FACTS

The parties do not dispute the facts of this case. The Debtor1 filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code ’on February 1, 2010. Prior to the expiration of the 120-day deadline to assume or reject nonresidential real property leases provided for under 11 U.S.C. § 365, the Debtor obtained a 90-day extension of time to assume or reject leases, making August 30, 2010, the deadline to assume or reject nonresidential real property leases.

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462 B.R. 645, 66 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1242, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 3613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cousins-properties-inc-v-treasure-isles-hc-inc-in-re-treasure-isles-bap6-2011.