Hijjawi v. Five North Wabash Condominium Ass'n

495 B.R. 839, 2013 WL 3455802, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95609
United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided July 3, 2013·No. No. 12 C 4430·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

RUBEN CASTILLO, Chief Judge.

This appeal arises from a dispute over whether condominium assessments and fees incurred during the pendency of a bankruptcy proceeding, after the filing of a Chapter 11 petition and prior to the case’s conversion to a Chapter 7 proceeding, are dischargeable debts. The bankruptcy court held that such assessments and fees were not dischargeable. This Court affirms the decision of the bankruptcy court.

Appellant Amy Hijjawi filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. She later converted the proceeding to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and was granted a discharge of her debts. Between the initial filing of the Chapter 11 petition and the conversion of the case to Chapter 7 (the “Chapter 11 period”), Hi-jjawi incurred various assessments and fees on her condominium units charged by Five North Wabash Condominium Association (“Five North”). In her motion to extend the automatic stay after the conversion to a Chapter 7 case, Hijjawi raised the issue of whether the Chapter 11 period assessments and fees were dischargeable. In denying Hijjawi’s motion to extend the automatic stay, the bankruptcy court determined that the assessments and fees that accrued during the Chapter 11 period were not dischargeable. Hijjawi’s appeal of that determination is presently before the Court.

BACKGROUND

The Court has previously described the factual and procedural history of this case. See Hijjawi v. Five N. Wabash Condo. Ass’n, 491 B.R. 876, 878-80 (N.D.Ill.2013). Because the timeline of events directly bears on the issues on appeal, however, the Court recites that timeline here. Hijjawi owns three condominium units at Five North Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. (Bankr.R. 155, Mem. Op. at 1.)1 [841]*841In 2011, Hijjawi violated Five North’s Declaration of Condominium and the Chicago Vacation License Ordinance by renting her condominiums on a short-term basis. (Id. at 1-2.) After issuing a written violation, holding a hearing, fining Hijjawi, and demanding that she cease and desist short-term rentals, all without results, Five North eventually sought injunctive relief in the Circuit Court of Cook County.2 (Id. at 2.) On July 11, 2011, the circuit court judge issued a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) ordering Hijjawi to shut down her rental business. (Id.) Hijjawi continued to rent her condominiums on a short-term basis, in violation of the TRO. (Id.)

On July 29, 2011, Hijjawi filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition. (Bankr.R. 1, Pet.) On August 18, 2011, Five North moved to lift the automatic stay pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(1) to allow it to proceed with the injunction proceeding in state court. (Bankr.R. 16, Five North’s Mot. Lift Stay.) On September 1, 2011, the bankruptcy court granted Five North’s motion to allow it to enforce the TRO until January 1, 2012. (Bankr.R. 31, Order.)3 On November 9, 2011, Five North filed a second motion for relief from the automatic stay, this time to allow it to enforce its state-law right to dispossess Hijjawi from her units. (Bankr.R. 39, Five North’s Second Mot. Lift Stay.) Five North alleged that Hijjawi was delinquent in paying her post-petition expenses, including monthly assessments and the legal fees that Five North incurred in compelling her compliance with the TRO. (Id. at 5-6.) On December 12, 2011, the bankruptcy court extended its previous order lifting the automatic stay, (Bankr.R. 31), indefinitely for the purpose of allowing Five North to proceed with its state court case against Hijjawi. (Bankr.R. 63, Order.)

On December 27, 2011, Hijjawi moved to convert her case from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. (Bankr.R. 68, Mot.Convert.) Hijjawi’s case was converted to Chapter 7 on January 9, 2012. (Bankr.R. 76, Order.) On the same day, the bankruptcy court granted Five North’s November 9, 2011 motion to lift the automatic stay in order to allow Five North to proceed with its state-law rights and remedies against Hijjawi, but stayed the order until February 10, 2012 to give the Chapter 7 Trustee an opportunity to act before the order became effective. (Bankr.R. 75, Order; Bankr.R. 155, Mem. Op. at 3.)

On January 31, 2012, Hijjawi moved to extend the automatic stay,4 arguing that the Chapter 11 period condominium assessments and fees were dischargeable and thus Five North should not be allowed to enforce them. (Bankr.R. 82, Mot. Extend Stay ¶¶ 7-13.) Five North entered its objection to that motion on February 9, 2012, arguing that any debts [842]*842Hijjawi accrued after the filing of her petition, i.e., any Chapter 11 period debts, were non-dischargeable. (Bankr.R. 83, Five North’s Obj. ¶¶ 10-14.) After a hearing on February 10, 2012, the automatic stay was extended until March 2, (Bankr.R. 90, Order), and supplemental briefing was ordered on a variety of issues, including whether the Chapter 11 period assessments and fees were dis-chargeable, (see Bankr.R. 155, Mem. Op. at 3). The parties briefed this issue extensively. (Bankr.R. 95, Debtor’s Resp.; Bankr.R. 108, Five North’s Reply; Bankr.R. 112, Five North’s Suppl. Reply; Bankr.R. 113, Debtor’s Rebuttal; Bankr.R. 115, Debtor’s Rebuttal.)

After a hearing on March 2, 2012, the automatic stay was again extended and supplemental briefing on the discharge-ability of the Chapter 11 period assessments and fees was again ordered and completed. (Bankr.R. 119, Order; Bankr.R. 121, Five North’s Suppl. Br.; Bankr.R. 122, Debtor’s Resp.) On March 16, 2012, after a hearing, the bankruptcy judge orally indicated a ruling in favor of Five North, but the stay was again extended to allow Five North to file a statement with a detailed accounting of the Chapter 11 period assessments and fees, (Bankr.R. 128, Order; Bankr.R. 155, Mem. Op. at 4), which Five North filed on March 25, 2012, (Bankr.R. 132, Five North’s Statement). At a March 27, 2012 hearing, the bankruptcy court again extended the stay and ordered briefing in response to Five North’s accounting statement. (See Bankr.R. 155, Mem. Op. at 4.) Such briefing was completed, (Bankr.R. 140, Debtor’s Resp.; Bankr.R. 142, Five North’s Reply; R. 148, Debtor’s Resp.), and a final hearing was held on April 20, 2012.

On April 24, 2012, Hijjawi was granted a Chapter 7 discharge. (R. 147, Order of Discharge.) On May 11, 2012, the bankruptcy court denied Hijjawi’s motion to extend the automatic stay and issued a thorough opinion holding that the Chapter 11 period assessments and fees were non-dischargeable pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(16) and 727. (Bankr.R. 155, Mem. Op; Bankr.R. 157, Order.)

On June 7, 2012, Hijjawi appealed to this Court from the bankruptcy court’s order lifting the automatic stay.5 (R. 1, Appeal.) Hijjawi argues that the Chapter 11 period assessments and fees are dis-chargeable. (R. 13, Hijjawi’s Br. at 5-7.) Five North argued that the issue on appeal had not actually been adjudicated by the bankruptcy court and therefore an appeal was inappropriate. (R.

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Hijjawi v. Five North Wabash Condominium Ass'n, 495 B.R. 839, 2013 WL 3455802, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95609 (Ill. 2013).

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