In Re: Ara Hunanyan v. Nancy Zamora

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: July 24, 2023
• Docket: 21-56208
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 24 2023 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

In re: ARA HUNANYAN, No. 21-56208

Debtor, D.C. No. 2:21-cv-06064-AB ______________________________

ARA HUNANYAN, MEMORANDUM*

Appellant,

v.

NANCY ZAMORA, Chapter 7 Trustee,

Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Andre Birotte, Jr., District Judge, Presiding

Submitted July 18, 2023**

Before: SCHROEDER, RAWLINSON, and BADE, Circuit Judges.

Ara Hunanyan, a Chapter 7 debtor, appeals pro se from the district court’s

judgment dismissing as untimely his appeal from the bankruptcy court’s order

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). granting the Chapter 7 trustee’s motion to approve compromise. We have

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158(d). We review de novo. In re Delaney, 29 F.3d

516, 517-18 (9th Cir. 1994). We reverse and remand.

The district court found Hunanyan’s notice of appeal untimely because it

was filed more than 14 days after the bankruptcy court entered the order granting

the trustee’s motion to approve compromise. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8002(a)(1)

(notice of appeal must be filed within 14 days of the date of the entry of the

judgment or order). However, Hunanyan timely filed a motion to reconsider the

bankruptcy court’s order, which tolled the time limitation for filing a notice of

appeal until the bankruptcy court denied the motion. See Fed. R. Bankr. P.

8002(b)(1)(B) (if a party files a motion under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy 9023,

the time to file an appeal runs from the entry of the order disposing of that motion);

In re Weston, 41 F.3d 493, 495 (9th Cir. 1994) (“In this circuit, a motion for

reconsideration is considered to be a Bankruptcy Rule 9023 motion and tolls the

time limitation for filing a notice of appeal.”). Because Hunanyan timely filed his

notice of appeal within 14 days of the bankruptcy court’s denial of his motion for

reconsideration, the district court erred in dismissing Hunanyan’s appeal as

untimely.

All pending requests in the briefing are denied.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

2 21-56208