In re Brier Creek Corporate Center Associates Ltd.

486 B.R. 681, 2013 WL 550431, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 554, 57 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 161
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 12, 2013
DocketNo. 12-01855-8-SWH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 486 B.R. 681 (In re Brier Creek Corporate Center Associates Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Brier Creek Corporate Center Associates Ltd., 486 B.R. 681, 2013 WL 550431, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 554, 57 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 161 (N.C. 2013).

Opinion

[684]*684ORDER DENYING BANK OF AMERICA’S EMERGENCY MOTION FOR STAY OF ORDER PENDING APPEAL

STEPHANIW. HUMRICKHOUSE, Bankruptcy Judge.

The matter before the court is Bank of America’s emergency motion for the court to stay its order entered on January 14, 2013 (the “Stay Order”). The Stay Order stayed arbitration initiated by Bank of America against the debtors’ guarantors (the “Guarantor Arbitration”). A hearing was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 30, 2013. The court entered an order on January 30, 2013, denying the bank’s emergency motion. This order sets forth the reasons for such denial.1

DISCUSSION

Rule 8005 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure enables a party appealing an order of the bankruptcy judge to seek a stay of such order pending appeal. The motion must “ordinarily be presented to the bankruptcy judge in the first instance.” Fed. R. Bankr.P. 8005. The judge “may suspend or order the continuation of other proceedings in the case under the Code or make any other appropriate order during the pendency of an appeal on such terms as will protect the rights of all parties in interest.” Id.

For the court to issue a stay pending appeal the bank must demonstrate that: (1) it is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal; (2) it is likely to suffer irreparable harm absent a stay; (3) other parties will not be substantially harmed by a stay; and (4) the public interest will be served by staying the bankruptcy court’s order. In re Bannerman Holdings, LLC, 2011 WL 284161, at *1, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7573, at *2 (E.D.N.C. Jan. 26, 2011). The following explains why the court is not convinced that Bank of America has satisfied the standard necessary for a stay of the Stay Order pending appeal.

I. Bank of America’s likelihood of success on its appeal of the Stay Order

Bank of America contends that it has a substantial likelihood of prevailing on its appeal, generally stating that the court erred because: (1) it lacked jurisdiction and authority to hear and determine the request for relief; (2) the debtors should have been required to initiate an adversary proceeding to obtain the relief requested; (3) the Guarantor Arbitration did not fall within the “unusual circumstances” exception to which the stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(1) applies; and (4) the court failed to apply the correct legal standard necessary to grant an injunction pursuant to its powers under 11 U.S.C. § 105. For the reasons set forth below, the court finds that Bank of America is not likely to prevail on appeal.

A. Jurisdiction over the debtors’ motion and authority to enter a final judgment

In their motion, the debtors requested an order confirming that the automatic stay applies to the Guarantor Arbitration and granting an injunction pursuant to the court’s powers under § 105. The court interpreted this as an initial request to determine whether the automatic stay applied to the Guarantor Arbitration by virtue of the “unusual circumstances” exception recognized by the Fourth Circuit in Piccinin, but if the stay did not apply, then the debtors were requesting that the [685]*685court use its § 105 powers to enjoin the arbitration. See A.H. Robins Co. v. Piccinin, 788 F.2d 994 (4th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 876, 107 S.Ct. 251, 93 L.Ed.2d 177 (1986).

Bankruptcy courts have original but not exclusive jurisdiction over every civil proceeding “arising under” the Bankruptcy Code, “arising in” the Bankruptcy Code or “related to” a bankruptcy case. 28 U.S.C. § 1334(b); FPSDA II, LLC v. Larin (In re FPDSA I, LLC), 2012 WL 6681794, at *4, 2012 Bankr.LEXIS 5928, at *15 (Bankr.E.D.N.Y. Dec. 26, 2012). Proceedings “arising under” Title 11 consist of “any causes of action created by Title 11 ... meaning any matter under which a claim is made under a provision of [T]itle 11[.]” Kraken Inv. Ltd. v. Jacobs (In re Salander-OReilly Galleries, LLC), 475 B.R. 9, 27 (2012) (citations and quotations omitted); see also FPSDA II, LLC, 2012 WL 6681794, at *4, 2012 Bankr.LEXIS 5928, at *16 (“[A] civil proceeding is one ‘arising under’ the Bankruptcy Code if it ‘invokes a substantive right created by the Bankruptcy Code[.]’ ”). Proceedings “arising in” Title 11 “arise only in bankruptcy cases” and are “matters not based on any right expressly created by Title 11, but that would have no existence outside of the bankruptcy.” Kraken Inv. Ltd., 475 B.R. at 27; FPSDA II, LLC, 2012 WL 6681794, at *5, 2012 Bankr.LEXIS 5928, at *16.

The court had “arising under” jurisdiction over the debtors’ motion in that it specifically requested an order confirming that the stay under § 362(a)(1) applies to the Guarantor Arbitration. The automatic stay under § 362(a)(1) is exclusive to the Bankruptcy Code. See FPSDA II, LLC, 2012 WL 6681794, at *5, 2012 Bankr.LEXIS 5928, at *16 (“The automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) is found nowhere but in bankruptcy. It is imposed directly by the Bankruptcy Code, which in turn provides the Debtor with the ‘substantive right’ to invoke its protections.”). Therefore, whether the automatic stay applies to the Guarantor Arbitration by virtue of the “unusual circumstances” exception falls squarely within the court’s “arising under” jurisdiction.

The court also had “arising in” jurisdiction over the debtors’ request for an order granting an injunction pursuant to § 105. Even if § 105 cannot form the basis for “arising under” jurisdiction, a § 105 injunction arises only in bankruptcy cases in that such an injunction would have no existence outside of bankruptcy. The debtors would not be entitled to a § 105 injunction but for the existence of their bankruptcy cases. The Second Circuit described the court’s jurisdiction over § 105 injunction in the following way:

[I]n our view, if the bankruptcy court may ever use its equitable powers under section 105(a) to enjoin actions pursued in other courts as ‘concerning the administration of the estate’ under section 157(b)(2)(A), it may exercise that power where there is a basis for concluding that rehabilitation, the very purpose for the bankruptcy proceedings, might be undone by the other action. We therefore conclude that the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction to issue the injunction.

Manville Corp. v. Equity Sec. Holders Comm. (In re Johns-Manville Corp.), 801 F.2d 60, 64 (2nd Cir.1986); see also FPSDA II, LLC, 2012 WL 6681794, at *5, 2012 Bankr.LEXIS 5928, at *17 (“[Common sense indicates that, if the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over a proceeding to determine the applicability of the automatic stay, then it has jurisdiction over a related motion for preliminary in-junctive relief.”).2

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486 B.R. 681, 2013 WL 550431, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 554, 57 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-brier-creek-corporate-center-associates-ltd-nceb-2013.