In re Jackson

585 B.R. 410
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit·Decided May 11, 2018·No. No. 17–8006·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

PAULETTE J. DELK

Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judge. The Panel sua sponte raises the question of whether this appeal was filed late for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 158(c)(2) and finds that it was. Following the Supreme Court's precedent in this area, including its recent decision in Hamer v. Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago ,1 the Panel finds that the time requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 158(c)(2) are jurisdictional in nature and, *413therefore, the Panel is without jurisdiction to hear late appeals, including this one.

FACTS

On September 25, 2013, Melindia Gail Jackson ("Jackson") filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 7. After a hearing in March 2014 the bankruptcy court granted U.S. Bank National Association's motion to lift the automatic stay on Jackson's residence. With the stay lifted, the bank proceeded with a foreclosure action in state court. Despite much opposition, the bank foreclosed on Jackson's residence on May 15, 2014 and Jackson's right to redeem the property expired six months later. On October 29, 2014, the Chapter 7 Trustee filed a no-asset report and on February 23, 2015, Jackson obtained a discharge of her debts.

The order on appeal before this panel is a result of a series of letters and requests submitted by Jackson to the bankruptcy court in December 2016. In these letters, Jackson: (1) notified the bankruptcy court that the account number for creditor Wells Fargo had changed [ECF No. 113]; (2) requested "reconsideration of House being exempt in the bankruptcy case" where she sought to unwind a foreclosure and reclaim her former residence [ECF No. 114]; (3) requested a "sign[ed] court Order stating that the amended Scheduled have been listed, dismissed and entered" [ECF No. 115]; and (4) requested "Reconsideration of transferring Bankruptcy Case" seeking reconsideration of a prior order which denied her request to transfer the bankruptcy case to the Eastern District of Michigan [ECF No. 116]. After a hearing, the bankruptcy court issued a Memorandum Decision and Order on January 26, 2017 [ECF No. 133]. Except for acknowledging Jackson's notice of a new account number for creditor Wells Fargo, that order denied all of Jackson's requests for relief included in the four letters. That order also directed the Clerk to "prepare and enter a final decree discharging the trustee and closing the case promptly but not earlier than twenty eight days after the entry" of that January 26, 2017 order. Jackson filed her Notice of Appeal of that order 28 days later on February 23, 2017. On February 24, 2017, the Clerk docketed a "Text Order of Final Decree"2 which referenced the discharge of the Chapter 7 Trustee and closed the case pursuant to the bankruptcy court's January 26, 2017 order.

JURISDICTION

Before the Panel may proceed to the merits of the appeal, we must assure ourselves of our jurisdiction to hear this case. Section 158 of title 28 grants the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel jurisdiction to hear appeals of final orders of bankruptcy courts. 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."3 "A disposition is final if it contains 'a complete act of adjudication,' that is, a full adjudication of the issues at bar, and clearly evidences the judge's intention that it be the court's final act in the matter."4

*414The bankruptcy court's order before the panel disposed of all of the matters raised by Jackson and left nothing for the court to do but administratively close the case. Specifically, with regard to Jackson's four requests, the order explains that the bankruptcy court (1) found no grounds warranting reconsideration of its refusal to transfer the bankruptcy case to the Eastern District of Michigan, where Jackson now resides; (2) found no basis for unwinding the foreclosure of Jackson's former residence and that it lacked jurisdiction over the matter due to an appeal pending in district court; (3) found that Jackson's ECF No. 113 accomplished Jackson's objective of giving interested parties notice of a new account number from Wells Fargo; and (4) acknowledged Jackson's right to amend her schedules to list omitted creditors as a matter of course at any time before the case is closed, provided Jackson also gives notice of the amendment to the affected entities.

The order further states that the "[c]ourt has considered the Debtor's other arguments and finds in them no grounds for relief. After reviewing the Debtor's recent filings, and having conducted a hearing on these issues, the court has determined to withhold all relief."

The order goes on to provide as follows:

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that except as provided above with respect to the Debtor's new account numbers, all requests for relief included within ECF Nos. 113, 114, 115 and 116 are DENIED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall prepare and enter a final decree discharging the trustee and closing the case, promptly but not earlier than twenty eight days after entry of this Memorandum of Decision & Order.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall serve a copy of this Memorandum of Decision & Order pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9022 and LBR 5005-4 upon Debtor Melindia Gail Jackson, John M. Van Elk, Esq., Elizabeth M. Abood-Carroll, Esq., Thomas R. Tibble, chapter 7 Trustee, and the Office of the United States Trustee.

The above language supports a conclusion that the order is a complete act of adjudication, a full adjudication of the issues at bar, and clearly evidences the bankruptcy court's intention that it be the court's final act in the matter. Jackson filed her notice of appeal on February 23, 2017, 28 days after the final order.5

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In re Jackson, 585 B.R. 410 (bap6 2018).

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