In re: Margaret Lucille Carswell

United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit·Decided December 11, 2015·No. CC-15-1100-KuKiTa·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED DEC 11 2015

1 NOT FOR PUBLICATION SUSAN M. SPRAUL, CLERK

2 U.S. BKCY. APP. PANEL OF THE NINTH CIRCUIT

3 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY APPELLATE PANEL 4 OF THE NINTH CIRCUIT 5 In re: ) BAP No. CC-15-1100-KuKiTa )

6 MARGARET LUCILLE CARSWELL, ) Bk. No. 14-12354 )

7 Debtor. ) Adv. No. 15-01003 _______________________________)

8 )

MARGARET LUCILLE CARSWELL, )

9 )

Appellant, )

10 )

v. ) MEMORANDUM* 11 )

ELIZABETH F. ROJAS, Chapter 13 )

12 Trustee; THE WOLF FIRM; SELECT )

PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC.; U.S.)

13 BANK NA, successor trustee to )

Bank of America, NA, successor )

14 in interest to LaSalle Bank NA,)

as trustee, on behalf of the )

15 holders of the WaMu Mortgage )

Pass-Through Certificates, )

16 Series 2007-OA1, )

)

17 Appellees. )

_______________________________)

18 Argued and Submitted on November 19, 2015 19 at Pasadena, California 20 Filed – December 11, 2015 21 Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California 22 Honorable Peter H. Carroll, Bankruptcy Judge, Presiding 23 24 Appearances: Appellant Margaret Lucille Carswell argued pro se;

Jonathan S. Lieberman of Locke Lord LLP argued for 25 26 * This disposition is not appropriate for publication.

27 Although it may be cited for whatever persuasive value it may have (see Fed. R. App. P. 32.1), it has no precedential value.

28 See 9th Cir. BAP Rule 8024-1.

1 appellees Select Portfolio Servicing Inc. and U.S.

Bank NA, successor in interest to LaSalle Bank NA, 2 as trustee, on behalf of the holders of the WaMu Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 3 2007-OA1. 4 Before: KURTZ, KIRSCHER and TAYLOR, Bankruptcy Judges.

5 INTRODUCTION

6 Chapter 131 debtor Margaret Lucille Carswell appeals from an 7 order dismissing her chapter 13 bankruptcy case. According to 8 Carswell, the bankruptcy court erred as a matter of law, violated 9 her rights as a disabled person, and violated her due process 10 rights, when it refused to continue the plan confirmation hearing 11 at which the court ruled that her case should be dismissed.

12 However, the admissions that Carswell made in her amended 13 chapter 13 plan and in her opening appeal brief establish that 14 Carswell is ineligible to be a chapter 13 debtor, so there is no 15 way that Carswell could have been harmed by the bankruptcy 16 court’s case dismissal order or its denial of her request for a 17 continuance of the plan confirmation hearing.

18 We are sympathetic to the serious health conditions Carswell 19 alleges that she has endured, and we also are sympathetic 20 regarding her desire to have the ability to appear in court 21 (either in person or telephonically) and present her objections 22 to the dismissal of her bankruptcy case. Nonetheless, in light 23 of her admitted ineligibility to be a chapter 13 debtor, nothing 24 25

1

26 Unless specified otherwise, all chapter and section references are to the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1532, and 27 all "Rule" references are to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Rules 1001-9037. All “Civil Rule” references are to 28 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

1 she could have said or done would have changed the outcome 2 regarding her chapter 13 bankruptcy case. On this basis, we 3 AFFIRM the bankruptcy court’s case dismissal order. 4 Carswell also appeals the bankruptcy court’s docket entry 5 closing her adversary proceeding, which docket entry was made on 6 the same day her bankruptcy case was dismissed. We are not 7 persuaded that the docket entry should be treated as a final 8 judgment disposing of the adversary proceeding. In the absence 9 of a final judgment, we lack appellate jurisdiction. Therefore, 10 we REMAND the portion of this appeal arising from this docket 11 entry. On remand, the bankruptcy court will need to enter a 12 final judgment, which should be supported by appropriate 13 findings. 14 FACTS 15 Carswell filed her Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in October 16 2014. The filing was, in essence, a face-sheet filing as it was 17 not accompanied by any schedules or by any statement of financial 18 affairs.2 19 When Carswell filed her schedules and statement of financial 20 affairs roughly fourteen days later, she still did not list on 21 them any real property, any secured debt, any priority unsecured 22 debt or any specific non-priority unsecured debts. As for 23 income, Carswell claimed that her only source of income was $600 24 per month from an income source nebulously referred to as 25 26 2 We can and do take judicial notice of the bankruptcy 27 court’s case and adversary proceeding dockets and the imaged documents attached thereto. See O'Rourke v. Seaboard Sur. Co.

28 (In re E.R. Fegert, Inc.), 887 F.2d 955, 957–58 (9th Cir. 1989).

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