Kennedy v. Client Services, Inc.

Opinion

Wee hh | 93 a | 2 ne teneed 3 a PHET 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 || EDGAR KENNEDY, Case No.: 3:19-cv-1274-BEN-AGS 10 Plaintit, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S 11 jv. MOTION TO STAY 12 || CLIENT SERVICES, INC., [Doc. 9] 13 Defendant. 14 15 Plaintiff Edgar Kennedy moves under 11 U.S.C. § 362 to stay proceedings in this 16 Debt Collection Practices Act matter because of his Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. 17 ||Under § 362(a), subject to limited exceptions, the filing of a petition for bankruptcy 18 || automatically stays various acts and proceedings against a debtor and against the property 19 || of the estate. Here, however, the action is not against the debtor or the estate because it is 20 || Plaintiff who has filed for bankruptcy. See In re Merrick, 175 B.R. 333 (9th Cir. BAP 21 1994) (“It is clear that § 362 does not stay the hand of the trustee from continuing to 22 || prosecute a pre-bankruptcy lawsuit instituted by the debtor.”); In re Mitchell, 206 B.R. 204, 23 |}212 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1997) (“Section 362 stay does not apply where, as here, the debtor 24 |\is the plaintiff in a lawsuit.”). The motion to stay is DINIED. 25 ITISSO ORDERED. 26 paren fife 3/ 2019 7 HON. ER T. BENITEZ Urtited States District Judge 28