Kimberly Richmond Hardy

United States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California·Decided April 21, 2022·No. 6:22-bk-11277·Unknown

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

FILED & ENTERED

APR 21 2022

C CL enE tR raK l U D. iS st. r B icA t N ofK CR aU liP foT rC nY ia COURT BY g o o c h DEPUTY CLERK

In re: Case No.: 6:22-bk-11277-WJ

KIMBERLY HARDY, CHAPTER 13

Debtor. MEMORANDUM OF DECISION REGARDING AUTOMATIC STAY MOTION

Hearing: Date: April 20, 2022 Time: 2:30 p.m. Crtrm.: 304 Kimberly Hardy (“Debtor”), entitled “Notice of Motion and Motion In Individual Case For Order Imposing A Stay or Continuing The Automatic Stay as the Court Deems Appropriate” [docket #12] (“Motion”). All appearances were noted on the record. The hearing concluded on April 20, 2022 and the Court took the matter under submission. For the following reasons, the Court hereby denies the Motion. The bankruptcy court has jurisdiction over the Motion pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 157(b) and 1334(b). The Motion is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157(b)(2)(A). Venue is appropriate in this Court. 28 U.S.C. § 1409(a). II. THE MOVANT FAILED TO PROPERLY SERVE THE MOTION. The Court hereby denies the Motion for four service-related reasons. First, the Debtor has not served creditors in a timely fashion. In this case, the Debtor asks in paragraph 1(c) on page 3 of the Motion for “an order imposing a stay as to all creditors.” (original emphasis). Paragraph 1(e) on the same page of the Motion asks for “an order continuing the automatic stay as to all creditors.” (original emphasis). Similarly, paragraph 4 of the prayer of the Motion on page 9 asks that the Court issue an order that “a Stay be imposed as to all creditors until further order of the court.” Rule 9014(a) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (“F.R.B.P.”) governs motions in bankruptcy cases and provides (among other things) that “relief shall be requested by motion, and reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing shall be afforded the party against whom relief is sought.” Pursuant to Rule 9013-1(d)(1) of the local bankruptcy rules, parties who file motions must file and serve the motions at least 21 days prior to the hearing. In this case, the Debtor filed and served the Motion on April 12, 2022 and set the matter for a hearing for April 20, 2022. However, notice of only eight days does not satisfy the local rules. seven days notice (without an order shortening time) provided that the moving party served the Motion by personal delivery or overnight delivery. Unfortunately, that did not occur in this case. The proof of service attached to the Motion indicates that the Debtor served the Motion by regular mail on at least eleven of the creditors1 eight days before the hearing. Again, that does not comply with either the local rules or this Court’s self-calendaring guidelines. Second, service of the Motion was defective for another reason. Specifically, F.R.B.P. Rule 9014 governs motions in bankruptcy cases and provides (among other things) that motions “shall be served in the manner provided for service of a summons and complaint by Rule 7004 . . . .” F.R.B.P. Rule 9014(b). Rule 7004(b)(3) requires that service of a motion upon a business entity must be mailed “to the attention of an officer, a managing or general agent, or to any other agent authorized by appointment or law to receive service of process . . . .” In this case, the Debtor did not comply with these rules. As set forth on the proof of service attached to the Motion, the Debtor did not serve at least eight creditors (Capital One, N.A., CB of America, Credit First National Association, First Premier Bank, Franchise Tax Board, the Internal Revenue Service, Navient and U.S. Department of Education) upon an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by appointment or law to receive service of process and such service is defective.2 Service that is not upon an officer is void. Beneficial Cal., Inc. v. Villar (In re Villar), 317 B.R. 88, 93 (9th Cir. BAP 2004) (reversing an order granting lien avoidance under section 522(f) and holding that service of a 522(f) motion upon “Beneficial, P.O. Box 60101, City of Industry, CA 91716-0101” did not comply with Rule 7004(b)(3) and stating that “service was insufficient under the plain words of Rule 7004(b)(3). In order to assure that the party being served is apprised of the pendency of an action, valid service requires more than to address the 1 As set forth on the proof of service, the following eleven creditors were served by regular mail: Aargon Agency, Inc., Capital One, National Association, CB of America, Credit First National Association, First Premier Bank, Franchise Tax Board, Hilton Resorts Corp., the Internal Revenue Service, Navient, Powerstone Property Management and U.S. Department of Education. See Motion, page 11 of 39 to page 14 of 39. 2 See Motion, page 11 of 39 to page 14 of 39. (D.N.J. 2012) (holding that a confirmed chapter 13 plan which sought to cramdown a mortgage on real property was not binding upon the secured creditor because the debtor failed to serve an officer as required by Rule 7004(h) and, instead, only served the creditor as follows: “BAC Home Loans/Countrywide 450 American Street, #SV416 Simi Valley, CA 93065, and Bank of America, 4161 Piedmont Pkwy NC4-105-01-34, Greensboro, NC 27410-8119.”); York v. Bank of America, N.A. (In re York), 291 B.R. 806, 811 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. 2003) (holding that “the original summons was not addressed to an officer by either name or title. As a result, it was not proper service under Rule 7004(b)(3).”); Braden v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 142 B.R. 317 (Bankr. E.D. Ark. 1992) (holding that service of a complaint by a debtor upon “the defendant General Motors Acceptance Corporation . . . at ‘P.O. Box 988, Blytheville, AR 72315’” failed to comply with Rule 7004(b)(3)); see also In re Bolden, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 699 (Bankr. M.D.N.C. 2014) (holding that service of a 522(f) motion upon “Main Street Acquisition Corp., 3715 Davinci Court, Suite 200, Norcross, GA 30092” did not comply with Rule 7004(b)(3) because no officer or individual was served); In re St. Louis, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 3397 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 2013) (holding that the debtor failed to comply with Rule 7004 when it served an objection to a claim as follows: “Home Loan Services, Inc. c/o Home Loan Services, Inc., PA9150-01-01, at 150 Allegheny Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15212” because no officer or individual was served); In re Smith, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6174, *13 (Bankr. E.D. Cal. 2012) (holding that a debtor who served a motion to extend the automatic stay failed to comply with Rule 7004(h) because the debtor served the motion upon “‘Wells Fargo Home Mortgage/ACS’ by First Class Mail, not addressed to the attention of an officer, and sent to a Post Office Box in Des Moines, Iowa.”); In re Sun Healthcare Group, Inc. v. Mead Johnson Nutritional (In re Sun Healthcare Group, Inc.), 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 572, *18 (Bankr. D.Del. 2004) (granting a motion to set aside default judgments because the debtor plaintiff did not serve an officer of the defendant and only used a post office box and stating “the Debtors have admitted serving Mead only at P.O. Box 751735, Charlotte, NC 28275, without addressing the documents to the attention of any officer, managing or general agent of Mead. Mead asserts that . Failure to address the service of process to the attention of an officer or agent of Mead violates the statutory requirements of Bankruptcy Rule 7004(b)(3).”). Third, at least two of the credito

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