Laurie Ann Harms

• Court: United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. California
• Decided: October 2, 2020
• Docket: 20-41442
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

EDWARD J. EMMONS, CLERK “Sf we □□ □□ Ss. Ef □□□ NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (ee. JF □□ AMM 1 □□□□ □□ □□□□□□□□ ORS 2 The following constitutes the order of the Court. Signed: October 2, 2020 3 4 ; □□ 5 6 William J. Lafferty, III U.S. Bankruptcy Judge 7 8 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 OAKLAND DIVISION 11 12 In re ) Case No. 20-41442 WJL ) Chapter 13 13 || Laurie Ann Harms, ) ) HEARING SCHEDULED 14 ) Date: October 7, 2020 Debtor. ) Time: 9:30 a.m. 15 ) VIA VIDEO/TELECONFERENCE )

17 MEMORANDUM PRIOR TO HEARING 18 The Court writes this Memorandum as a follow-up to the Court’, Order On Application For Services To Persons With Communications 20} Disabilities (Dkt. 21). Because Debtor’s Application For Services To Persons With Communications Disabilities (“Application”) 22] (Dkt. 22) appeared to indicate to the Court that Debtor may expect 23 the Court to address a variety of evidentiary issues at a hearing 24 fon movant NGC Fund I LLC’s (“NGC”) Motion For Relief From Stay And 25 Co-Debtor Stay (“Motion”) (Dkt. 18), scheduled for the 26 |} above-captioned date and time, the Court writes to clarify, 27 |) primarily for the benefit of the Debtor, the limited scope of a 28 |} hearing on such a Motion, and the issues likely to be addressed at

1 the hearing. 2 Upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition, a bankruptcy estate 3 is created, and an automatic stay goes into effect. A bankruptcy 4 estate includes “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in 5 property as of the commencement of the case.” 11 U.S.C. § 6 541(a)(1). The automatic stay applies to all property of the 7 bankruptcy estate, and bars creditors from taking any action 8 against property of the bankruptcy estate, and stays all litigation 9 against the debtor. 11 U.S.C. § 362. 10 The main question the Court must address at the hearing on 11 NGC’s Motion is whether NGC has demonstrated that there is cause to 12 lift the automatic stay as to the state court unlawful detainer 13 action that has been pending, per NGC’s Motion, since February 15, 14 2019. Without intending this Memorandum to constitute a tentative 15 ruling, the Court notes that “[a]mong factors appropriate to 16 consider in determining whether relief from the automatic stay 17 should be granted to allow state court proceedings to continue are 18 considerations of judicial economy and the expertise of the state 19 court.” Kronemyer v. American Contractors Indemnity Co. (In re 20 Kronemyer), 405 B.R. 915, 921 (9th Cir. BAP 2009). Employing this 21 analysis, at a hearing for a motion for relief from stay to permit 22 a state court to continue a proceeding commenced before the 23 bankruptcy filing, on a matter that the state court is competent to 24 determine, it will not be for this Court to determine any of the 25 merits underlying the state court unlawful detainer action. The 26 only ruling for this Court to make at a hearing on NGC’s Motion is 27 whether there is reason to restrain the state court from continuing 28 with its own proceedings. 1 To the extent that Debtor contests the legitimacy of any 2 underlying foreclosure sale which preceded the state court unlawful 3 detainer action, or any actions related to such a sale, those 4 arguments relate to the merits of the unlawful detainer action, and 5 not to the hearing on NGC’s Motion. Moreover, the automatic stay 6 would normally neither restrain the Debtor from vigorously 7 contesting the unlawful detainer action, nor, in many cases, from 8 pursuing meritorious claims, if any, against parties liable for an 9 improper foreclosure. And the existence or pursuit of such claims 10 would not ordinarily have any effect on the Court’s ruling on a 11 motion for relief from stay. 12 13 14 *END OF MEMORANDUM* 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 COURT SERVICE LIST 2 Laurie Ann Harms 400 Del Antico Avenue 3 #1211 Oakley, CA 94561 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28