Riverwood Gas and Oil, LLC v. Bureau of Land Mgmt. (In re Riverwood Gas & Oil, LLC)

601 B.R. 685
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California
DecidedApril 3, 2019
DocketCase No.: 2:16-bk-25483-NB; Adv. No. 2:18-ap-01057-NB
StatusPublished

This text of 601 B.R. 685 (Riverwood Gas and Oil, LLC v. Bureau of Land Mgmt. (In re Riverwood Gas & Oil, LLC)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riverwood Gas and Oil, LLC v. Bureau of Land Mgmt. (In re Riverwood Gas & Oil, LLC), 601 B.R. 685 (Cal. 2019).

Opinion

Neil W. Bason, United States Bankruptcy Judge

The Second Amended Complaint (adv. dkt. 30, Ex.1, "SAC") asserts a single claim for relief against Defendant, the Bureau of Land Management (the "BLM"), for alleged violation of the automatic stay of § 362(a).1 Plaintiff ("Debtor") asserts that acts taken by the BLM to terminate certain oil and gas leases of public land (the "BLM Leases") were void for violation of the automatic stay because those acts occurred after Debtor filed its voluntary bankruptcy petition on November 23, 2016 (the "Petition Date").

For the reasons set forth below, this Court will issue a separate order granting the BLM's motion to dismiss the SAC ("MTD," adv. dkt. 36). Because the grounds for dismissal apparently cannot be cured, the tentative ruling is to dismiss the SAC without leave to amend - this Court will address that issue with the parties, and any other procedural issues such as whether to defer issuing the order implementing this Memorandum Decision, at a continued hearing on April 9, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.2

1. JURISDICTION, VENUE AND AUTHORITY

This Bankruptcy Court has jurisdiction, and venue is proper, under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 1408. In addition, for the following reasons this Court also has the authority to issue a "final" order on the MTD.

The SAC fails to "contain a statement" about whether Debtor "does or does not consent to entry of final orders of judgment by the bankruptcy court," as required by Rule 7008 (Fed. R. Bankr. P.). Nevertheless, this Bankruptcy Court concludes that it does have the authority to *689enter a final judgment or order because the SAC's sole claim is for enforcement of the automatic stay to protect Debtor's (alleged) property interests. Such claims are both statutorily and constitutionally "core." See 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(A), (E) & (O) ; and see generally Stern v. Marshall , 564 U.S. 462, 131 S.Ct. 2594, 180 L.Ed.2d 475 (2011) ; In re AWTR Liquidation, Inc. , 547 B.R. 831 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2016) (discussing Stern ); In re Deitz , 469 B.R. 11 (9th Cir. BAP 2012) (same); In re Ames Dept. Stores, Inc., 542 B.R. 121, 141 & nn. 60, 67 & 79 (Bankr. SDNY 2015) (automatic stay issues are core).

Alternatively, "[e]ven in a non-core proceeding, this Bankruptcy Court can issue final rulings on pretrial matters, including claim-dispositive motions, that do not require factual findings." AWTR Liquidation, Inc. , 547 B.R. 831, 839-40 (citations omitted). No factual findings are required on BLM's MTD, so this Court can issue a final order on that motion.

2. STANDARDS ON MOTION TO DISMISS

On a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim (Rule 12(b)(6), incorporated by Rule 7012), this Court generally must accept all factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Doe v. United States , 419 F.3d 1058, 1062 (9th Cir. 2005). But such factual allegations must be "plausible." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ).

This Court must consider not only the SAC itself, but also any documents incorporated into the complaint and matters of which a court may take judicial notice. Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322, 127 S.Ct. 2499, 168 L.Ed.2d 179 (2007).

3. AUTOMATIC STAY

Section 362(a) provides, subject to certain exceptions, that a bankruptcy petition "operates as a stay, applicable to all entities," of various acts. The SAC does not specify what portion of § 362(a) the BLM is alleged to have violated. This Court will focus on the emphasized text quoted below, because there does not appear to be any theory under which the other subsections would be applicable.

The automatic stay bars:

(1) the commencement or continuation, including the issuance or employment of process, of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case under this title, or to recover a claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title;
(2) the enforcement, against the debtor or against property of the estate, of a judgment obtained before the commencement of the case under this title;
(3) any act to obtain possession of property of the estate or of property from the estate or to exercise control over property of the estate;

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Related

Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd.
551 U.S. 308 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Stern v. Marshall
131 S. Ct. 2594 (Supreme Court, 2011)
Doe v. United States
419 F.3d 1058 (Ninth Circuit, 2005)
Solidus Networks, Inc. v. Excel Innovations, Inc.
502 F.3d 1086 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Deitz v. Ford (In Re Deitz)
469 B.R. 11 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Coronado Oil Co. v. United States Department of Interior
415 F. Supp. 2d 1339 (D. Wyoming, 2006)
United States v. Inslaw, Inc.
932 F.2d 1467 (D.C. Circuit, 1991)
Robinson v. Salazar
838 F. Supp. 2d 1006 (E.D. California, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
601 B.R. 685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riverwood-gas-and-oil-llc-v-bureau-of-land-mgmt-in-re-riverwood-gas-cacb-2019.