Sullivan Central Plaza I Ltd. v. BancBoston Real Estate Capital Corp.

106 B.R. 931, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13192, 1989 WL 131625
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedOctober 11, 1989
DocketNo. Civ. A.-89-1357-T
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 106 B.R. 931 (Sullivan Central Plaza I Ltd. v. BancBoston Real Estate Capital Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sullivan Central Plaza I Ltd. v. BancBoston Real Estate Capital Corp., 106 B.R. 931, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13192, 1989 WL 131625 (N.D. Tex. 1989).

Opinion

ORDER DISMISSING BANKRUPTCY APPEAL

MALONEY, District Judge.

On June 14, 1989, Appellee filed its Motion to Dismiss Bankruptcy Appeal. Appellants filed their response and request for remand on July 5, 1989. Appellee filed its opposition to the request for remand on July 12, 1989.

This is an appeal from two orders of the Bankruptcy Court dated March 3, 1989, terminating the automatic stay provision of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) and a March 29, 1989 order denying a motion for reconsideration. Appellee moves the Court to dismiss this appeal because the Court can no longer grant effective relief to Appellant. The Court, having considered Appellee’s motion and the Appellants’ response thereto, is of the opinion that it can not grant any relief and therefore this appeal is moot.1

[932]*932BACKGROUND

On June 10, 1985, Appellant Sullivan Central Plaza I, Ltd., (“Debtor”), executed a promissory note in favor of Appellee BancBoston Real Estate Capital Corporation (“BancBoston”), on the face amount of $39,000,000. The note was secured by a 16-story office building known as the Metropolitan Financial Tower (“Tower”). Debtor failed to pay the interest installments and the Tower was posted for an August 2, 1988 foreclosure sale. On August 1, 1988, Debtor and BancBoston entered an agreement to forebear foreclosure. The agreement subsequently fell through and the property was posted for foreclosure on September 6, 1988. Consequently, Debtor filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court on September 6, 1988, preventing the foreclosure.

On December 9, 1988, BancBoston filed its motion for termination of automatic stay and demand for adequate protection. After several extensive hearings in January and February, on February 27, 1989, the Bankruptcy Court concluded that the automatic stay arising under 11 U.S.C. § 362 should be terminated with respect to BancBoston’s foreclosure of the Tower. The Bankruptcy Court’s order was entered on the docket in March 3, 1989. On March 16, 1989, Appellants sought reconsideration which was denied on March 29, 1989. Appellants subsequently filed their notice of appeal on March 31, 1989.

After Appellants sought this appeal, the Tower was posted for a June 6, 1989, foreclosure. Appellants filed an emergency motion for stay pending appeal on May 25, 1989. That motion was denied by this Court on June 2, 1989. The Tower was sold at foreclosure to Dallas Central Development Corporation, a corporation indirectly affiliated with BancBoston, on June 6, 1989.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

BancBoston contends that Appellants’ appeal should be dismissed under the mootness doctrine. Specifically, BancBoston argues that because the Tower was sold at foreclosure and Debtor has no right of redemption, there is no effective relief which this Court can grant Appellants, even if they prevail on the merits of this appeal.

Appellants respond that the appeal is not moot because the mootness doctrine does not apply and that BancBoston failed to use “good faith” in the foreclosure. Appellants argue that BancBoston failed to use good faith as a matter of law, or in the alternative, that the Court should remand this action to the Bankruptcy Court for a determination of whether good faith was used in the foreclosure of the Tower. Appellants raise two points in questioning whether good faith was used. First, on March 13, 1989, BancBoston assigned the deed of trust to Dallas Central Development Corporation, an affiliate, after the order terminating the stay was entered but prior to the foreclosure, and that it was Dallas Central which actually foreclosed on the property. Second, Dallas Central made a credit bid of $29.5 million for the Tower, which was substantially less than the $35 million value that the Bankruptcy Court determined the Tower was worth.2

DISCUSSION

The general rule is well-settled that a debtor’s failure to obtain a stay pending appeal renders an appeal moot if assets in which the creditor had in interest are sold in foreclosure. See Matter of First Mortgage Atrium Building, Ltd., 92 B.R. 202 (E.D.Tex.1988). See also In re Onouli-Kona Land Co., 846 F.2d 1170 (9th Cir.1988) (mootness rule applies when applicant has failed to obtain a stay from an order that permits sale of debtor’s assets); Matter of Bleaufontaine, Inc., 634 F.2d 1383 (5th Cir.1981) (where no stay of sale order [933]*933is obtained, appellate court cannot affect sale and appeal is dismissed as moot); Official Committee of Senior Unsecured Creditors of First RepublicBank Corporation v. First RepublicBank Corporation, 106 B.R. 938 (N.D.Tex.1989).

In Matter of First Mortgage, Judge Schell discussed in great detail the origins of the mootness doctrine. In bankruptcy, the mootness doctrine arises in both a statutory and non-statutory context. The statutory basis of the doctrine is found in 11 U.S.C. § 363(m), which provides in pertinent part:

The reversal or modification on appeal of an authorization under subsection (b) or (c) of this section of a sale or lease of property does not affect the validity of a sale or lease under such authorization to an entity that purchased or leased such property in good faith, whether or not such entity knew of the pendency of the appeal, unless such authorization and such sale or lease were stayed pending appeal.

That section recognizes that a sale should not be undone once consummated, absent a lack of good faith on the part of the purchaser. However, § 363(m) does not apply to other foreclosure sales in bankruptcy proceedings, such as may occur when the bankruptcy court lifts the automatic stay, allowing the creditor to foreclose its lien. Id. at 204.

The non-statutory mootness doctrine was originally premised on the notion that an appellate court was unable to fashion relief to a debtor once a foreclosure sale had occurred. However, a second principle has furthered the rationale for the mootness doctrine, finality. This principle provides finality to orders of bankruptcy courts and protects good faith purchasers. Id. at 203.

The parameters of the non-statutory mootness rule have not been expressly examined by the Fifth Circuit in a bankruptcy context. However, Judge Schell found, in reviewing the law of the circuits which have addressed the mootness issue, that the Ninth Circuit recognizes a narrow exception for cases in which real property is sold to a creditor who is a party to the appeal. See In re Onouli-Kona Land Co., 846 F.2d 1170. However, the Eleventh Circuit has rejected any exception, even where a creditor purchases property at foreclosure is a party to the appeal. Markstein v. Massey Associates, Ltd., 763 F.2d 1325, 1327 (11th Cir.1985).

After careful consideration, Judge Schell held that in the absence of any Fifth Circuit authority he believed the Fifth Circuit would frame the issue as follows:

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106 B.R. 931, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13192, 1989 WL 131625, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sullivan-central-plaza-i-ltd-v-bancboston-real-estate-capital-corp-txnd-1989.