Keyser v. Wasatch Towers Condominium Owners Association, Inc. (In re Keyser)
- Summarized by Brendan Gage , Goulston & Storrs PC
- 12 years 1 month ago
- Citation:
- No. 12-4114 (10th Cir. Nov. 27, 2012)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- Affirming the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, the Tenth Circuit dismissed an appeal by Steven Keyser (“Debtor”) for lack of jurisdiction because his notice of appeal was untimely under Fed. Rul. Bankr. Pro. 8002(a). Under 28 U.S.C. § 158(c)(2), the timeliness of an appeal is set by Rule 8002(a) which requires that a notice of appeal be filed within 14 days of entry of the order appealed from. The Debtor sought to appeal the bankruptcy court’s January 28, 2011, order (“the January Order”) lifting the automatic stay on a condominium unit (“the Unit”) owned by the Debtor which would permit Wasatch Towers Condominium Owners Association, Inc. (“Wasatch”) to continue its state court foreclosure action on the Unit and to pursue any related prepetition claims against the Debtor. However, the Debtor waited until April 23, 2012, to file a notice of appeal, well after the 14-day deadline. The Debtor’s failure to comply with Rule 8002(a) was a jurisdictional defect. Additionally, the court rejected the Debtor’s contention that the bankruptcy court’s order on February 9, 2012, (the “February Order”) indicated that the January Order was not final and appealable as to the question of whether the stay had been lifted. The January Order had only lifted the stay with respect to Wasatch’s prepetition claims against the Debtor relating to the Unit, whereas the February Order provided for an evidentiary hearing on whether Wasatch had violated other portions of the stay that persisted. For example, Wasatch could have violated the stay by pursuing other general prepetition claims against the Debtor. The February Order did not disturb the January Order. Finally, the Debtor’s claims that the January Order failed to specify whether it annulled the stay and that the order improperly granted relief nunc pro tunc, went to the merits of the order, not its finality. The court declined to reach any alternative basis for its holding.
- Procedural context:
- The Debtor appealed the January Order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah. The BAP dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the notice of appeal was untimely. Proceeding pro se, the Debtor appealed the BAP’s dismissal.
- Facts:
- Wasatch collected common expenses from residents at the condominium complex where the Unit was located. Originally, a corporation managed by the Debtor, Ariannus Limitata (“AL”), owned the Unit. When AL failed to pay Wasatch assessments for the Unit, Wasatch recorded a notice of lien and sought to foreclose on the Unit. The Debtor then transferred ownership of the Unit to himself by quitclaim deed and filed for Chapter 7 relief, listing the Unit in his schedules. Wasatch moved for relief from the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(2) so that it could proceed with its foreclosure action. However, the Chapter 7 trustee formally abandoned the Unit as well as all prepetition and postpetition claims relating to it. Since the Unit was no longer part of the bankruptcy estate, the bankruptcy court initially concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to hear Wasatch’s stay relief motion. Subsequently, the Court held that it did in fact have jurisdiction to hear Wasatch’s motion. In the January Order, the court lifted the stay on the Unit nunc pro tunc to the date when the trustee abandoned the property. The court’s February Order directed the parties to set an evidentiary hearing to address whether the stay had been violated. In April, the state court entered a decree of foreclosure which ordered the Unit to be sold by the Sheriff. Eventually, the bankruptcy court entered an order ruling that the stay had not been violated.
- Judge(s):
- Murphy, Ebel, and Hartz, Circuit Judges.
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