Shek v. Hoskins (In re Shek)

Summarized by Jon Powers , White and Williams LLP
11 years 3 months ago

Citation:

BAP No. NC-13-1331-JuKuPa (unpublished)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Bankruptcy court did not err in dismissing pro se Chapter 7 Debtor's case for failing to timely file schedules and statement of financial affairs after Debtor was given multiple extensions of time over a period of six months after the petition date and was provided adequate notice that failure to timely file would result in dismissal. No exception to the automatic dismissal provisions in Section 521(i) applied.

Procedural context:

Appeal to the Ninth Circuit BAP from a bankruptcy court order dismissing Debtor's Chapter 7 debtor's case for failing to timely file schedules and statement of financial affairs.

Facts:

Debtor filed a bare bones petition under Chapter 7 in December 2012. The Court issued an Order directing Debtor to timely file schedules and SOFA, or case may be dismissed, and that case would be automatically dismissed if Debtor did not file documents or request an extension within 45 days of the petition date. Debtor timely filed a first request for extension, which was granted. After the Debtor failed to file the required papers before the extended deadline, the case was dismissed. Debtor filed a Motion to Reopen and Reconsider, which the Court granted, setting another deadline and warning that the case would again be dismissed if it was missed. At the hearing, the trustee asked that the dischargeability deadline also be extended, which Debtor agreed to on the record. After the hearing, the Debtor filed a motion to reconsider the extension of the nondischargeability deadline, asserting conditioning reopening on such an extension raised due process concerns. The bankruptcy court rejected the argument at a hearing, but once again extended the deadline to file the schedules (now set for the middle of June 2013) based on Debtor's claim that he was having difficulty getting his accountant to respond to him--again warning that this would be the last extension. The Debtor failed to meet the deadline, and an order dismissing the case was entered the day after the deadline. The same day the order was entered, the Debtor filed his schedules and a motion to extend the deadline.

Judge(s):

Jury, Kurtz, and Pappas, Bankruptcy Judges

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