William P. Jackson v. United States
- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Dismissed
- Citation:
- 24-6002 (8th Circuit, Oct 25,2024) Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- A debtor's appeal from an order granting a creditor relief from the automatic stay becomes moot if circumstances change so that the court cannot grant any effective relief. Thus, (i) the debtor's failure to obtain a stay pending the appeal of an order granting a creditor relief from the automatic stay became moot when the creditor sold the debtor's property at a court-ordered foreclosure sale and (ii) the debtor's appeal was dismissed.
- Procedural context:
- The debtor filed a Chapter 13 petition the day before court-ordered evictions. The US government moved for relief from the automatic stay, nunc pro tunct, which the bankruptcy court granted. The debtor appealed but did not ask for or obtain a stay pending appeal. The US government sold the debtor's property and then filed a notice with the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel that the debtor's appeal was moot due to the sale.
- Facts:
- William Phillip Jackson, the debtor, had litigated his tax liability with the United States in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Following a jury trial, a judgment was entered against Jackson for $2,396,800.47 plus statutory interest and statutory additions. The district court ordered the foreclosure of tax liens and the sale of four properties owned by Jackson and his wife and ordered the United States to file a motion for approval of a proposed sale order consistent with the jury verdict and the district court's findings. The United States filed the requested motion, which the district court granted on September 9, 2019. Jackson filed various motions to stop or slow down the foreclosure sale, which the district court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit denied.
The United States scheduled evictions for January 24, 2024, and the sale of the four properties for January 25, 2024. Jackson filed a pro se petition for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code on January 23, 2024. The United States did not receive notice of the bankruptcy petition until after it completed the evictions of the four properties and seized personal property that remained at the eviction sites on January 24, 2024. After the United States learned about Jackson's bankruptcy filing, it canceled the January 25, 2024 sale.
Jackson filed a motion for contempt and turnover in the bankruptcy case on January 24, 2024, arguing that the government's actions violated the automatic stay. Five days later, on January 29, 2024, the United States filed a Motion to Lift Automatic Stay Nunc Pro Tunc.
After a hearing on the competing motions, the bankruptcy court granted the government relief from the automatic stay, nunc pro tunc to the date on which Jackson filed his Chapter 13 petition.
Jackson filed a timely appeal but did not ask the bankruptcy court to stay the order pending his appeal.
Nearly three months later, Jackson filed an emergency motion in the federal district court asking the district court to stay the government's auction sale. Before filing a response to Jackson's motion, the government sold the seized property by auction on May 8 and 9, 2024. The government then responded to Jackson's emergency motion, arguing that it was moot. The district court agreed and, on June 13, 2024, entered an order confirming the sales and approving the distributions of the sale proceeds.
The government then filed a report with the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, arguing that the debtor's appeal was moot.
- Judge(s):
- HASTINGS, Chief Judge, SURRATT-STATES, AND CONSTANTINE, Bankruptcy Judges
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