Washington v. US Bank Natl Assoc. (In re Washington)
- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Affirmed
- Citation:
- 25-30410 (5th Circuit, Mar 27,2026) Not Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the lower courts' rulings that the automatic stay was not violated when the debtor's mortgage servicer went forward with a foreclosure sale after the debtor filed his third bankruptcy case within a one-year period after his first two cases were dismissed. The Court found that the language of 11 U.S.C. 362(c)(4)(A)(i) is sufficiently clear to establish that no stay was in effect when the foreclosure sale occurred, and that the servicer did not need to obtain the kind of order authorized by (but not required by) 11 U.S.C. 362(c)(4)(A)(ii) before the sale.
- Procedural context:
- Mortgage servicer filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by an individual mortgage borrower that challenged the servicer's foreclosure sale of his property and sought $6 million in damages for willful violation of the automatic stay. The district court referred the case to the bankruptcy court, which granted the servicer's motion to dismiss. The district court affirmed and denied a request for reconsideration.
- Facts:
- Borrower filed six bankruptcy cases between 2015 and May 19, 2022; each of his cases was dismissed. The last three cases were filed and pending within a one-year period of each other, with his final case filed the morning of May 19, 2022, before a foreclosure sale scheduled for later that day. The mortgage servicer went forward with the foreclosure sale despite the bankruptcy filing, presumably in reliance on 11 USC 362(a)(c)(4)(A)(i). The borrower-debtor sued the servicer and the foreclosure-sale buyer in federal district court to set aside the sale and for $6MM in damages for an alleged violation of the automatic stay.
- Judge(s):
- Richman, Southwick, and Willett
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