Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_13-cv-00946/USCOURTS-casd-3_13-cv-00946-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 480
Nature of Suit: Consumer Credit
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

OLANDA CROCKETT,

Plaintiff,

CASE NO. 3:13-CV-946-LAB-DHB

ORDER RE: AUTOMATIC STAY

vs.

GE CAPITAL RETAIL BANK, and DOES

1 through 100, inclusive,,

Defendants.

Plaintiff has notified the Court that she has filed for bankruptcy, and she invokes the

automatic stay provision of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), to suggest that this

case is stayed. This is wrong. 

The automatic stay provision doesn’t cover cases, like this one, in which the debtor

is a plaintiff. In re Palmdale Hills Property, LLC, 654 F.3d 868, 875 (9th Cir. 2011) (“The stay

does not prevent a plaintiff/debtor from continuing to prosecute its own claims nor does it

prevent a defendant from protecting its interests against claims brought by the debtor.”);

Martin-Trigona v. Champion Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 892 F.2d 575, 577 (7th Cir. 1989) (“For

in any event the automatic stay is inapplicable to suits by the bankrupt (‘debtor,’ as he is now

called . . . .”). 

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Case 3:13-cv-00946-LAB-DHB Document 12 Filed 05/10/13 Page 1 of 2
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Plaintiff is free to seek a stay on other grounds, see Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S. 770,

776 (1987), but the Court finds no authority for staying this case under § 362(a) of the

Bankruptcy Code. Absent some better explanation as to why the automatic stay provision

of the Code applies here, Plaintiff must either pursue this case or drop it. Magistrate Judge

Bartick may reinstate the pretrial dates in this case.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: May 10, 2013

HONORABLE LARRY ALAN BURNS

United States District Judge

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Case 3:13-cv-00946-LAB-DHB Document 12 Filed 05/10/13 Page 2 of 2