Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-13-03638/USCOURTS-ca8-13-03638-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
City of Sioux City
Appellee
Civic Partners Sioux City, LLC
Appellant
First National Bank
Appellee
Main Street Theaters, Inc.
Appellee
Main Street-Sioux City, Inc.
Appellee
Northwest Bank
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 13-3636

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In re: Civic Partners Sioux City, LLC

lllllllllllllllllllllDebtor

------------------------------

Civic Partners Sioux City, LLC

lllllllllllllllllllllAppellant

v.

Main Street Theaters, Inc.; Main Street-Sioux City, Inc.; Steven Semingson;

Northwest Bank, successor by merger with First National Bank; City of Sioux City

lllllllllllllllllllllAppellees

___________________________

No. 13-3638

___________________________

In re: Civic Partners Sioux City, LLC

lllllllllllllllllllllDebtor

------------------------------

Civic Partners Sioux City, LLC

lllllllllllllllllllllAppellant

Appellate Case: 13-3638 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/03/2015 Entry ID: 4249945 
v.

Main Street Theaters, Inc.; Main Street-Sioux City, Inc.; Northwest Bank,

successor by merger with First National Bank; City of Sioux City

lllllllllllllllllllllAppellees

____________

Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy

 Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit

____________

 Submitted: October 7, 2014

 Filed: March 3, 2015

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Before MURPHY, SMITH, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

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GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.

Debtor Civic Partners Sioux City, LLC (“Civic”) appeals four orders of the

bankruptcy court. We dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. 1

As part of a redevelopment project partially financed by Sioux City, Iowa (the

“City”), Civic borrowed money from Northwest Bank (the “Bank”) to build a movietheater complex. Main Street Theaters, Inc. (“Main Street”) leased the theater space

in 2004. Because of various problems, Main Street did not fully pay its rent to Civic,

and Civic did not fully make its loan payments to the Bank. After mediation, Civic

and Main Street agreed on an amended lease thatsubstantially lowered Main Street’s

The Honorable Thad J. Collins, Chief Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court

1

for the Northern District of Iowa.

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rent. Nonetheless, difficulties continued. Eventually, Civic filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy. 

In bankruptcy court, Civic filed a plan of reorganization. As part of the plan,

Civic argued that the court should subordinate the interests of the Bank and the City

because they had defrauded Civic into accepting the amended lease. After Civic

moved for a ruling that the original, 2004 lease with Main Street applied, the

bankruptcy court issued two orders deciding that the amended lease applied. Civic

moved for reconsideration, which the court denied. Civic then appealed the two lease

orders and the denial of reconsideration to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (the

“BAP”). On February 1, 2013, the BAP ruled that Civic’s appeal was improperly

interlocutory and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 158(a), (c)(1). 

Civic did not appeal that ruling.

Civic filed a second plan, which restated the fraud argument. The bankruptcy

court denied confirmation of the second plan and rejected the fraud argument. The

court, however, did not dismiss the bankruptcy petition. Civic then appealed this new

order and—again—the three earlier orders. The BAP again dismissed for lack of

jurisdiction. Civic now appeals all four ordersto this court—the two lease orders, the

denial of reconsideration of those two orders, and the denial of the second plan’s

confirmation.

With exceptions not relevant here, our jurisdiction over appeals from the BAP

is limited to appeals from “final decisions, judgments, orders, and decrees.” Id.

§ 158(d). For this purpose, “a determination of the [BAP] is not ‘final’ unless the

underlying order of the bankruptcy court is final.” In re Popkin & Stern,

105 F.3d 1248, 1250 (8th Cir. 1997) (quoting In re Flor, 79 F.3d 281, 283 (2d Cir.

1996)). “Accordingly, jurisdiction to hear the merits . . . rests on whether the

bankruptcy court issued a final, appealable order.” In re Gaines, 932 F.2d 729, 731

(8th Cir. 1991). Further, the “[t]imely filing” of a notice of appeal “‘is mandatory and

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jurisdictional.’” United States v. Stute Co., Inc., 402 F.3d 820, 822 (8th Cir. 2005)

(quoting United States v. Fitzgerald, 109 F.3d 1339, 1342 (8th Cir. 1997)). Here, we

lack jurisdiction to review any of the four orders. 

The three earlier, lease-related orders were deemed non-final by the BAP on

February 1, 2013. Civic invokes our jurisdiction only by arguing that the three orders

were final. But even assuming the orders were final, Civic had only thirty days after

February 1, 2013 to appeal them to us. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A), 6(b)(1). Civic did

not appeal within that time, and so we lack jurisdiction.

We also lack jurisdiction to review the fourth order, which denied confirmation

of Civic’s second plan. In Lewis v. United States, Farmers Home Administration,

992 F.2d 767 (8th Cir. 1993), we held that “bankruptcy orders denying confirmation

of a proposed plan but not dismissing the underlying petition are nonfinal decisions

not subject to appeal.” Id. at 772. Fifteen years later, we repeated that “[u]nder

Eighth Circuit law, which is consistent with the views of other circuits, an order

denying confirmation of a plan, which does not dismiss the case, is not a final order

and cannot be appealed.” In re Zahn, 526 F.3d 1140, 1143 (8th Cir. 2008). The

bankruptcy court has not dismissed Civic’s petition. It is thus clear that we cannot

review the denial of Civic’s second plan. To the extent that Civic’s reply brief urges

us to review the bankruptcy court’s rejection of the fraud claims, a ruling contained

within the plan denial, Lewis forecloses that possibility as well. Cf. Lewis,

992 F.2d at 769-771, 774 (finding plan denial not appealable where denial also

included ruling on underlying issue).

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This appeal is dismissed.2

______________________________

Immediately after Civic appealed to this court, the Bank filed a motion to 2

dismiss and a separate motion for damages and costs. See Fed. R. App. P. 38. 

Presumably because it was filed immediately, the latter motion did not identify or

itemize the amounts requested. Having now effectively granted the motion to

dismiss, we deny the motion for damages and costs without prejudice to refiling such

a motion in accordance with Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 38 and 39 and 8th

Circuit Rule 39A. 

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