At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court ordered the parties to file proposed findings and conclusions. Upon receipt, the matter was taken under advisement. There is no per se rule against successive filings except as provided under the Bankruptcy Code. Instead, a petition and a proposed plan of reorganization each must be filed in good faith. The bankruptcy court must be concerned whether or not there was a strategy behind the subsequent filings to frustrate statutory requirements and abuse the bankruptcy process.
Good faith is a factual determination.
The court should examine the 'totality' of the circumstances surrounding the filing. Violations of the Code or an order include self-dealing and asset manipulation without court approval. Upon consideration of the statutes and case law discussed above, this Court concludes that Debtor's second Chapter 11 petition was not filed in good faith and must be dismissed. Several facts support this conclusion. First, Debtor and Lake Region's financial picture has not changed appreciably since the first cases were dismissed a year ago.