Opinion ID: 1953254
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: mortgage foreclosure action

Text: On April 23,1985, The Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers) filed a petition in the district court for Otoe County to foreclose a mortgage it held to secure a loan to the Baltenspergers. Travelers named several junior lienholders as defendants, including appellee First National Bank of Syracuse (First National) and appellee the United States, by and through the Small Business Administration and the Farmers Home Administration. Appellees Edward D. Baltensperger and Hannelore E. Baltensperger intervened and stated that they had an interest in one of the parcels due to a written purchase option. First National filed a cross-petition seeking to foreclose its second mortgage on the Travelers land and to foreclose its first lien on two additional parcels. Ultimately, the foreclosure action involved eight parcels of land in Otoe County. A decree was entered in the foreclosure action on February 21, 1986, finding that all eight parcels of land were subject to valid liens and providing for the sale of all eight parcels to satisfy the liens. The Baltenspergers filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on May 9, 1986, and the automatic stay prevented the foreclosure sale from proceeding. However, the Baltenspergers entered into a stipulation with Travelers on July 30, consenting to the release of the eight parcels of land from the automatic stay. On October 15, 1986, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska entered an order which stated: Upon written stipulation of the Baltenspergers and The Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers) filed in this proceeding on the 9th day of October, 1986, it is hereby ORDERED that relief is granted from the automatic stay with respect to Real Estate described as [the eight parcels of land]. With relief from the stay, an order of sale was entered on February 6, 1987. On March 13, the Baltensperger Farm Partnership filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. That same day, the Baltenspergers filed a suggestion of bankruptcy in the Otoe County District Court, and the foreclosure sale was again stayed. Upon motions for relief from the automatic stay by Travelers and First National, the bankruptcy court entered an order granting relief on May 29, 1987, as to the eight parcels. The bankruptcy court's order stated that the Baltensperger Farm Partnership Chapter 11 filing was an apparent attempt to delay a sheriffs sale in a pending foreclosure action. On November 6, 1987, the Otoe County District Court entered an order allowing Travelers and First National to proceed with the sheriffs sale. The sale was completed on December 21. Purchasers included appellees Larry and Carol Volkmer, John and Rita Stukenholtz, LeRoy and Velda Kreifels, and Edward D. and Hannelore Baltensperger. In their brief, appellees Clint and Kim Kreifels state that they obtained their interest in the land from LeRoy and Velda Kreifels. On January 27, 1988, Travelers filed an amended motion to confirm the sale. In its motion, Travelers stated that the sale was in all respects conducted in conformity with the law. Acting pro se, the Baltenspergers filed a resistance to the amended motion to confirm the sale. The Baltenspergers asserted: Travelers failed to foreclose the debtors in possession, and therefore, the real estate remained in the bankruptcy estate; the order lifting the automatic stay as to Travelers failed to release the property from the bankruptcy estate; First National failed to receive an order lifting the automatic stay; and the Otoe County District Court lacked jurisdiction. The Baltenspergers asserted numerous other objections, such as unclean hands and fraud. The district court confirmed the sale on February 9, 1988, and held that the sale was in all respects fairly conducted and in conformity with the law. The Baltenspergers appealed the district court's order overruling their resistance to the confirmation of the sale to this court. When cases are interwoven and interdependent and the controversy involved has already been considered and determined by the court in the former proceedings involving one of the parties now before it, the court has a right to examine its own records and take judicial notice of its own proceedings and judgments in the former action. Association of Commonwealth Claimants v. Moylan, 246 Neb. 88, 517 N.W.2d 94 (1994); Kopecky v. National Farms, Inc., 244 Neb. 846, 510 N.W.2d 41 (1994). We take judicial notice of our records of the Baltenspergers' first appeal, which was affirmed without opinion. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Baltensperger, 229 Neb. xxii (case No. 88-206, June 16, 1988). Continuing to act pro se, the Baltenspergers perfected their appeal and assigned six errors. Inter alia, the Baltenspergers asserted that the Otoe County District Court lacked jurisdiction to conduct the foreclosure sale. The Baltenspergers argued that the real estate was still part of the bankruptcy estate because relief from the automatic stay had not been granted to all lienholders. In conformance with our court rules in existence at that time, the Baltenspergers requested a prehearing conference. The prehearing conference was attended by Paul Baltensperger and several of the appellees. At the prehearing conference, the issue of whether the real estate was released from the bankruptcy estate was specifically addressed. The hearing officer concluded that once the automatic stay was lifted, the foreclosure sale properly proceeded in the district court. The hearing officer rejected all of the Baltenspergers' other assignments of error and arguments. After conducting our review, we summarily affirmed the order of the district court confirming the sale pursuant to Neb. Ct. R. of Prac. 7A(1) (rev. 1987) and dismissed Baltenspergers' appeal. Then and now, rule 7A(1) provides, in part, that an appeal can be summarily dismissed when the judgment is based on findings of fact which are not clearly erroneous or no error of law appears. See rule 7AQ) (rev. 1996).