Opinion ID: 617777
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standard of review and issues on appeal

Text: Bankruptcy practice encompasses traditional summary judgment standards, as provided under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Bank. R. 7056; In re Varrasso, 37 F.3d 760, 762 (1st Cir.1994). Accordingly, summary judgment is warranted only if no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Varrasso, 37 F.3d at 763. When a bankruptcy court issues summary judgment, the losing party may seek intermediate review by a district court or a bankruptcy appellate panel. See In re Vazquez Laboy, 647 F.3d 367, 373 (1st Cir.2011); see also 28 U.S.C. § 158. With either path, our review focuses on the bankruptcy court's decision, and we do not afford special deference to the intermediate decision. Vazquez Laboy, 647 F.3d at 374; In re Spigel, 260 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir.2001). We conduct de novo review of the bankruptcy court's decision. In re Colarusso, 382 F.3d 51, 57-58 (1st Cir.2004). Before us, the debtors first challenge the bankruptcy court's application of the exceptions to the automatic stay and trustee strong arm power on the sole basis that Banco Popular never obtained the required pre-petition property interest. They contend that because recording is essential to the valid constitution of a mortgage deed under Puerto Rico law, the three deeds evidenced no more than unsecured personal obligations at the time that the bankruptcy petition was filed. The debtors also argue that the bankruptcy court erred in ruling that they failed to establish the elements of a preferential transfer. See 11 U.S.C. § 547(b). We address each argument in turn.