Opinion ID: 3030149
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the commencement or continuation, including

Text: the issuance or employment of process, of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case under this title, or to recover a claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title; . . . Although the plain language of § 362(a) appears to apply the stay to all court proceedings, courts have generally limited IN RE MILLER 1433 the application of the stay in bankruptcy court proceedings. Prewitt v. North Coast Village, Ltd. (In re North Coast Village, Ltd.) 135 B.R. 641, 643 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 1992). The automatic stay is applicable only to proceedings against the debtor. See Parker, 68 F.3d at 1136 (“ ‘[S]ection 362 should be read to stay all appeals in proceedings that were originally brought against the debtor . . . .’ ”) (emphasis omitted) (alteration in original) (parallel citation omitted) (quoting Ingersoll-Rand Fin. Corp. v. Miller Mining Co., 817 F.2d 1424, 1426 (9th Cir. 1987)). “This rule finds its source in the language of section 362, which extends the automatic stay to the continuation, as well as the commencement, of an action against the debtor.” Id. (emphasis in the original). [3] The automatic stay does not apply to proceedings initiated against the debtor if the proceedings are initiated in the same bankruptcy court where the debtor’s bankruptcy proceedings are pending. Teerlink v. Lambert (In re Teerlink Ranch Ltd.), 886 F.2d 1233, 1237 (9th Cir. 1989) (automatic stay is inapplicable to a suit commenced in the same court where the bankruptcy is pending); Civic Center Square, Inc. v. Ford (In re Roxford Foods, Inc.), 12 F.3d 875, 878 (9th Cir. 1993) (same). In In re North Coast Village, Ltd., the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel explained the reasoning behind this exception: We agree that the stay does not apply to proceedings commenced against the debtor in the bankruptcy court where the debtor’s bankruptcy is pending. Although the statutory language does not differentiate between proceedings in bankruptcy courts and proceedings in other courts, the application of the stay to proceedings against the debtor in the home bankruptcy court would be illogical and would not serve the purposes underlying the automatic stay. . . . The automatic stay is designed (1) to provide the debtor a breathing spell from his or her creditors by stopping all collection efforts, (2) to protect creditors 1434 IN RE MILLER from each other by stopping the race for the debtor’s assets and preserving the assets for the benefit of all creditors and (3) to provide for an orderly liquidation of administration of the estate. . . . Declining to apply the stay to proceedings in the home bank- ruptcy court will not interfere with these purposes. 135 B.R. at 643. For purposes of the automatic stay, the “home bankruptcy court” is the bankruptcy court in which the stay originates. See In re Shared Technologies Cellular, Inc., 293 B.R. 89, 95 (D. Conn. 2003) (holding that the home court for purposes of the stay and any modifications thereof is the bankruptcy court in which the stay originates). [4] Section 362(a) provides that the automatic stay triggered by the filing of a bankruptcy petition is applicable to “all entities.” “[T]he interpretation of a statute ‘begins with the plain meaning of its language.’ ” Alaska, Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. E.P.A., 298 F.3d 814, 818 (9th Cir. 2002) (quoting In re Bonner Mall Partnership, 2 F.3d 899, 908 (9th Cir. 1993)). “Our task is to give effect to the will of Congress, and where its will has been expressed in reasonably plain terms, that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive.” Id. (quoting Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc., 458 U.S. 564, 570 (1982)). [5] 11 U.S.C. § 101(15) defines an “entity” to include a “governmental unit.” A “governmental unit” is defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(27) to include a department, agency or instrumentality of the United States. Bankruptcy courts are “entities” within the meaning of § 362(a) because they are governmental units. [6] 11 U.S.C. § 362(b) provides 17 exceptions to the automatic stay provision. It does not exclude bankruptcy courts, however, from the application of an automatic stay. “The stay of section 362 is extremely broad in scope and, aside from the limited exception[s] of subsection (b), should apply to almost IN RE MILLER 1435 any type of formal or informal action against the debtor or property of the estate.” Stringer v. Huet (In re Stringer), 847 F.2d 549, 552 n.4 (9th Cir. 1988) (quoting 2 L. King, Collier on Bankruptcy para. 362.04, at 362-31 (15th ed. 1988)). Accordingly, we hold that an automatic stay issued by a home bankruptcy court applies to all other bankruptcy courts.