Court Opinion

ID: 9706091
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:31:24.945553+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:19.270687
License: Public Domain

KLEIN, Bankruptcy Judge,
concurring:
I concur and write separately to emphasize that the debtor’s Motion for Stay of Proceedings to Enforce the Order Terminating the Automatic Stay was procedurally defective if (and the record is fuzzy on this point) the bankruptcy court was being asked to grant injunctive relief and “reimpose” the automatic stay as an alternative to merely accepting the debtor’s argument that the stay revived as a matter of law.
In order to have a vacated stay “reimposed”, one must ordinarily file an adversary proceeding seeking an injunction under 11 U.S.C. § 105. Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7001(7) and 7065; Wedgewood Inv. Fund, Ltd. v. Wedgewood Realty Group, Ltd. (In re Wedgewood Realty Group, Ltd.), 878 F.2d 693, 701 (3d Cir.1989); Lawrence P. King, et al., 2 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶¶ 105.02[2] & 105.03 (15th ed. 1995).
Occasionally, it might suffice to revive the stay by way of motion for reconsideration under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59(e) or 60(b), which are applicable in bankruptcy by virtue of Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 9021 and 9023. But one must overcome difficulties created by the fact that an order granting relief from stay is, unless otherwise ordered, not subject to the automatic ten-day stay imposed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62, which rule applies in bankruptcy. Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7062 & 9014. And there may be a problem of intervening equities. If such a motion were to be granted, the order vacating the stay would then be vacated.
The debtor chose neither alternative. At best, the debtor was making a motion to “reimpose” the stay by entering an injunction. The rules of procedure do not permit a bankruptcy court to grant an injunction except in an adversary proceeding. Thus, although I fully agree that the refusal to reimpose the stay was not an abuse of discretion in this instance, the bankruptcy judge was not even presented with a procedural vehicle in which he could have reimposed the stay.