Court Opinion

ID: 9965042
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-05-01 16:00:54.171512+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:24:39.873459
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION                         FILED
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                        MAY 1 2024
                                                                      MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                       U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                             FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

In re: PETER SZANTO,                            No.    22-35207

                Debtor.                         D.C. No. 3:18-cv-01841-SI
                                                District of Oregon,
                                                Portland
_______________

PETER SZANTO,                                   MEMORANDUM*

                Appellant,

 v.

CANDACE AMBORN, Chapter 7 Trustee,

                Appellee.

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                            for the District of Oregon
                     Michael H. Simon, District Court Judge

                              Submitted May 1, 2024**

Before: O’SCANNLAIN, FERNANDEZ, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      **
             The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
      Peter Szanto appeals pro se from the District Court’s judgment affirming the

Bankruptcy Court’s default judgment against Yankee Trust in an Adversary

Proceeding. We review the District Court’s decision on appeal from the Bankruptcy

Court de novo, applying the same standards applied by the district court, without

deference to the district court. In re Point Ctr. Fin., Inc., 890 F.3d 1188, 1191 (9th

Cir. 2018). In particular, standing is an issue of law which we review do de novo. In

re Palmdale Hills Prop., LLC, 654 F.3d 868, 873 (9th Cir. 2011).

      The District Court held that Szanto lacks standing to bring this appeal. We

affirm.

      A pro se litigant who is not a licensed attorney cannot represent a business

entity in federal court. Rowland v. California Men’s Colony, 506 U.S. 194, 195

(1993) (stating that the law “does not allow corporations, partnerships, or

associations to appear in federal court otherwise than through a licensed attorney”).

Szanto is not a licensed attorney, therefore he cannot bring this appeal as a

representative of Yankee Trust, a business entity.

      Szanto also lacks personal standing to appeal, as he is not personally

aggrieved by the Bankruptcy Court’s judgment. See In re Point Ctr. Fin., Inc., 890

F.3d at 1191 (“All circuits, including this one, limit standing to appeal a bankruptcy

court order to persons aggrieved by the order.”).

      Szanto’s Opening Brief makes it clear that he is not an aggrieved person. He

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asserts that he has “neither ownership nor interest nor potential for personal profit”

from Yankee Trust, and that he “had no ownership interest in the Yankee Trust at

any time.” Szanto claims that he was never intended to be a beneficiary of Yankee

Trust, which was instead intended to provide “perpetual income to [Szanto’s] wife

and children… without interference, meddling, intrusion or bossiness from

[Szanto].”

      AFFIRMED.

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