2009 Judge Lyons - Opinions
Judge Raymond T. Lyons -- Opinions signed in 2009
Theodore and Susan Butler 8-18-09 Case 07-24773
In a secured creditor’s stay relief motion, a certification that indicated no post-petition payments were made was blatantly erroneous. In their opposition, the Debtors produced evidence that the post- petition payments were current, and they requested sanctions and attorney fees. Because the Debtors did not comply with the Bankruptcy Rule 9011 safe harbor rule and there were no other bases for granting sanctions, the request for sanctions is denied.
2009 Bankr. LEXIS 2204 (Bankr. D.N.J. Aug. 18, 2009)
2009 WL 2502005 (Bankr. D.N.J. Aug. 18, 2009)
Catanzerti v. Pizzo (In re Catanzereti) 3-06-09 Case 08-11370 08-1472
A land developer brings an adversary proceeding against the land owner/debtor in order to obtain the proceeds of an eminent domain condemnation. The contract specifies that the land owner receives the proceeds of a total condemnation. The developer claims that he is entitled to the proceeds as he had the right to close on the property prior to the condemnation. The court rules that the proceeds belong to the Debtor, as there was no such right to close.
400 B.R. 145 (Bankr. D.N.J. 2009)
Diana D'Angelo 8-14-09 Case 09-18208
The New Jersey Bureau of Securities moves for a ruling that their disgorgement action against the Debtor was excepted from the automatic stay. 11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(4)
In the stayed state civil court action, the Debtor was accused of benefitting from a Ponzi scheme that her husband perpetrated; the Bureau of Securities sought to recover the monies from the Debtor as a relief-defendant. Because the action is not in the state’s pecuniary interest and is instead designed to promote public policy and enforce securities laws, the state court action is found to be excepted from the automatic stay.
402 B.R. 296 (Bank. D.N.J. 2009)
In this adversary action that the Debtor has brought against a construction principal’s bond sureties, the defendants bring a motion for the determination that the adversary action is a non-core proceeding. 28 U.S.C. § 157 Because the Debtor-plaintiff's complaint is solely rooted in state-governed contract law and construction statutes, the court finds that the adversary action is non-core.
2009 WL 1085268 (Bankr. D.N.J. Apr. 22, 2009)
2009 Bankr. LEXIS 1062
In re Paul A. Steadman 9-3-09 09-28427
Foreign (U.K.) Trustee’s petition for recognition under chapter 15 is denied because the Debtor falls under the ordinary consumer exception of §1501(c)(2), wherein individuals whose debts fall within the § 109(e) limits and who are U.S. citizens or long-term resident aliens, are not subject to the reach of chapter 15.
410 B.R. 397 (Bankr. D.N.J. 2009)
Donna Waters 7-21-09 Case 05-54936
The Debtor seeks to payoff her mortgage pursuant to her Chapter 13 plan. Disputing the mortgagee’s payoff calculation, she moves to Set the Amount Due and for Attorney Fees. The motion was unopposed and granted. The mortgagee moves for reconsideration. Because the evidentiary record is so flawed and the court cannot independently conclude what the proper payoff is, the motion is denied.
2009 WL 2230898 (Bankr. D.N.J. July 21, 2009)
2009 Bankr. LEXIS 2292 (Bankr. D.N.J. July 21, 2009)
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