Opinions of the United
2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
2-27-2008
In Re: Albert Fields
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 07-4070
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Recommended Citation
"In Re: Albert Fields " (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 1513.
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 07-4070
___________
IN RE: ALBERT J. FIELDS, JR.,
Appellant
v.
JACK BLEIMAN
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civil No. 06-5451)
District Judge: Honorable Noel L. Hillman
________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
February 13, 2008
Before: RENDELL, JORDAN and GARTH, Circuit Judges
(Filed: February 27, 2008)
___________
OPINION OF THE COURT
___________
PER CURIAM
Albert J. Fields, Jr., filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of
the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Court appointed a trustee, who subsequently filed
a notice of intention to abandon property, namely the debtor’s residence, real property at
105 S. Miller Avenue in Penns Grove, New Jersey, because it was of inconsequential
value to the bankruptcy estate (the $46,000 property was encumbered by liens totaling
almost $37,000). No objections to the notice were filed, and, in due course, on February
16, 2006, the trustee filed a certification of no objection to the abandonment of the
property. Pursuant to the terms of the notice, the abandonment became effective soon
thereafter, on February 20, 2006. The trustee also entered a report of no distribution,
noting that he did not receive any property or pay any money on account of the
bankruptcy estate except exempt property and that he had found no property available for
distribution from the estate. The Bankruptcy Court granted Fields a discharge pursuant to
11 U.S.C. § 727 and decreed that his estate had been fully administered.
A few months later, Fields filed a motion to reopen the case under 11 U.S.C.
§ 350(b), complaining that one of his creditors violated the automatic stay provisions of
11 U.S.C. § 362(a). He requested that the Bankruptcy Court vacate “any and all post-
petition non-bankruptcy matters between the parities [sic] as a result of the Creditor’s
violation of the Automatic stay.” Fields argued that the creditor who initiated foreclosure
proceedings on his Penns Grove residence on February 27, 2006, violated the automatic
stay.
The Bankruptcy Court reopened the case but, after a hearing, otherwise denied
Fields’s motion. Fields filed a motion for reconsideration, which the Bankruptcy Court
also denied. Fields appealed to the District Court, and filed an emergency motion for a
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stay pending appeal. The District Court denied Fields’s motion for a stay and affirmed
the Bankruptcy Court’s judgment. Fields filed a motion for reconsideration, which the
District Court denied. Taking issue with the District Court’s determination that the
automatic stay was not violated, Fields appeals.
The District Court had jurisdiction to review the Bankruptcy Court’s orders
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(a), and we have jurisdiction to review the District Court’s
orders under 28 U.S.C. §§ 158(d) & 1291. We exercise the same standard of review as
the District Court, subjecting the Bankruptcy Court’s legal determinations to plenary
review, reviewing its factual findings for clear error, and considering its exercise of
discretion for abuse thereof. See In re United Healthcare Sys., 396 F.3d 247, 249 (3d Cir.
2005).
In complete agreement with the District Court’s analysis of the Bankruptcy Court’s
decisions, we affirm. To summarize, the bankruptcy trustee abandoned the property
pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 554 (as Fields does not dispute). When the abandonment became
effective, the real property was no longer property of the bankruptcy estate. See Morlan
v. Universal Guar. Life Ins. Co., 298 F.3d 609, 617 (7th Cir. 2002); Catalano v. Comm’r
of Internal Revenue, 279 F.3d 682, 685 (9th Cir. 2002). Accordingly, the automatic stay
did not apply to actions affecting the Penns Grove property. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(1);
In re Boland, 275 B.R. 675, 678 n.5 (Bankr. D. Conn. 2002). Therefore, Fields’s creditor,
who initiated foreclosure proceedings after the property was abandoned, did not violate
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the automatic stay. The Bankruptcy Court made no error, so the District Court properly
affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision (and denied Fields’s emergency motion and
motion for reconsideration). We will affirm the District Court’s order.
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