Opinion
Case No. 21-49780
2022-01-13
IN RE: Regina BAKER, Debtor.
James P. Frego, II, Frego & Assc.-The Bankruptcy Law Office, Mandi L. Sokana, Dearborn Heights, MI, for Debtor.
James P. Frego, II, Frego & Assc.-The Bankruptcy Law Office, Mandi L. Sokana, Dearborn Heights, MI, for Debtor.
ORDER DISMISSING CASE
Thomas J. Tucker, United States Bankruptcy Judge
On December 20, 2021, the Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 13, commencing this case. But the Debtor is not eligible to be a debtor in this case under 11 U.S.C. § 109(g)(2), which provides:
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no individual or family farmer may be a debtor under this title who has been a debtor in a case pending under this title at any time in the preceding 180 days if–
...
(2) the debtor requested and obtained the voluntary dismissal of the case following the filing of a request for relief from the automatic stay provided by section 362 of this title.
The Debtor was a debtor in a case pending within 180 days before filing this case: Case No. 20-51037, a Chapter 13 case which the Debtor voluntarily dismissed on December 1, 2021. In that case, on November 19, 2020, the Debtor and Creditor Twelve Pines Condominium Association (the "Association") filed a stipulation modifying the automatic stay with respect to the Association (Docket # 20 in Case No. 20-51037, the "Lift-Stay Stipulation"). The Lift-Stay Stipulation provided, in relevant part:
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED that should Debtor fail to be 100% current in the payment of her Chapter 13 Plan Payments on the Chapter 13 Trustee's records on the date of her Chapter 13 Plan Confirmation Hearing, then the Association may submit an Order Terminating the Automatic Stay with respect to the Debtor, any Co-Debtor and the real property located at 19607 W. 12 Mile Rd., #12, Southfield, MI 48076. The Court shall enter the Order without further notice or hearing.
IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED that should Debtor fail to pay future Chapter 13 payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee when due, the Association may submit a notice of default to the Court permitting 14 days from the service of the notice upon Debtor's Counsel via ECF, in which to cure any and all defaults in Chapter 13 payments. If Debtor fails to cure the default in payments within those 14 days, the Association may submit an Order Terminating the Automatic Stay with respect to the Debtor, any Co-Debtor and the real property located at 19607 W. 12
Mile Rd., #12, Southfield, MI 48076. The Court shall enter the Order without further notice or hearing.
On September 16, 2021, the Association filed a notice of the Debtor's default of the Lift-Stay Stipulation (Docket # 46 in Case No. 20-51037). On October 4, 2021, the Court entered an order granting the Association relief from the automatic stay (Docket # 48 in Case No. 20-51037).
On December 1, 2021, the Debtor filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss that case (Docket # 57 in Case No. 20-51037). That same day, the Court entered an order of dismissal (Docket # 58 in Case No. 20-51037).
The Court reiterates what it has held about § 109(g)(2) in prior cases, including the case of In re Turner , 583 B.R. 910, 911 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2018) :
The Court agrees with the cases holding that (1) dismissal under § 109(g)(2) is mandatory when that statute applies; dismissal is not discretionary; and (2) it is irrelevant under § 109(g)(2) whether there is some causal link or nexus between the filing of a stay relief motion on the one hand, and the debtor's later voluntary dismissal of the case on the other hand. Section 109(g)(2) applies, and requires dismissal, in every situation in which, in a prior case pending within 180 days before the filing of the present case, a creditor filed a motion for relief from stay and the debtor later voluntarily dismissed the case, regardless of the debtor's good faith or whether there was any particular connection between the two events. See Andersson v. Security Federal Savings and Loan of Cleveland (In re Andersson ), 209 B.R. [76-78 (B.A.P. 6th Cir.] 1997), and cases cited therein. The undersigned judge has so ruled in previous bench opinions, and adheres to that ruling now. See, e.g., In re Sigh , Case No. 09-62738, November 19, 2009 bench opinion at 5-6 (a copy of the transcript of that bench opinion, ... is filed in the Sigh case at Docket # 42 ...).
See also In re Steele , 319 B.R. 518, 520 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2005) (McIvor, J.).
Id. (citation omitted); see also In re Bussell , 626 B.R. 891, 892-93 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2021) (same); In re Payton , 626 B.R. 886, 888 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2021) (same), In re Stachurski , 613 B.R. 251, 252 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2020) (same).
Based on the facts stated above, the Debtor is not eligible to be a debtor in any bankruptcy case filed within 180 days after December 1, 2021, and therefore is not eligible to file any bankruptcy case until on or after May 31, 2022. As a result, this case (filed December 20, 2021) must be dismissed.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that this bankruptcy case is dismissed.