Opinion
Case No. 12-00637
01-08-2020
In re GERALD HENNEGHAN, Debtor.
(Chapter 7)
Not for publication in West's Bankruptcy Reporter.
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER DENYING EMERGENCY MOTION SEEKING TO REOPEN CASE, TO IMPOSE STAY AND FOR INJUNCTION TO ENJOIN PUBLIC AUCTION OF DEBTOR'S HOME
The debtor, Gerald Henneghan, has filed a motion, titled in full:
Debtor Gerald Henneghan's Ex-Parte Emergency Motion To Reopen His Chapter 7 Case, To Impose Stay To Avoid Irreparable Harm And For An Injunction To Enjoin The Defendants From Selling His Home At Public Auction On Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 12:08PM and To Administer Assets(Dkt. No. 58) ("Emergency Motion"). The purported emergency is a foreclosure sale set for today. However, a foreclosure sale does not violate the discharge injunction. As this court previously noted:
A discharge "extinguishes only 'the personal liability of the debtor' ... [while] a creditor's right to foreclose on the mortgage survives or passes through the bankruptcy." Johnson v. Home State Bank, 501 U.S. 78, 83 (1991). A foreclosure action is to collect a debt against property encumbered by a mortgage, not to collect
the debt as a personal obligation of the debtor, and creditors act within their rights to seek foreclosure even after the debtor has received a discharge.In re Henneghan, No. 12-00637, 2017 WL 6371340, at *2 (Bankr. D.D.C. Dec. 7, 2017). There being no justification for reopening the case on an emergency basis, it is
ORDERED that the Emergency Motion (Dkt. No. 58) is DENIED. Signed: January 8, 2020
/s/_________
S. Martin Teel, Jr.
United States Bankruptcy Judge
[Signed and dated above.] Copies to: Debtor; e-recipients of orders.