Creditors Rights Attorneys Must Recognize Clarified Stay Termination Requirements for Chapter 7 Cases

There is a common misconception among both creditors and creditors rights attorneys that once property is abandoned by the Chapter 7 Trustee in a bankruptcy, the protection of the automatic bankruptcy stay no longer applies. This would free a secured creditor with an interest in the abandoned property to enforce its rights in the property. However, the Ninth Circuit made clear in Gasprom, Inc. v. Fateh (In Re Gasprom), 500 B.R. 598 (2013), that the Trustee’s abandonment of property alone is not sufficient to terminate the full protection of the automatic bankruptcy stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362.  Creditors must wait until the stay is formally terminated by the court or by the closing of the bankruptcy case. A foreclosure attorney must ensure that an automatic stay is terminated, or that the bankruptcy case is closed, before issuing guidance that the client may proceed with foreclosure. Continue reading →