New Form Motion
8/1/21 The Bankruptcy Court, CD CA, has just created a new, easy to use, form motion, for consumer debtors to use to seek an order compelling a creditor which has seized an item of debtor’s property, before debtor files bankruptcy, to immediately return that item of property to debtor, after debtor files bankruptcy. Most often, the seized item is debtor’s car/truck/other vehicle, which the secured lender on the vehicle repossessed prepetition, usually because debtor defaulted in making make monthly vehicle payments the debtor owed the secured lender, to repay the secured car loan. The Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Association (CDCBAA) reports on the new form motion as follows:
A few months ago, the US Supreme Court ruled in Chicago v Fulton, 141 S.Ct 585 (2021) that a creditor’s keeping of a prepetition seized car doesn’t violate section 362(a)(3)’s “exercise control” provision. Under the leadership of Judge Bason, the Local Rules Committee acted upon Justice Sotomayor’s suggestion for expedited turnover procedures. A small group was formed, with a balance of debtor’s and creditor’s counsel, to work on new local forms. From cdcbaa, Nicholas Gebelt was part of this working group (thanks, Nick!).
The result of the group’s efforts is a new motion and order to help recover and turnover debtor’s property after a case is filed. This would typically be a car that was seized prepetition. As our clients will need their cars to get to work to earn income to fund a Chapter 13 plan, there is a sense of urgency which hopefully can be resolved informally with a call to creditor counsel and this motion (F 4001-1.SEIZED.PROPERTY.MOTION), settled by stip, and the related order. This is intended to be a speedy alternative to a month’s-long adversary proceeding suggested in Fulton.