The bankruptcy court noted that even if Twin States restricted its actions to attempts to recover the abandoned property, it still violated the automatic stay. “Just because abandoned property is no longer property of the bankruptcy estate, does not mean that the automatic stay has been terminated, annulled, or modified,” the court said. “Actions prohibited by Section 362(a), even those against property that is not property of the bankruptcy estate, are stayed in a Chapter 13 case until the earliest of the case closing, the case dismissing, or the debtor receiving his discharge.” But even if the abandoned property was no longer subject to the automatic stay, Twin States’ replevin action against estate property, and actions against the debtor himself clearly violated the stay. “It is absurd for Twin States to justify the Arrest Warrant and Indictment based on the provisions of the Abandonment Order, which mentions nothing about the debtor’s loss of liberty. Moreover, the Court rejects the defense raised in Twin States Brief that the criminal proceedings against the debtor were exempted from the automatic stay under Section 362(b)(a), which allows for the “commencement or continuation of a criminal action or proceeding against the debtor,” the court said. Finding that Twin and its agent willfully violated the automatic stay, the court ruled that they were liable for civil damages to be determined after trial.

Lawrence Bautista Yang is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has been in law practice for thirty years. He specializes in bankruptcy, business and civil litigation and has handled more than five thousand successful bankruptcy cases in California. He speaks Mandarin and Fujien and looks forward to discussing your case with you personally. Please call (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.