John J. Keller

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FERNANDO VALLEY DIVISION Re::Case No. 1:187-bk-110748 Jerry Brown :Chapter 7 Debtor.: DEBTOR’S MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL OF CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY I. INTRODUCTION The Debtor, Jerry Brown, seeks to voluntarily dismiss the referenced Chapter 7 Bankruptcy pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 707 (a), upon cause as discussed below. II. FACTS Debtor filed this Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 30, 2017, to the docket number captioned above. This is the equivalent of a no-asset situation, with the main property of Debtor, residential real estate located at 15814 September Street, North Hills, Los Angeles County, CA 91343, being fully consumed by a mortgage loan asserted to currently total $670,842.47, as listed on Debtor’s Schedule D. There are no proofs of claim filed in the matter. An entry of appearance and request for notices was filed on Aug. 9, 2017, by Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, apparently as servicer on behalf of the mortgage holder. There is a foreclosure sale of the property in state court scheduled for an oncoming date in October. No motion for relief from the automatic stay has been filed in this proceeding to date. The only unusual fact is that the original Trustee, Diane C. Well, withdrew/resigned by note entered on Sept. 12, 2017, citing a potential conflict of interest. Amy L. Goodman filed an acceptance of appointment as Interim Trustee on Sept. 18, 2017, at docket entry 16. The process of appointing a successor Trustee may be a contributing cause to the postponement of the 341 meeting twice. It is currently set for Oct. 2, 2017 but the new Trustee may re-schedule that date. Other than the real estate, the Debtor owns a used motorcycle, a used car, and miscellaneous household property, all of which is exempt. Counsel recently withdrew his appearance and no longer represents the Debtor. The Debtor wishes to voluntarily dismiss this bankruptcy proceeding because he does believe that there is any good purpose to be served in going forward. There is no significant unsecured debt to be discharged and the real estate issue may be handled by private negotiations with the creditor in the state court foreclosure proceeding. III. ARGUMENT The voluntary dismissal of a Chapter 7 is allowed pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 707(a).  Dismissal must be based, however, on a showing of “cause.” See Hickman v. Hana (In re Hickman), 384 B.R. 832, 840 (9th Cir. BAP 2008). The section provides, in relevant part, that the bankruptcy court may dismiss the case only after notice and a hearing and only for cause. In re Kaur, 510 BR 281, 285 (Bankr. E.D. CA 2014).  There are three specific instances of cause mentioned in § 707(a) but none of them apply here. The determination of "cause" under § 707(a) will typically depend on the totality of the circumstances. Id. See Sherman v. SEC (In re Sherman), 491 F.3d 948, 970 (9th Cir. 2007). Unlike the cases where cause was not found and where dismissal was rejected, the present Chapter 7 case presents no special issues for the court. There are no administrative fees due, there are no adversary actions that would complicate or leave unfinished the claims of the parties, and there will presumably be no objections from creditors or from the interim Trustee at the hearing on this matter. There is no real or potential prejudice that will occur to any creditor upon the granting of the Debtor’s motion. This being a routine no-asset case that has not yet been reviewed and adjudicated by the Trustee, there is no practical reason to deny the Debtor’s request.  The rule in the Ninth Circuit regarding cause is that a voluntary Chapter 7 debtor is entitled to a dismissal so long as such dismissal will not cause “legal prejudice” to any interested parties. Leach v. United States (In re Leach), 130 B.R. 855, 857 (9th Cir. BAP 1991) (citing Schroeder v. Int'l Airport Inn P'ship (In re Int'l Airport Inn P'ship), 517 F.2d 510, 512 (9th Cir.1975) (per curiam). There being no litigation, adversary actions, disputes of record and no other issues raised by any interested party, the Debtor has established entitlement to his request for a dismissal of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy that he filed. IV.CONCLUSION For the reasons set forth above, the Debtor requests that this Court grant the request for dismissal that he filed in the within Chapter 7 proceeding. Date: ______________Respectfully submitted, __________________________________ Jerry Brown, Debtor Pro Se