Stonebriar Mall Ltd. Partnership v. CCI Wireless, LLC (In Re CCI Wireless, LLC)Stonebriar Mall Ltd. Partnership v. CCI Wireless, LLC (In Re CCI Wireless, LLC)
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
This аppeal arises from the Chapter 11 proceeding filed by debtor CCI Wireless, LLC (CCI). Appellants Stonebriar Mall Limited Partnership, River Hills LLP, Eden Prairie Mall LLC, and Dallas Galleria Limited (collectively “appellants”) appeal from two bankruptcy court orders: the June 24, 2002 order authorizing retroactive application of CCI’s rejection of four unexpired nonresidential leases and the July 30, 2002 order denying appellants’ motion for reconsideration of the denial of their motion to compel payment of rent. Appellees are the debtоr-in-possession, CCI, and the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee of CCI Wireless, LLC. 1
Jurisdiction over the appeal is proper pursuant to
Based upon the parties’ written and oral arguments and my review of the designated record on appeal, I affirm the court’s order giving retroactive effect to the authorization of the rejection of the leases. I reverse the court’s denial of the motion to compel payment of rent and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Background
CCI is in the business of wireless communications and maintains retail stores in various locations in Colorado, Minnesota, Texаs, and Utah. At the time CCI filed its Chapter 11 petition, appellants were the lessors, and CCI the lessee, of shopping center space at nine locations; only four of those leases, for properties in Minnesota and Texas, are at issue in this appeal. The rents for the leases were due on the first of each month; CCI has made no payments on any of the four leases since filing bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy Court Proceedings
CCI filed Chapter 11 proceedings on February 8, 2002. No trustee was appointed, and CCI has acted as a debtor in possession in the case, with the rights, powers, and duties of a trustee, pursuant to
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The issues of this appeal arise from two motions presented to the bankruptcy court: (1) CCI’s motion to reject real property leases (motion to reject) pursuant to
On March 14, 2002, CCI filed a motion to reject the four unexpired real property leases. 3 The court denied the motion based on CCI’s failure to give proper notice to appellants. On March 27, 2002, CCI filed a “renewed” motion to reject the leases, requesting that the rejection be made effective, nunc pro tunc, on March 14, 2002. CCI provided notice of this motion, giving interested parties until April 15, 2002, to file objections.
On March 29, 2002, appellants filed a limited objection to the renewed motion, opposing CCI’s attempt to make the rejection retroactive to March 14, 2002, but otherwise not objecting to the rejections.
By order dated April 24, 2002, the bankruptcy court granted the motion to reject in part, authorizing CCI to reject the leases on a prospectivе basis only. 4 The court reserved the right to rule later on the request for a retroactive order.
Given the rejection of the leases, two rental due dates remained at issue: March 1, 2002, and April 1, 2002, which fell within the post-petition, pre-rejection period. On March 25, 2002, appellants filed a motion to compel payment of those post-petition rents. Although CCI objected to the motion, it did not dispute the existence and validity of the leases or the monthly rentals listed in the motion. (The rents listed by the appellants were comparable to (and slightly lоwer than) the amounts listed by CCI in its Schedule G filing.)
On May 16, 2002, the bankruptcy court held a hearing on these motions and, on June 24, 2002, entered a memorandum opinion and judgment approving the rejection of the leases retroactive to March 14, 2002. 5 It based its decision in part on the *137 equities of the case, including the fact that CCI had vacated the lease premises before or shortly after the date of filing the Chapter 11 case. The court used the filing date of CCI’s original motion to reject the leases (the motion that was denied for CCI’s failure to give notice of the motion) instead of the date оf the renewed motion, stating that CCI should not be penalized as a result of a court rule requiring notice.
The bankruptcy court denied appellants’ motion to compel, but on July 3, 2002, appellants filed a motion to alter or amend the June 24 judgment and sought reconsideration of the court’s order. In particular, appellants argued that the court’s order did not address the rent payments that fell due March 1, 2002, prior to the retroactive rejection date.
In its July 30, 2002 order, the bankruptcy court interpreted appellants’ request for payment of Mаrch 1, 2002 rents as one for administrative expenses pursuant to section 503(b)(1) and denied the motion because of the failure to show that the leases were a benefit to the Chapter 11 estate.
Standard of Review
The district court functions as an appellate court and is authorized to affirm, reverse, modify or remand the bankruptcy court’s ruling. Bankr.R. 8013. I may set aside the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact only if they are clearly erroneous.
In re Blehm Land & Cattle Co.,
Discussion
Appellants describe the “crux of the appeal” as whether the bankruptcy court may, in its discretion, authorize the retroactive rejection of unexpired leases. Appellants also challenge the court’s application of a section 503(b) standard in denying the motion to compel payment of the March 1, 2002 rents.
Before discussing appellant’s arguments, I must address two threshold issues. CCI contends that I may not reach the merits of the appeal because the appeal is premature and the record is insufficient to support review.
CCI argues the appeal is premature because the bankruptcy court denied appellants’ motion to compel without prejudice. Response Brief at 21-22. I note that both the June 24, 2002 order and the judgment of that date merely state that the motion to compel is denied; neither contains the notation “without prejudice.” Further, I construe appеllants’ arguments on appeal to focus on the retroactive nature of the order authorizing rejection of the leases and on the interplay between
CCI also contends that, because appellants did not introduce any evidence at the hearing before the bankruptcy court, they have not created a record sufficient for appеal.
See, e.g., McGinnis v. Gustafson,
I disagree. I note that CCI never disputed the status of the leases, their performance, or the rental amounts in the court below despite ample opportunities to do so. The bankruptcy court also made no stаtements or findings indicating that it was concerned with the state of the record or that appellants’ failure to present evidence at the hearing was a controlling factor in its decision. I conclude that the record before me is adequate to allow me to resolve appellants’ legal arguments on their merits.
1. Retroactivity
The retroactivity issue is framed by
The trustee [or debtor in possession] shall timely perform all the obligations of the debtor ... arising from and after the order for relief under any unexpired lease of nonresidential real property, until such lease is assumed or rejected, notwithstanding section 503(b)(1) of this title. The court may extend, for cause, the time for performance of any such obligation that arises within 60 days after date of the order for relief, but the time for performance shall not be extended beyond such 60-day period.
Appellants do not challenge the bankruptcy court’s decision to authorize CCI to reject the leases but only its conclusion that the rejection could and should, under the circumstanсes of this case, apply retroactively to the date of the original motion to reject. Neither party expressly addresses the proper standard of review applicable to this issue, and I have found no controlling Tenth Circuit authority.
After review of decisions of other courts faced with similar issues, I will adopt the analysis of the Southern District of New York in
In re Jamesway Corp.,
Applying these standards here, I concur with the authority from other courts holding that
Appellants’ arguments to the contrary are not persuasive. Citing to
In re Swiss
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Hot Dog Co.,
Appellants also contend that consideration of “nоtions of equity” regarding timing of lease rejections (for purposes of determining whether to select a retroactive rejection date) is contrary to the plain language of
Contrary to appellants’ contentiоns, the “plain language” of
Finally, appellants cite to
Again, I disagree. The reference to equities in
I hold that, because
Precedent suggests that retroactive application of an order approving rejection of leases is the exception to the general rule that rejection is effective upon entry of the order. The court in
James-way Corp.,
for instance, affirmed a retrоactive rejection solely because the lessor had caused the delay in the entry of the bankruptcy court’s order approving the rejection.
8
Although I find that the circumstances of this case do not clearly rise to the level of those presented in Jamesway or O’Neil Theatres, I cannot conclude that the bankruptcy court abused its discretion by making CCI’s rejection of the leases effective retroactive. The record from the hearing before the bankruptcy court reflects that CCI had not bеen in possession of the leased premises at issue since before (or shortly after) its Chapter 11 filing.
Accordingly, I will affirm the bankruptcy court’s ruling granting the motion to reject the leases nunc pro tunc to March 14, 2002.
2. Motion to Compel
Following the bankruptcy court’s order making the rejection of the leases retroactive to March 14, 2002, appellants filed a motion to reconsider in which they argued, inter alia, that they were entitled to payment of the monthly rents due March 1, 2002. Accepting the court’s decision to apply a “performance” date approach to the February 2002 rents, apрellants contended that CCI remained liable for the entire amounts of the March 2002 rents as post-petition, pre-rejection debts.
*141 The bankruptcy court disagreed. It interpreted appellants’ request for payment of the March 2002 rents as an application for administrative expenses pursuant to section 503(b) and denied the motion based on its finding that appellants had not shown benefit to the estate or other grounds entitling them to the rent payments.
The bankruptcy court relied on
In re Coal-X, Ltd.,
On appeal, appellants contend that
Coal-X
is not controlling because it arose under a prior version of
Before the 1984 amendments, post-petition rents were governed by section 503’s provision for allowance of administrative claims to preserve the estate. 9 Under the prior law, claims for unpaid rent were subject to a determination that the expense benefitted the estate.
Appellants emphasize that the 1984 amendments changed the prior law, pointing out that
I agree. Although the district court’s decision in
Coalr-X
does not expressly hold that it was governed by the pre-amendment law, it does refer to “the bankruptcy law applicable to this case” in its discussion of payment of post-petition rents and aрplies a section 503 standard of benefit-ting the estate.
The majority of courts to address the issue of post-petition (and pre-rejection) rents under
CCI does not address these cases in its response brief. Instead, it argues that appellants’ interpretation of
I conclude that the bankruptcy court erred in holding appellants to the requirements of section 503(b)(1) in making a claim for post-petition rents due March 1, 2002, prior to the date of rejection. An unresolved question, however, is whether rent should be prorated as of the date of rejection (accrual theory) or whether CCI should be liable for the whole month since the full rent was due on March 1, 2001, before the effective date of rejection (performance date theory).
Neither party has appealed the bankruptcy court’s decision to apply a “performance date” approach to the February 2002 rents, but I will not interpret that silence as a stipulation that, because the performance date was March 1, 2002, prior to the retroactive rejection date, the entire rent amount is a post-petition, pre-rejection obligation. Indeed, such a result effectively moots at least part of the equity justification for the retroactivity decision. On remand, the parties should be given the opportunity of a hearing before the bankruptсy court on whether CCI’s March 2002 rent obligation should be prorated to the date of rejection.
Conclusion
Upon review of the record in this case, I conclude that, as a matter of law, the bankruptcy court was not prohibited from authorizing the rejection of the unexpired leases retroactive to the date CCI filed its original motion to reject. Based upon that conclusion, I find that Judge Brooks did not abuse his discretion in determining that retroactive application of the rejection was appropriate under the equities and circumstances of this case. I conclude, however, that the bankruptcy court erred *143 in applying a section 503 standard to appellants’ request, in their motion for reconsideration, for payment of the March 1, 2002 rents.
Accordingly, it is ordered that the decision of the bankruptcy court is affirmed with regard to its June 24, 2002 order authorizing the rejection of the four unexpired leases at issue retroactive to March 14, 2002. The July 30, 2002 order denying appellants’ motion for reconsideration is reversed, and the case is remanded to the bankruptcy court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. Unless otherwise noted, I use '‘CCI” to refer to both the debtor singly and the appellees collectively.
.
. Apparently, the Eden Prairie Mall lease was inadvertently omitted from the rejection motion. CCI does not challenge the inclusion of the lease in the resolution of this appeal.
. As appellants observe in their opening brief, this order may have been unnecessary because the sixtieth day (from the filing of the Chapter 11 petition) had passed on April 9, 2002. Pursuant to
. One aspect of the June 24 order may have bearing on this appeal, although appellants have not challenged it. As part of its ruling on the motion to reject, the bankruptcy court resolved a dispute between the parties over the treatment of CCI’s liability for rents due February 1, 2002, for purposes of determining whether the rents were pre-petition or post-petition obligations. CCI championed the "performance date" theory, arguing that because the rents were due February 1, prior to the date of its Chapter 11 filing on February 8, the unpaid rents should be considered pre-petition liabilities in their entirety. Appellants urged the bankruptcy court to follow the proration, or "accrual,” approach. Under this theory, the February rents would be prorated throughout the month, leaving only the amount attributed to February 1 through February 8 as a pre-petition liability; the amount attributed to the rest of the month would be a post-petition liability for which CCI would remain responsible under
The bankruptcy court sided with CCI, ruling that the rents for the entire month of February were pre-petition liabilities because the entire performance was due on February 1, prior to the Chapter 11 filing. Appellants have not appealed this ruling. As discussed below, however, the amount due for the March 1, 2002 rent payments raises a similar issue of whether there should be a proration to the lease rejection date (of March 14) as opposed to performance date liability for the entire month.
. Appellants’ position (that rejection of unexpired leases of nonresidential real property is effective only on the date of the court's order authorizing rejection) would, in some cases, lead to results inconsistent with the bankruptcy code’s purposes of granting a debtor a fresh start or aiding its reorganization. For instance, where a trustee files a motion to reject leases simultaneously with the debtor’s Chapter 11 filing but the court-for whatever reason-does not enter an order authorizing the rejection, the debtor will remain liable for the rents due during the sixty day period prior to automatic rejection. Indeed, unless the bankruptcy court may authorize rejection retroactive to an earlier date, the debtor will always be liable for obligations falling due during the notice period required by the bankruptcy rules.
I note that allowing a rejection order to be made effective as of the date the trustee (or debtor in possession) filed the motion to reject would do exactly what appellants ask-place the burden on the trustee/debtor to act expeditiously.
.
The trustee shall timely perform all of the obligations of the debtor, except those specified insection 365(b)(2) , first arising from or after 60 days after the order for relief in a case under chapter 11 of this title under an unexpired lease of personal property (other than personal property leased to an individual primarily for personal, family, or household purposes), until such lease is assumed or rejected notwithstanding section 503(b)(1) of this title, unless the court, after notice and a hearing and based on the equities of the case, orders otherwise with respect to the obligations or timely performance thereof. This subsection shall not be deemed to affect the trustee’s obligations under the provisions of subsection (b) or (f). Acceptance of any such perfоrmance does not constitute waiver or relinquishment of the lessor's rights under such lease or under this title.
. The bankruptcy court in
Jamesway
had made the rejection of the leases retroactive to the date the court would have approved the rejection had it not been delayed in doing to by frivolous objections filed by the lessor.
. Section 503(b) states, in relevant part:
(b) After notice and a hearing, there shall be allowed administrative expenses, other that claims allowed under section 502(f) of this title, including—
(1)(A) the actual, necessary costs and expenses of preserving the estate, including wages, salaries, оr commissions for services rendered after the commencement of the case;
(B) any tax—
(i) incurred by the estate, except a tax of a kind specified in section 507(a)(8) of this title; or
(ii) attributable to an excessive allowance of a tentative carryback adjustment that the estate received, whether the taxable year to which such adjustment relates ended before or after the commencement of the case; and
(C) any fine, penalty, or reduction in credit relating to a tax of a kind specified in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph!.]
§ 503(b)(1).