Case Information
*1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No.: 1:20-cv-24719-GAYLES/TORRES TOWNHOUSE HOTEL LLC ,
Appellant,
v.
UNIVERSAL INVESTMENTS UNLIMITED,
INC. ,
Appellee.
________________________________________/
ORDER THIS CAUSE
comes before the Court upon Debtor Townhouse Hotel LLC’s Motion for Leave to File Interlocutory Appeal of Order (1) Denying, in Part, Debtor’s Motion to Determine Rent; (2) Granting Debtor’s Motion for Extension of Time to Pay Rent; and (3) Reserving Ruling on Landlord’s Motion for Relief From the Automatic Stay (the “Motion”) [ECF No. 1]. The Court has reviewed the Motion and the record and is otherwise fully advised. For the reasons that follow, the Motion is denied.
I. BACKGROUND
This matter arises out of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Appellant Townhouse Hotel LLC (“Townhouse”) operates a hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the governmental restrictions in response, Townhouse became unable to operate the hotel, thereby defaulting on its rent obligations to Appellee Universal Investment Unlimited Inc. (“Universal”). Townhouse subsequently filed for bankruptcy on September 16, 2020. As a result of the bankruptcy petition, an automatic stay was issued, enjoining all creditors, including Universal, from collecting *2 their debts. In the bankruptcy proceeding, Townhouse filed a motion for extension of time to pay rent for October and November 2020, pursuant to 11 U.S.C § 365(d)(3). Townhouse also filed a motion to determine its pre- and post-petition rent obligations to Universal. Universal opposed those motions and filed its own motion for rent due under the lease and relief from the automatic stay. The Bankruptcy Court held a hearing on the motions on November 4, 2020.
On November 12, 2020, the Bankruptcy Court issued an order granting Townhouse’s motion for extension of time and directed Townhouse to pay Universal rent owed from September 16, 2020 through November 16, 2020. The Bankruptcy Court determined that Townhouse was not entitled to equitable abatement or apportionment of its post-petition rent obligations and directed Townhouse to continue making rent payments to Universal. The Bankruptcy Court otherwise reserved its ruling on the motion to determine Townhouse’s pre-petition rent obligations. The Bankruptcy Court also granted, in part, Universal’s motion for relief from the automatic stay. Townhouse now seeks leave to appeal the interlocutory order of the Bankruptcy Court pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 8004 and 28 U.S.C. § 158(a).
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A district court has jurisdiction to hear appeals from interlocutory orders entered by a
bankruptcy judge with prior leave of court. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). “Because 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)
does not provide the district court any criteria for determining whether to exercise their discretionary
authority to grant leave to appeal, the courts look to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b).”
Laurent v. Herkert
, 196 F.
App’x 771, 772 (11th Cir. 2006) (quoting
In re Charter Co.,
III. DISCUSSION
Townhouse fails to establish the first element for leave to appeal an interlocutory order—
controlling question of law. Interlocutory “appeals were intended, and should be reserved, for
situations in which the court of appeals can rule on a pure, controlling question of law without
having to delve beyond the surface of the record in order to determine the facts.”
McFarlin v.
Conseco Servs., LLC
,
Townhouse argues that this Court should grant immediate interlocutory appeal because the
Bankruptcy Court’s ruling directing it to pay post-petition rent deviates from Florida law because the
post-petition rent statute was applied without reference to implied conditions of the lease contract.
[ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 22, 36]. Townhouse also requests interlocutory appeal because the Bankruptcy Court
had no evidence to support its finding that the unabated rent amount was the proper measurement of
adequate protection.
Id.
¶¶ 16–17, 40. However, these issues do not involve pure questions of law
but instead relate to whether the Bankruptcy Court correctly applied the statutory provisions or
Florida law to the facts of its case.
Nice v. L-3 Commc'ns Vertex Aerospace LLC
,
IV. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that 1. Debtor’s Motion for Leave to File Interlocutory Appeal of Order (1) Denying, in Part, Debtor’s Motion to Determine Rent; (2) Granting Debtor’s Motion for Extension of Time to Pay Rent; and (3) Reserving Ruling on Landlord’s Motion for Relief From the Automatic Stay, [ECF No. 1], is DENIED .
2. All pending motions are DENIED as moot .
3. This case is CLOSED .
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida, this 4th day of May, 2021. ________________________________ DARRIN P. GAYLES UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE