Kismet Acquisition, LLC v. Icenhower (In Re Icenhower)
Opinion
Opinion
Farris, J.
Alejandro Diaz-Barba and Martha Bar-ba de la Torre (collectively, the “Diaz Defendants”) challenge the bankruptcy court’s and district court’s orders invalidating the transfer to them of a Mexican coastal villa owned by Jerry and Donna Icenhower and requiring them to convey the property to Kismet Acquisition, LLC for the benefit of Debtors’ bankruptcy estate. According to the Diaz Defendants, the bankruptcy court erred by: (1) exercising jurisdiction over Mexican land, contrary to the local action doctrine; (2) applying U.S. law extraterritorially; (3) declining to honor the forum selection clauses in the Mexican contracts effecting the property’s sale; (4) declining to abstain from ordering recovery of the property based on international comity; (5) entering judgment without Mexico, allegedly a necessary and indispensable party, having been joined; (6) applying U.S. law, rather than Mexican law, to determine whether the Diaz Defendants were good faith purchasers of the property; and (7) finding that Martha Barba de la Torre purchased the property in bad faith. We affirm.