Edwin Jonas, III v. Linda Jonas

MEMORANDUM

Debtor Edwin Jonas (“Debtor”) appeals the district court’s order affirming the bankruptcy court’s dismissal of his bankruptcy case with prejudice. We review such a dismissal for an abuse of discretion, Leavitt v. Soto (In re Leavitt), 171 F.3d 1219, 1222-23 (9th Cir.1999), and we affirm.

The bankruptcy court acted within its discretion to dismiss the case for Debtor’s failure to comply with the express terms of the stipulation he negotiated in order to reconvert his case to Chapter 11. As the bankruptcy court found, “The Debtor failed to perform his obligation under the approved Stipulation. He failed to file a plan and disclosure statement by the deadline. On two instances he failed to pay timely quarterly fees. For each of those failures, under the negotiated Stipulation the case was subject to immediate dismissal with prejudice....” See, e.g., 11 U.S.C. § 1112 (b)(4)(J) (“failure to file a disclosure statement, or to file or confirm a plan, within the time fixed by this title or by order of the Court” provides cause to dismiss case); Tennant v. Rojas (In re Tennant), 318 B.R. 860, 869 (9th Cir.BAP2004) (bankruptcy court has authority to dismiss case sua sponte for…