Smeding v. Ahcom, Ltd. (In Re Nuttery Farm, Inc.)

MEMORANDUM

Hendrik and Lettie Smeding appeal from the bankruptcy court’s approval of the sale of Nuttery Farm Inc.’s causes of action to Adam Hacking, Ahcom’s principal. The district court dismissed their appeal for lack of standing. We affirm.

The Bankruptcy Code allows the trustee of a bankruptcy estate to move the bankruptcy court for authority to sell or settle a cause of action. 11 U.S.C. § 363 ; In re Mickey Thompson Entm’t Grp., Inc., 292 B.R. 415, 421 (9th Cir. BAP 2003). The trustee must give interested parties notice twenty-one days before the sale or hearing on approval of settlement, and provide an opportunity to object. Fed. R. Bankr. Proc. 6004(a), 9019(a), 2002(a)(2)-(3), (c)(1). However, a trustee’s management of the other procedural details surrounding bidding and sale are “ultimately a matter of discretion that depends upon the dynamics of the particular situation.” Mickey Thompson, 292 B.R. at 422 .

The Smedings observe that in this case the trustee originally noticed a proposal to sell the estate’s claims to the Smedings, not to Ahcom. The Smedings argue that when the trustee decided to instead seek approval of Ahcom’s counteroffer, the trustee was obligated…