Gasprom, Inc. v. Fateh (In re Gasprom, Inc.)

ORDER AFFIRMING BANKRUPTCY COURT ORDER

Appellant-Debtor Gasprom, Inc. appeals from the Order Granting Motion to Annul Bankruptcy Stay and Denying Motion to Set Aside Foreclosure and for OSC re Contempt (the “Order”), rendered in favor of Appellees Michelle Fateh, Fred Fateh, and Green Energy Holdings, LLC. (Excerpts of Record (“ER”) 609-10). For the reasons set forth below, the Order is AFFIRMED.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2004, Appellant acquired a gas station in Oxnard, California that is the subject of the dispute between the parties (the “Gas Station”). Appellant purchased the Gas Station at a foreclosure sale for $2,500,000. Appellant operated the station for a number of years and performed valuable improvements on the Gas Station during the ensuing years. In 2011, Appellee Michelle Fateh contacted Appellant and demanded payment on a note from 1995 secured by a deed of trust on the Gas Station in the approximate amount of $819,000. In November 2011, Fateh recorded a notice of default on the Gas Station. She scheduled a foreclosure sale for February 24, 2012.

Appellant filed a chapter 11 petition in bankruptcy on February 24, 2012. Appellant had filed a prior chapter 11 petition on…