Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie Timber Co, 72
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | ROBERTS |
| Citation | 51 S.Ct. 270,282 U.S. 734,75 L.Ed. 645 |
| Parties | ISAACS v. HOBBS TIE & TIMBER CO |
| Docket Number | No. 72,72 |
| Decision Date | 24 February 1931 |
v.
HOBBS TIE & TIMBER CO.
Page 735
Mr. Wm. R. Watkins, of Fort Worth, Tex., for Isaacs.
Mr. John R. Duty, of Rogers, Ark., for Hobbs Tie & Timber Co.
Mr. Justice ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court.
In this cause the Circuit Court of Appeals certified the following question:
'After the bankruptcy court has acquired jurisdiction of the estate of the bankrupt and the referee therein has entered an order requiring sale, by the trustee, of all of the property of the bankrupt but before the trustee has taken any steps to sell land (part of such estate) en-
Page 736
tirely located in another judicial district, can a suit to foreclose a valid mortgage thereon be commenced and an order of sale thereunder be made over the objection of the trustee, by the court of the latter district?'
This Court ordered that the entire record be sent up.
The question correctly states the issue rie d in the District Court which entered the judgment from which the trustee appealed.
Henrietta E. Cunningham was adjudged bankrupt in the Northern District of Texas. The estate embraces land situate in the Western District of Arkansas. B. K. Isaacs was elected trustee. Thereafter appellee, the holder of a note secured by a mortgage on the said land, instituted foreclosure proceedings in a state court of Arkansas. It named the bankrupt and Isaacs, the trustee, as defendants, recited the bankruptcy proceeding in the Texas district, and that it had not filed its secured note as a claim therein.
The bankrupt and the trustee specially appeared and petitioned for removal of the cause to the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. After removal the trustee filed an answer in which he set up, inter alia, his right and title as trustee, his lack of information as to the execution of the note and mortgage, and the fact that the land had been scheduled in the Texas District Court as an asset of the bankrupt. He further averred that as trustee he had taken and then held peaceable possession of the land; that there was an equity in the same above the mortgage debt; that a sale in foreclosure would prejudice the rights of general creditors; that he required time for investigation as to the most favorable method of sale; that neither he nor the bankruptcy court had consented to the foreclosure of the mortgage; that the bankruptcy court had entered an order authorizing him to sell the land; that that court had exclusive jurisdiction to ascertain the facts and administer the property; that the federal District Court in Ar-
Page 737
kansas could proceed no further than to ascertain the interests of the defendants, the validity of the mortgage lien, and the amount of the debt. The answer prayed that after these preliminary steps the court should refuse an order of sale, because of its want of jurisdiction to enter one.
On motion of the plaintiff the court struck out so much of the answer as sought to delay judgment and sale, and entered, on the pleadings, a decree of foreclosure and sale containing a proviso that, if there should be any surplus of purchase money, over the amount of the judgment, interest, and costs, the same should be paid to the trustee.
Upon adjudication, title to the bankrupt's property vests in the trustee with actual or constructive possession, and is placed in the custody of the bankruptcy court. Mueller v. Nugent, 184 U. S. 1, 14, 22 S. Ct. 269, 46 L. Ed. 405. The title and right to possession of all property owned and possessed by the bankrupt vests in the trustee as of the date of the filing of the petition in bankruptcy, no matter whether situated within or without the district in which the court sits. Robertson...
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Straton v. New, No. 137
...It may inquire into the validity of liens, marshal them, and control their enforcement and liquidation. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 282 U. S. 734, 51 S. Ct. 270, 75 L. Ed. 645, and authorities cited; Whitney v. Wenman, 198 U. S. 539, 25 S. Ct. 778, 49 L. Ed. 1157; Remington, Bankruptc......
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In re West Coast Cabinet Works, No. 44249-W
...property of the bankrupt estate is in the custody of said court, and under its exclusive control. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 1930, 282 U.S. 734, 737, 738, 51 S.Ct. 270, 75 L.Ed. 645, and cases We have heretofore pointed out, the enforcement of the provisions of the portion of the Law......
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In re Burley, Bankruptcy No. LA 80-08761-RO.
...specific property to the exclusion of a competing court involved a competing nonbankruptcy court. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co. (1931), 282 U.S. 734, 51 S.Ct. 270, 75 L.Ed. 645; White v. Schloerb (1900), 178 U.S. 542, 20 S.Ct. 1007, 44 L.Ed. 1183; Murphy v. John Hofman Co. (1909), 211 U.......
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In re Jefferson Cnty., No. 11–05736–TBB.
...power to cede its exclusive jurisdiction over a bankruptcy case and property of its estate. See, e.g., Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 282 U.S. 734, 739, 51 S.Ct. 270, 75 L.Ed. 645 (1931); In re 188 W. Randolph St. Bldg. Corp., 88 F.2d 257, 261 (7th Cir.1937). Section 305 creates an excep......
-
Straton v. New, No. 137
...inquire into the validity of liens, marshal them, and control their enforcement and liquidation. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 282 U. S. 734, 51 S. Ct. 270, 75 L. Ed. 645, and authorities cited; Whitney v. Wenman, 198 U. S. 539, 25 S. Ct. 778, 49 L. Ed. 1157; Remington, Bankruptcy (......
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In re West Coast Cabinet Works, No. 44249-W
...of the bankrupt estate is in the custody of said court, and under its exclusive control. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 1930, 282 U.S. 734, 737, 738, 51 S.Ct. 270, 75 L.Ed. 645, and cases We have heretofore pointed out, the enforcement of the provisions of the portion of the Law here......
-
In re Burley, Bankruptcy No. LA 80-08761-RO.
...property to the exclusion of a competing court involved a competing nonbankruptcy court. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co. (1931), 282 U.S. 734, 51 S.Ct. 270, 75 L.Ed. 645; White v. Schloerb (1900), 178 U.S. 542, 20 S.Ct. 1007, 44 L.Ed. 1183; Murphy v. John Hofman Co. (1909), 211 U.S. 56......
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In re Jefferson Cnty., No. 11–05736–TBB.
...to cede its exclusive jurisdiction over a bankruptcy case and property of its estate. See, e.g., Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 282 U.S. 734, 739, 51 S.Ct. 270, 75 L.Ed. 645 (1931); In re 188 W. Randolph St. Bldg. Corp., 88 F.2d 257, 261 (7th Cir.1937). Section 305 creates an excepti......
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Generalised Creditors and Particularised Creditors: Against a Unified Theory of Standing in Bankruptcy.
...to hear and determine all questions respecting title, possession and control of that property. Isaacs v. Hobbs Tie & Timber Co., 282 U.S. 734, 737-38 (1931); see also Quigley Co. v. Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos (In re Quigley Co.), 676 F3d 45, 52 (2d Cir. 2011). On channeling injunct......