ROBERT H. JACOBVITZ, United States Bankruptcy Judge.
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Defendants' Motion and Brief in Support of Summary Judgment on Amended Complaint for Violation of the Automatic Stay and Discharge; And Petition for Temporary Restraining Order Injunction, Sanctions, Civil Contempt, and Attorneys['] Fees and Costs for Willful Violation of Discharge Injunction ("Motion for Summary Judgment"). See Docket Nos. 5 and 6. Because the facts not subject to genuine dispute establish that the Plaintiffs entered into the lease underlying their claims
This adversary proceeding is the second adversary proceeding Edward L. Henderson and Andrea L. Henderson (together, the Hendersons) have filed against Eric White and Malissa White (together, the Whites) asserting the same claims based on the same underlying facts. See Adversary Proceeding No.15-1076 J ("First Adversary Proceeding"). The Court dismissed the First Adversary Proceeding, without prejudice, due to the Hendersons' failure to timely file an amended complaint. See First Adversary Proceeding — Docket Nos. 13. The Hendersons initiated this adversary proceeding on May 18, 2016 by filing an Amended Complaint for Violation of the Automatic Stay and Discharge; and Petition for Temporary Restraining Order, Injunction, Sanctions, Civil Contempt, and Attorney's Fees and Costs for Willful Violation of Discharge Injunction ("Complaint"). See Docket No. 1.
The Whites filed the Motion for Summary Judgment on June 9, 2016. See Docket Nos. 5 and 6. The Hendersons requested an enlargement of the time within which to file a response to the Motion for Summary Judgment. See Docket No. 7. The Whites objected. See Docket No. 9. Following a hearing on the Hendersons' request for enlargement of time, the Court extended the deadline for the Hendersons to file a response to the Motion for Summary Judgment through July 12, 2016. See Docket No. 13. The Hendersons missed the July 12, 2016 deadline. The next day, July 13, 2016, the Hendersons filed a motion requesting a one-day extension of the time to file a response to the pending Motion for Summary Judgment ("Second Extension Motion"). See Docket No. 14. The Hendersons attached to the Second Extension Motion a copy of their proposed response to the Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court denied the Hendersons' Second Extension Motion. See Docket No. 15. The Court further ruled that it would not consider the Hendersons' response in ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment. Id.
Summary judgment can streamline litigation and avoid the unnecessary expense of proceeding to trial. See Farnell v. Albuquerque Publ'g Co., 589 F.2d 497, 502 (10th Cir. 1978) ("[S]ummary judgment is a useful tool which may avoid needless trials.") (citation omitted); Mitchell v. Zia Park, LLC, 842 F.Supp.2d 1316, 1321 (D.N.M. 2012) ("Principal purposes of summary judgment include streamlining litigation and saving needless time and expense by isolating and disposing of purely legal issues and factually unsupported claims and defenses.") (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (remaining citation omitted)). The Court will grant summary judgment in accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 when the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine dispute as to a material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a), made applicable to adversary proceedings by Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7056. "[A] party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the ... court of the basis for its motion, and ... [must] demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548.
The following facts are not subject to genuine dispute:
1. The Hendersons filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on February 13, 2015 as Case No. 7-15-10325 JA (the "Chapter 7 Case").
2. Schedule G — Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases filed in the Hendersons' Chapter 7 Case on March 15, 2015 identifies a commercial lease with Sedona LLC.
3. The Hendersons did not list a lease with the Whites on Schedule G.
4. The Hendersons never amended Schedule G to add any other leases.
5. The Whites leased to the Hendersons certain real property located at 5 Teypana Dr., Tijeras, New Mexico 87059 (the "Property").
6. On February 13, 2012, the Whites and the Hendersons entered into a one-year lease agreement for the Property.
7. On February 13, 2013, the Whites and the Hendersons entered into another one-year lease agreement for the Property.
8. On March 6, 2015, the Whites and the Hendersons entered into a written lease agreement for the Property entitled, "Extension of Lease Agreement." See Motion for Summary Judgment — Exhibit D.
9. The Extension of Lease Agreement provides:
10. The Extension of Lease Agreement further provides that it extends the term of a lease dated March 6, 2015 for a three-month period commencing April 15, 2015 and terminating on July 15, 2015, "with no further right of renewal or extension beyond said termination date." Id.
11. The rent under the Extension of Lease Agreement is $2,200 per month, "payable in advance." Id.
13. The Hendersons did not pay rent to the Whites under the Extension of Lease Agreement for the month of July 2015.
14. On July 21, 2015, the Whites filed a pro se civil complaint in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court against the Hendersons for nonpayment of rent (the "Metro-Court Action")
15. The Whites amended their complaint in the Metro-Court Action on August 19, 2015.
16. The Hendersons filed the First Adversary Proceeding on October 21, 2015.
17. The Court entered an order in the First Adversary Proceeding which provided, in part:
18. On November 9, 2015, the Metropolitan Court Judge entered an order in the Metro-Court Action determining that the automatic stay did not apply. See Order on Motion for determination that Automatic Bankruptcy Stay Does Not Apply — Exhibit F.
Upon the filing of a voluntary petition for relief, 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) operates as a self-executing, automatic stay. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) ("a petition filed under section 301 ... of this title ... operates as a stay ..."); In re Gruntz, 202 F.3d 1074, 1081 (9th Cir. 2000) ("The automatic stay is self-executing, effective upon the filing of the bankruptcy petition.") (citations omitted).
Once the debtor receives a Chapter 7 discharge, the discharge injunction, found in 11 U.S.C. § 524, takes the place of the automatic stay. See Baetz, 493 B.R. at 234 ("At the conclusion of the typical chapter 7 case, the automatic stay is replaced by the discharge injunction set forth in § 524."). The Chapter 7 discharge injunction "prohibits actions brought to collect a discharged debt from the debtor[.]" In re Paul, 534 F.3d 1303, 1307 (10th Cir. 2008). See also, 11 U.S.C. § 524(a)(2) ("A discharge ... operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action ... to collect ... any such debt as a personal liability of the debtor"). Similar to the automatic stay, the Chapter 7 discharge injunction applies to attempts to collect pre-petition debts. See In re Kuehn, 563 F.3d 289, 291 (7th Cir. 2009) ("Sections 362(a) [automatic stay] and 524(a)(2) [discharge injunction] apply only when a creditor acts to collect a prepetition or discharged debt.") (emphasis in original); Baetz, 493 B.R. at 234 (observing that "[t]he discharge injunction eliminates the debtor's personal liability for the prepetition debt owed to the creditor ...").
On summary judgment, the Whites contend that all pre-petition leases with the Hendersons for the Property had expired before the commencement of the Hendersons' bankruptcy case; that the Extension of Lease Agreement is a separate, post-petition lease; and that their post-petition efforts to enforce the Extension of Lease Agreement are an attempt to collect rent due after the Hendersons filed their Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. The Whites consequently reason that their actions cannot violate the automatic stay or the discharge injunction.
Before entering into the Lease Extension Agreement, the Whites leased the Property to the Hendersons under a lease dated February 12, 2012, and under a lease dated February 12, 2013. If either of these leases remained in effect as of the date the Hendersons filed their bankruptcy case, the Hendersons' interest in those leases would have become property of the bankruptcy estate, subject to the automatic stay. See Baetz, 493 B.R. at 235 (debtors' interest in unexpired pre-petition residential lease becomes property of the bankruptcy estate); 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(2) and (3) (stay provisions protecting property of the bankruptcy estate).
The Extension of Lease Agreement is a form document containing blanks that the parties filled in by hand. Its title suggests that it extends an existing lease. The printed form language of the agreement provides that "all other terms of the Lease shall continue during this extended term as if set forth herein." Unless the Extension of Lease Agreement extended an existing lease, there would be no other lease terms to incorporate by reference. In addition, the Extension of Lease Agreement extends the term of the lease for three months commencing April 15, 2015, suggesting that the previous term ended April 14, 2015.
On the other hand, the only dates contained in the Extension of Lease Agreement are dates after the date of the filing of the Hendersons' bankruptcy case. The March 6, 2015 date in the first paragraph
However, the Hendersons did not list any lease relating to the Property on Schedule G filed with their bankruptcy petition, which requires that they list all unexpired leases existing as of the commencement of the bankruptcy case on February 13, 2015. Nor did they later amend Schedule G. "`Statements in bankruptcy schedules are executed under penalty of perjury and when offered against a debtor are eligible for treatment as judicial admissions.'" In re Morreale, 2015 WL 3897796, *8 (Bankr.D.Colo. June 22, 2015) (quoting In re Bohrer, 266 B.R. 200, 201 (Bankr.N.D.Cal. 2001)).
In support of the Whites' contention that the Extension of Lease Agreement is a separate, independent, post-petition lease agreement, the Whites have offered their own affidavit testimony stating that all other pre-petition leases had expired before the filing of the Hendersons' Chapter 7 case. See Affidavit of Eric White — Exhibit B, ¶¶ 4, 5, and 6; Affidavit of Malissa White — Exhibit C, ¶¶ 4, 5, and 6. The Whites did not attach to their affidavits copies of either of the two leases they contend expired pre-petition. Conclusory, self-serving affidavit testimony, absent specific supporting facts, lacks probative value. See Ellis v. J.R.'s Country Stores, Inc., 779 F.3d 1184, 1201 (10th Cir. 2015) (stating that "[a]ffidavits must contain certain indicia of reliability" and observing further that "`[u]nsubstantiated allegations carry no probative weight in summary judgment proceedings'") (quoting Bones v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc., 366 F.3d 869, 875 (10th Cir. 2004) (citation omitted)).
Based on these facts, the Whites are entitled to summary judgment. The undisputed facts demonstrate that the Hendersons had no interest in the Property as of the petition date subject to the automatic stay. The Whites' actions in the State Court Action seeking to enforce the post-petition Extension of Lease Agreement could not, as a matter of law, have violated the automatic stay or the discharge injunction. Having granted summary judgment on this basis, the Court need not address the Whites' alternative argument that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine
The Court will enter a separate order and judgment consistent with this Memorandum Opinion.