Opinion
BAP NO. PR 12-053 Bankruptcy Case No. 12-01093-BKT
05-08-2013
EDWIN SEPULVEDA SOTO and ARLENE LISETTE GONZALEZ RIVERA, Debtors. EDWIN SEPULVEDA SOTO and ARLENE LISETTE GONZALEZ RIVERA, Appellants, v. DORAL BANK, Appellee.
Alexander Zeno, Esq., on brief for Appellants. Rebeca Caquías Mejías, Esq., on brief for Appellee.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court
for the District of Puerto Rico
(Hon. Brian K. Tester, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge)
Before
Haines, Feeney, and Hoffman,
United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judges.
Alexander Zeno, Esq., on brief for Appellants.
Rebeca Caquías Mejías, Esq., on brief for Appellee.
Per Curiam .
The debtors, Edwin Sepulveda Soto and Arlene Lisette Gonzalez Rivera, appeal from the bankruptcy court's order granting Doral Bank relief from the automatic stay pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(1) with respect to two properties in Puerto Rico. The debtors also appealed separately the bankruptcy court's order dismissing their chapter 13 case for failure to comply with all of their obligations under 11 U.S.C. § 521. See Sepulveda Soto v. Doral Bank (In re Sepulveda Soto), BAP No. PR 12-075 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. May 8, 2013). As we have affirmed the dismissal order, id., this appeal has become moot as no effective relief can be granted. See In re Cont'l Mortgage Investors, 578 F.2d 872, 877 (1st Cir. 1978) (holding that appeal is moot when no meaningful relief is available); see also Rochman v. Northeast Utils. Serv. Group (In re Pub. Serv. Co. of N.H.), 963 F.2d 469, 471 (1st Cir. 1992); Kasparian v. Conley (In re Conley), 369 B.R. 67, 70-71 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. 2007). We are unable to fashion meaningful relief because we cannot reinstate the automatic stay in a case that has been dismissed. See Gorczakowski v. Eastern Airlines Fed. Fin. Credit Union, No. 94-1499, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 30356 (1st Cir. Oct. 28, 1994) (holding that once dismissal of underlying bankruptcy case became final, appeal from order granting relief from stay became moot).
Thus, we hereby DISMISS this appeal as MOOT.