SALE OF ESTATE PROPERTY
- Sales of property of the estate, other than:
- Sales free and clear of liens claims or encumbrances;
- Sales in the ordinary course of business; or
- Sales of personally identifiable information under § 363(b)(1)(B),
The trustee, or debtor, as appropriate, shall prepare, file, and serve pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 7004 a report and notice of the movant’s intention to sell estate property, the applicable form available online. Where the value of the estate's interest in the property is less than $1,000.00, notice need be given only to the debtor, debtor's attorney, any committee or its authorized agent, the United States trustee’s office, and to any creditor and equity security holders who file a request that all notices be sent to them.
- Sales or leases of personally identifiable information under § 363(b)(1)(B) shall be governed by Bankruptcy Rule 6004(g).
- Sales of property free and clear of liens pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 363(f) and Bankruptcy Rule 6004(c) shall be accomplished in the following manner:
- The trustee or debtor, as appropriate, shall file a motion pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 6004(c) for authority to sell property free and clear of liens or other interests, and serve the motion on all parties who have liens or other interests in the property to be sold; and
- Once the Clerk has scheduled a hearing on the motion, the movant shall file a report and notice as set forth in (A) above, the applicable form available online, containing the date, time and place for the hearing on the motion. The moving party must serve the report and notice on all creditors and parties in interest as provided in Bankruptcy Rule 6004(a), and may serve the report and notice pursuant to the negative notice procedure under these rules.
- If an objection to the sale is timely filed, the objection will be set for hearing at the same time as the motion.
- If no objection to the sale is timely filed, then the motion may be granted without a hearing. If an order is entered granting the motion, the sale may proceed without the necessity for the hearing. If no order granting the motion is entered, the hearing will proceed as scheduled.
Advisory Committee Notes
2023 Amendment
The amended rule includes stylistic changes to refer to applicable forms and the Local Rules Links page that provides links to various Official Forms and Local Forms. At the time of this amendment the applicable form was Local Form 7-8 (Report and Notice of Intent to Sell Property of the Estate). Other minor stylistic changes are intended to improve stylistic consistency without changing current practice.
2020 Amendment
The amended rule includes both stylistic and substantive changes. The format of subdivisions is changed to maintain a consistent style across all rules. Subdivision (A) is amended to maintain a consistent style for references to the court’s website. Former subdivision D. is incorporated into subdivision (C) and references to service by negative notice have been changed to maintain a consistent style across all rules.