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  • Sarah Little

9th Circuit says 727(e)(1) is a Plain Old Statute of Limitation, not a Jurisdictional Limit


In Weil v. Elliott, A Chapter 7 Trustee filed a 727 action to revoke a Debtor's discharge 15 months after the discharge was granted, upon discovering the Debtor failed to disclose a house and misrepresented where he lived. The bankruptcy court granted summary judgment in favor of the Trustee. On appeal to the BAP, the BAP vacated the judgment on the ground that the Trustee's complaint was untimely, even though timeliness was not raised as a defense, holding that the time limit is jurisdictional. On remand, the bankruptcy court dismissed the Trustee's complaint for that reason.

The Trustee requested permission to directly appeal to the 9th Circuit, who reversed the BAP, saying "the time limit imposed by section 727(e)(1) is not a "jurisdictional' constraint. It is an ordinary, run-of-the-mill statute of limitations..." Citing a recent Supreme Court opinion, "Congress must do something special, beyond setting an exception-free deadline, to tag statute of limitations as jurisdictional". The case was remanded back to bankruptcy court with instructions to reinstate the judgment revoking discharge. See opinion.


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