⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

A foreclosure dispute reaches the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Marfa Developer filed for Chapter Eleven bankruptcy protection. The McHugh Family Trust asked the bankruptcy court to lift the automatic stay, and the court allowed a foreclosure sale to proceed. Adam Greenfield, who filed the company's case without an attorney, will speak first. Bankruptcy's automatic stay generally pauses foreclosure. The order at issue grants what lawyers call in rem relief under Section three sixty-two, d, four: relief directed at the property that can also reach later bankruptcy filings involving it. A stay-relief proceeding is limited: permission to proceed despite the bankruptcy does not finally determine the underlying debt or every challenge to the loan documents. That distinction matters when the argument turns to disputed paperwork. A full reconveyance records the release of a deed-of-trust loan lien, ordinarily after repayment. That is a general definition, not a finding that any document in this case is valid. You will also hear the word moot. An appeal is moot when a court can no longer grant any effective relief; a foreclosure must be considered in light of that question, not treated as an automatic answer.

In re Marfa Developer LLC (No. 26-1058) — U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit, argued October 15, 2026.