New Ninth Circuit Consumer Law Opinion! - In re Griffin

In re Griffin (9th Cir. June 26, 2013)

Toni Griffin filed chapter 7 bankruptcy and US Bank N.A. sought relief from the automatic stay. In support of its motion, the bank submitted a copy of a copy of the original note and a declaration stating the original note was in the bank's file.

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court's decision to grant relief from stay.

The Court reasoned that the bank's second-generation copy of the note and declaration satisfied Federal Rule of Evidence 1003 concerning admissibility of duplicates. The Court noted that the bank need only establish a colorable claim to the property to maintain prudential standing because the bank's motion did not seek final adjudication of any rights or liabilities of the parties.

Read the full opinion for complete analysis:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2013/06/26/12-60046.pdf

Commentary: Yet another recent Ninth Circuit consumer bankruptcy opinion (see, e.g., In re Barrientos) that really appeared to be a no-brainer. Save your bullets against these banks, folks.