Affirmative Acts, Passive Retention, and Exercising Control: Applying City of Chicago v. Fulton to Related Provisions of the Automatic Stay

Authors

Halloran Hoffmann, American University Washington College of Law

Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

2024

Journal

American University Law Review Forum

Volume

73

Abstract

The Supreme Court’s decision in City of Chicago v. Fulton partially resolved a decades-long circuit split around the interpretation of a fundamental debtor-protection mechanism, the automatic stay. However, the limited ruling only applied to one subsection of the automatic stay and resulted in lingering questions regarding the proper application of the other subsections of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a). This Comment argues that despite the Court’s narrow holding, its reasoning and analysis provided a framework that courts can extend and apply to other subsections of § 362(a). Further, this Comment argues that City of Chicago v. Fulton left open the possibility that passive retention of debtor property does, in some instances, violate the automatic stay.

Recommended Citation

Hoffmann, Halloran, "Affirmative Acts, Passive Retention, and Exercising Control: Applying City of Chicago v. Fulton to Related Provisions of the Automatic Stay" (2024). Celebrating WCL Student Authors. 55.
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/stusch_lawrev/55