In re Lopez
UNPUBLISHED
Creditor filed a motion for sanctions against both debtor and debtor's counsel under Bankruptcy Rule 9011, based on their filing of a chapter 13 petition while a prior chapter 13 case dealing with substantially the same debt was still pending. Because of the second filing, creditor had been forced to seek relief from stay in that proceeding, despite having already obtained that relief in the prior one. The court found that debtor had merely relied on counsel, and had not refiled to either cause delay or harass his creditors. However, the court found that debtor's counsel knowingly and improperly filed a new petition while the previous case was still pending, and that his doing so had not been objectively reasonable. Sanctions were awarded against debtor's counsel.