Local Rule Rule 6004-1: SALE OF ESTATE PROPERTY OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY COURSE OF BUSINESS

Rule 6004-1 SALE OF ESTATE PROPERTY OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY COURSE OF BUSINESS A. Sale of Property. 1. All sales not in the ordinary course of a debtor's business (notwithstanding any provision in a chapter 13 plan) shall be by motion, except where the seller also seeks: a. to determine the validity, priority, or extent of a lien or other interest in property, other than the avoidance of a lien or other transfer of property exempt under § 522(f) of the Code, or b. to obtain approval pursuant to § 363(h) of the Code for the sale of both the interest of the estate and of a co-owner in property.

In such excepted cases, the seller shall file an adversary and proceed by the adversary procedures including service of a summons set forth in Part VII of the Fed. R. Bankr. P. and the LBR. A proposed order approving the sale shall be attached to the motion or complaint.

B. Hearing Date. Before filing any motion for sale, the seller shall obtain from the appropriate court personnel a sale hearing time and date which shall normally be a time and date on which the Court regularly hears motions. If the seller anticipates that the sale hearing will take more than a limited time, the seller shall so notify the appropriate court personnel and obtain a time and date which will allow sufficient time for the Court to dispose of the motion to sell property.

C. Responses. Responses and objections shall be filed and served at least fourteen (14) days after service of the motion and seven (7) days prior to the sale hearing date. In addition to parties normally required to be served, responses and objections shall be served on the initial offeror and its counsel. The objecting party must attend the hearing or file and serve a notice of withdrawal of the objection at least two (2) business days prior to the hearing. Higher or better bids may form the basis for an objection to the motion and may be considered by the Court at the sale hearing.

D. Notice by Publication Waived. If the property to be sold has an aggregate value of less than the value specified in Fed. R. Bankr. P. 6004(d), notice by publication shall be at the discretion of the seller. Further, the necessity for notice by publication shall be waived and a private sale permitted in all chapter 13 cases where there are sufficient funds from the sale available and designated to the payment of 100% of the allowed claims. A stipulation signed by the debtor's counsel and the chapter 13 trustee to sell the property without publication shall be served on all parties in interest including all creditors and lien holders. If no objection to a sale motion is filed within twenty-one (21) days of the filing of the motion, the Court may approve the sale without further notice or hearing.

E. Notice Requirements: 1. The seller shall send the Notice of Sale by first-class mail, or electronically to those parties who consent to receipt of electronic notice, to: a. the debtor and debtor's counsel; b. the trustee and trustee's counsel or the chapter 13 trustee, if applicable; c. all indenture trustees and their counsel, if any; d. all lien holders; e. all creditors; f. all committees appointed pursuant to the Code or to their authorized agents and their counsel, if any; g. the United States as required by Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002(j); and h. the United States Trustee. 2. The debtor in possession or trustee may file a motion, served on all creditors and parties in interest, to establish a procedure for selling less than substantially all the assets of the estate or those assets of less than substantial value. The motion to establish sale procedures may provide that the notice of sale be served on a limited list of creditors and parties in interest. Such list must be set forth with particularity in the motion to establish the sale procedures. 3. Addresses for Notice of Sale and Motions to Sell: Any notice required to be served under these procedures shall be addressed (i) as stated in a proof of claim duly filed; (ii) if no claim is filed, as directed in a request for notices filed with the Clerk; or (iii) if no claim or request for notices is filed, to the address shown in the list of creditors included in the schedules. Service may be made electronically if consent exists. 4. The Notice of Sale and publication of the Notice must contain the following information: a. the bankruptcy case name and number and the adversary name and number, if applicable, and the docket number of the motion; b. a brief description of the property to be sold (examples: personalty (Dodge Truck) or realty (Parcel 1 Estate ABC, as shown on PWD # 123, recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds for the Division of St. Thomas and St. John/St. Croix on ______ at _____). c. the date, time and place of the sale hearing; d. the date by which objections to the sale must be filed and served; e. a statement of the amount of the initial offer and that higher or better offers will be considered at an auction or at the hearing; f. the name, address, and telephone number of the person to contact for terms and conditions of sale or to examine the property; g. what cash is required to bid at the auction or the hearing; and h. the proposed distribution of the proceeds of the sale. 5. Publication: Notice of any proposed sale of property with a selling price of less than $50,000 shall be advertised by the seller by publication once in a newspaper of general circulation in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Advertising for sales of property with a selling price greater than $50,000 shall be determined by motion and court order. The publication shall be made no more than twenty-one (21) nor less than seven (7) days before the scheduled date of the auction or sale hearing. Proofs of publication of the advertising must be filed when received by moving party or representation made to the Court at the time of the sale hearing that publication was made and that proofs of publication will be filed when received by the moving party. 6. Reports of Sale: An itemized Report of Sale shall be filed with the Court within five (5) calendar days of the date of consummation of the sale.