01-2930 In the Matter of: Mary Anne Zurn

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“Zurn’s bankruptcy ended in 1996. The plan of reorganization has been fully implemented; there is nothing to ‘enforce’ and no reason to reopen and alter the plan. Zurn’s belief that anyone who has been a debtor in bankruptcy has eternal access to federal court for all disputes related in some way to the debts handled in the bankruptcy proceeding is incompatible not only with Pettibone but with many other cases, none of which Zurn discusses… Suppose that a Chapter 13 plan called for a debtor to pay in full for a car, and thus retain title, and that after the confirmation of the plan a warranty dispute occurred. Would the bankruptcy judge be called on to determine whether the car’s transmission had been repaired to the debtor’s satisfaction? Certainly not; the federal role ended with the decision that the car would be paid for and retained rather than abandoned. Other disputes concerning the car belong to state tribunals. So too with leaseholds, we held in Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. Zurn conceded at oral argument that disputes of this kind could not be brought back to federal court but argues that her dispute differs because the state litigation was ongoing at the time of the federal bankruptcy. But that was equally true in Pettibone, where the bankruptcy court abstained and left resolution of the parties’ dispute to state tribunals.

After the bankruptcy ended, the parties could not agree on the effect in the state cases of the automatic stay in bankruptcy; even though this dispute (unlike the Zurn-Botti imbroglio) was related to federal law, we held in Pettibone that jurisdiction once relinquished stays relinquished. When a bankruptcy court abstains and permits state courts to handle pending litigation, the parties must thereafter look to the state courts to handle their complete dispute and may not drag selected issues back to the bankruptcy forum years later.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Darrah, J., Easterbrook, J. ??