The United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision authored earlier this year by Justice Ginsberg, held that a bankruptcy court’s denial of a motion for relief from stay is a final, appealable order, and therefore must be appealed within the time frame set forth in Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 8002. Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, 140 S. Ct. 582 (2020).
According to the Supreme Court:
The precise issue the Court today decides: Does a creditor’s motion for relief from the automatic stay initiate a distinct proceeding terminating in a final, appealable order when the bankruptcy court rules dispositively on the motion? In agreement with the courts below, our answer is “yes.” We hold that the adjudication of a motion for relief from the automatic stay forms a discrete procedural unit within the embracive bankruptcy case. That unit yields a final, appealable order when the bankruptcy court unreservedly grants or denies relief.
Accordingly, creditors and other parties in interest must act with alacrity in the event that their motion for relief from the automatic stay is denied. Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 8002(a) sets a 14 day deadline to appeal an order, except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of the Rule.