Eric Jon Cross

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
HARTFORD DIVISION
In re:
Eric Jon Cross,
Debtor.
Chapter 11
Case No. 25-21113 (JJT)
Re: ECF No. 12
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND
ORDER GRANTING U.S. TRUSTEE’S MOTION TO DISMISS
Before the Court is the United States Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss (Motion,
ECF No. 12). In the Motion, the U.S. Trustee requests that this Court dismiss the
Debtor’s Chapter 11 case for failure to maintain insurance, provide information,
and attend mandatory Chapter 11 meetings. A hearing was held on the Motion
(along with the initial Chapter 11 case management conference) on November 13,
2025. The Debtor neither appeared at the hearing nor responded to the Motion. The
Court grants the Motion and dismisses the case with a 180-day bar to refiling any
bankruptcy petition.
Under 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b), with exceptions inapplicable here, “on request of a
party in interest, after notice and a hearing, the court shall convert a case under
this chapter to a case under chapter 7 or dismiss a case under this chapter,
whichever is in the best interest of creditors and the estate, for cause[.]” The statute
gives several examples of “cause,” including: “failure to maintain appropriate
insurance that poses a risk to the estate or to the public[,]” and “failure timely to
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provide information or attend meetings reasonably requested by the United States
trustee[.]” Id., §1112(b)(4)(C), (H).
Here, the Debtor has not only failed to maintain insurance on the real estate
underlying this case, but he has also reportedly told the U.S. Trustee that he will
not do so. Moreover, the Debtor has failed to file many of the documents required
with the bankruptcy petition and has not attended the initial debtor interview with
the U.S. Trustee. Each of these circumstances alone constitutes cause sufficient to
dismiss this Chapter 11 case.
The circumstances constituting cause to dismiss this case, coupled with the
Debtor’s filing of this bankruptcy case two days prior to a scheduled foreclosure
sale,1 show that the Debtor filed this case for no reason other than to frustrate the
foreclosing creditor. Filing an individual Chapter 11 case to stop a foreclosure but
with no intent to reorganize is textbook bad faith. See In re Turner, 207 B.R. 373,
376 (B.A.P. 2d Cir. 1997) (“Although case law is legion that filing a bankruptcy
petition to forestall a foreclosure sale is a permissible use of bankruptcy, the case
must be undertaken pursuant to a legitimate effort at reorganization.”) (cleaned
up). Additionally, the Debtor’s choice to neither file required documents nor attend
the November 13, 2025 hearing evidence his willful failure to prosecute this
Chapter 11 case in good faith. Accordingly, in light of these abusive behaviors, the
Court finds that there is cause to dismiss this case with a 180-day bar to refiling.
See 11 U.S.C. §§ 349(a), 109(g) (“no individual . . . may be a debtor under this title
1 The Court takes judicial notice of the case styled Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC v. Cross, No. TTD-
CV-25-6032129-S (Conn. Super. Ct.).
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who has been a debtor in a case pending under this title at any time in the
preceding 180 days if—(1) the case was dismissed by the court for willful failure of
the debtor to abide by orders of the court, or to appear before the court in proper
prosecution of the case”).
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED: The Motion is GRANTED; and it is further
ORDERED: The Debtor is barred from refiling for any bankruptcy protection
for a period of 180 days from the date hereof.
Date: November 13, 2025
Hartford, Connecticut
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