US Bankruptcy Court NDCA Docket Feed

Sayarad v. Butler-Lopez - Discovery Sanctions Granted for Electronic Evidence Spoliation

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California granted Plaintiff Patrycja Sayarad's motions for discovery sanctions and Rule 11 sanctions against Defendant Blyth Andrea Butler-Lopez on February 13, 2026. The court found that Defendant intentionally spoiled electronic evidence, failed to preserve a duty-to-preserve phone despite court orders, and submitted a replacement Samsung Galaxy S25+ (not available for public purchase until February 7, 2025) after the October 1, 2025 production deadline had passed. The court found the only data on the phone were images and text messages from September 27 through October 1, 2025. Defendant had been under a duty to preserve electronically stored evidence since June 2022.

In re Anne M. Cummings — Chapter 11 Property Valuation Decision

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California held an evidentiary hearing on March 23, 2026 and fixed the value of debtor Anne M. Cummings' Greenbrae, California real property at $1,735,000. The court ruled that Navitas Credit Corp.'s lien is not impaired by the debtor's homestead exemption and that the debtor is not entitled to strip any portion of that lien or treat it as unsecured in her proposed Chapter 11 Subchapter V plan — Navitas holds a fully secured claim under the plan.

Murray Debt to Salkhi Ruled Nondischargeable, April 6

United States Bankruptcy Judge Hannah L. Blumenstiel issued a memorandum decision on April 6, 2026, following a February 24, 2026 trial in Adversary Proceeding 24-03025 HLB. The court found that Plaintiff Ajang Ajee Salkhi failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged debt owed by Debtors Mary Hannah Murray and David Anthony Murray is nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A). The oral ruling issued under Civil Rule 52(c) and Bankruptcy Rule 7052 at the close of Salkhi's case-in-chief means the construction-related debt arising from a home remodeling project at Salkhi's Kentfield, California property will be discharged through the Chapter 7 proceeding.