Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Union Planters Bank, N. A., 530 U.S. 1, 8 (2000)

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8

HARTFORD UNDERWRITERS INS. CO. v. UNION PLANTERS BANK, N. A.

Opinion of the Court

'only' a trustee may enforce its provisions." Brief for Petitioner 29. To bolster this argument, petitioner cites other provisions of the Bankruptcy Code that do use "only" or other expressly restrictive language in specifying the parties at issue. See, e. g., § 109(a) ("[O]nly a person that resides or has a domicile, a place of business, or property in the United States, or a municipality, may be a debtor under this title"); § 707(b) (providing that a case may be dismissed for substantial abuse by "the court, on its own motion or on a motion by the United States trustee, but not at the request or suggestion of any party in interest"). Petitioner argues that in the absence of such restrictive language, no party in interest is excluded. This theory—that the expression of one thing indicates the inclusion of others unless exclusion is made explicit—is contrary to common sense and common usage. Many provisions of the Bankruptcy Code that do not contain an express exclusion cannot sensibly be read to extend to all parties in interest. See, e. g., § 363(b)(1) (providing that "[t]he trustee, after notice and a hearing, may use, sell, or lease . . . property of the estate"); § 364(a) (providing that "the trustee" may incur debt on behalf of the bankruptcy estate); § 554(a) (giving "the trustee" power to abandon property of the bankruptcy estate).

Petitioner further argues that § 1109 evidences the right of a nontrustee to recover under § 506(c). We are not persuaded. That section, which provides that a "party in interest" "may raise and may appear and be heard on any issue in a case under [Chapter 11]," is by its terms inapplicable here, since petitioner's attempt to use § 506(c) came after the bankruptcy proceeding was converted from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. In any event, we do not read § 1109(b)'s general provision of a right to be heard as broadly allowing a creditor to pursue substantive remedies that other Code provisions make available only to other specific parties. Cf. 7 L. King, Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 1109.05 (rev. 15th ed. 1999) ("In general, section 1109 does not bestow any right to usurp the

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