OXFORD – The attorney for a Georgia-based lumber company that last month filed a civil suit against Oxford Homes and its former president, Peter Connell of Norway, has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland to allow the civil suit in Oxford County Superior Court to continue while federal bankruptcy proceedings are under way.

The motion was filed Oct. 19. It has received the consent of all parties, according to court documents, but has not been placed on the docket yet, a court official said Tuesday. Consent by a judge for the motion would mean that Universal Forest Products Inc. can proceed with its civil action against Oxford Homes and Peter Connell, who is being sued as a personal guarantor, in Oxford County Superior Court to recover more than $127,000 in unpaid bills.

At stake is not only Connell’s business holdings, but his personal property, including a home on Kal Shores Road in Norway that is assessed for nearly $600,000, according to town records.

A judge must approve the request to continue the civil action because under federal rules for bankruptcy proceedings, the federal action stops or “stays” all state action until the bankruptcy case is resolved.

The Georgia-based company, which has a division in Maine, has been selling lumber to Oxford Homes since the late 1980s. The Oxford business fell into arrears in 2006, according to the complaint. Joshua Dow, attorney for Universal Forest Products, could not be reached for comment.

Both Connell’s attorney and Matthew Goldfarb, who is the attorney for the nine companies that have filed an involuntary liquidation petition against Oxford Homes, have been asked to support the motion.

Goldfarb said he has consented to have the motion granted.

“Actions in federal court take priority over state proceedings,” explained Goldfarb of the bankruptcy process that acts as an injunction in all other proceedings. “The idea is that liquidation of assets must be done in an orderly fashion.”

Goldfarb represents nine companies from throughout New England that filed an involuntary petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in August to force Oxford Homes into liquidation. The move to force the liquidation of the 30-year-old manufactured home company, which was sold last summer to a Boston-based limited liability company, was made to recover more than $300,000 in unsecured claims, according to papers filed in court.

The attorney for Oxford Homes has asked that the court dismiss the petition saying that dismissal would be in the best interest of the creditors. They have also asked for an independent examiner to be hired to investigate the company’s books and make a recommendation to the court regarding the request for dismissal. That action is expected to be heard in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Nov. 13.

Goldfarb said he has received the court papers and intends to file papers objecting to the request.