The Means Test – Keep Moving To The Egress Part III • NACTT Academy

The Means Test – Keep Moving To The Egress Part III

By John Gustafson, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division

2. The Chapter 7 Means Test – Determines If Debtors Are Above Median Income

“In 2005, the landscape for bankruptcy filings dramatically changed. Responding to a growing belief that "bankruptcy relief may be too readily available . . .

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From the Editor – Dismissal

August 2, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Undistributed funds returned to debtor upon dismissal. Under § 1327(b)’s vesting requirement, unless a confirmed plan provides otherwise, any undistributed funds held by the trustee at dismissal of the case must be returned to the debtor. Although not necessary to rely on § 347(b)(3), the conclusion on effect of vesting at confirmation was...

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CFPB Proposes Changes to HMDA Rules

May 5, 2019

The CFPB (Bureau), May 2, 2019, issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which proposes to raise the coverage thresholds for collecting and reporting data about closed-end mortgage loans and open-end lines of credit under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) rules. The NPRM would provide relief to smaller lenders from HMDA’s data reporting requirements, and would clarify partial exemptions...

Can a Secured Claim Still “Ride-Through” Bankruptcy Despite BAPCPA? Part 2: Looking Beyond In re Rhodes

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

February 27, 2022

Background A recent Chapter 7 case out of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California, In re Rhodes,1 addressed reaffirmation in a context that should be of interest to debtor's attorneys. As explained in Part 1, Rhodes points out that the "ride-through" of a debtor's secured debt after a Chapter 7 — which Congress . . . It...

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Rescuing a Troubled Chapter 13: The Unseen Threat

February 24, 2019

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) We all get sucked in, at some time, to try and rescue a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case gone bad. Make sure that you don’t let a bad situation get worse. Get your arms around §109(g). When only a do-over will do, don’t wait around. No Payments for Months The debtor came to me...

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The “Snapshot” Rule – Part 1: The Circuits Begin to Line Up

March 14, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Exemptions are determined at the time the debtor files for bankruptcy. … This maxim is called the "snapshot" rule because the debtor's financial situation is frozen in time, as if someone had taken a snapshot of it.1 Recent Caselaw The First and Ninth Circuits On March 1, the Ninth Circuit...

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When (or Not) Is the Best Interests of Creditors Test Applicable in a Modified Plan?

August 22, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) While the best interests of creditors test is applicable upon modification of a Chapter 13 plan, post-petition acquired property of the estate is not included in such analysis in that such property would not be property of a Chapter 7 estate. (Somers) In re Taylor, 2021 WL 3118824 (Bankr....

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CFPB Announces Action Against Monster Loans, Lend Tech Loans, and Associated Student Loan Debt-Relief Companies

January 19, 2020

January 9, 2020, the Bureau filed suit against several companies and individuals involved in offering student loan debt-relief services for allegedly obtaining consumer reports illegally, charging unlawful advance fees, and engaging in deceptive conduct. The Bureau’s action is against a mortgage lender called Chou Team Realty, LLC, which does business as Monster Loans (Monster Loans); an allegedly sham mortgage brokerage...

Here’s What Taxpayers Should Know About Making 2019 Estimated Tax Payments

August 18, 2019

Small business owners, self-employed people, and some wage earners should look into whether they should make estimated tax payments this year. Doing so can help them avoid an unexpected tax bill and possibly a penalty when they file next year. Everyone must pay tax as they earn income. Taxpayers who earn a paycheck usually have their employer withhold tax from...

Can Good Facts Also Make Bad Law? Finality of Orders in Bankruptcy Revisited after Ritzen Group

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

March 20, 2022

"Finality" in Bankruptcy When is an order within a bankruptcy case "final"? When must a party to the proceeding appeal within 14 days? When may a party either seek interlocutory review or sit back and wait until something more occurs to make the order final? Final orders are appealable. In civil actions, this is a relatively easy proposition to apply...

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“Jan Hamilton” – Need We Say More?

Teresa L. Arnold

September 25, 2022

Just prior to a confirmation docket in September of 2006, a local creditor attorney asked me if I would be interested in coming to work at his firm. The chapter 13 trustee was in the room and could not help but overhear. After the docket that trustee asked me if I was looking for a job. I wasn’t . ....