Floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornados and other natural disasters happen quickly and often with little warning. No one can prevent these disasters from happening, but people can prepare for them. Here are some things taxpayers can do to help protect their financial safety should a disaster occur. Taxpayers should: Update emergency plans. A disaster can strike any time. Personal and business...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) PART III – DELAYED PERFECTION OF SECURITY INTERESTS Introduction Current circumstances (a pandemic and dire economic conditions) portend an onslaught of bankruptcy filings. In the consumer bankruptcy field, trustees and debtors' counsel often are uncomfortable with the rules in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). In this space,...

By Cameron Kelly & Michael Carroll, Law Students, The University of Texas School of Law I. Starting the Journey Instead of starting class by cold-calling people, Professor Westbrook chose to suspend my terror briefly. While I was thankful for the reprieve from what would inevitably be a disappointing cold call, I was more thankful for what he had to say....

By Nathan E. Curtis and Peter Francis Geraci, Geraci Law L.L.C. Debtors who are not current on mortgage or vehicle payments may file for Chapter 13 relief and propose to cure arrears, and force creditors to accept future payments. Mortgage creditors must give multiple notices before taking real estate away from a debtor, but vehicle creditors are allowed to repossess...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee If a Chapter 13 debtor does not list a creditor on the creditor matrix when filing the petition and makes no effort to provide supplemental notice to the creditor, the provisions of Rule 3002 allow the extension of time for the creditor to file a...

Mark Leffler, of the Boleman Law Firm in Virginia and also the current President of the Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, begins a series of articles describing his firm’s development of a broader practice on behalf of consumer debtors. Look for subsequent parts of this series over the next few weeks. My fellow self-described consumer bankruptcy lawyers: you wield more...

By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division (Toledo, OH) Click here for Part 1 of 6 Click here for Part 2 of 6 Click here for Part 4 of 6 Click here for Part 5 of 6

Retirement of Judge David Robert Duncan