From the Editor - Discharge • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Discharge

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Postpetition homeowners’ association fees and assessments are not dischargeable. The Chapter 13 debtor relied on lack of reference in § 1328(a) to § 523(a)(16), asserting that postpetition homeowners’ association fees and assessments were subject to discharge. The debtor had surrendered the residence but the court had denied the portion of the debtor’s abandonment which attempted to shift the liability for the homeowners’ association fees and assessments to the mortgage company. The homeowners’ association had not filed a proof of claim or voluntarily participated in the Chapter 13 . . .

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Critical Case Comment

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By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) A Non-Governmental Private Student Loan Obligation is not always excepted from discharge by § 523(a)(8). (Holmes) McDaniel v. Navient Solutions, LLC, 2020 WL 5104560 (August 31, 2020) Case Summary Bryon and Laura McDaniel filed a Chapter 13 petition in 2009. They acknowledged that, among...

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Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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The Ninth Circuit has now joined its sister Circuit in holding that the Bankruptcy Code does not permita Chapter 13 Trustee to retain the percentage fees collected on payments that a chapter 13 debtor made pre-confirmation in accordance with 26 U.S.C. §586 but, upon dismissal prior to confirmation of the plan, is obligated to return the fee to the debtor,...

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Another Defeat of Bifurcated Chapter 7 Fees

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By Nicholas Miller, Third-Year Student, University of Texas School of Law, and Madison Haueisen, Second-Year Student, University of Texas School of Law The second issue at hand in this year’s Duberstein moot court problem involves a matter of statutory interpretation—specifically, whether §503(b) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a creditor to recover costs and expenses incurred in making a substantial contribution...

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Critical Case Comment – Fee Wars: The Battle Over Debtor Attorney Compensation

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Treasury, IRS Issue Final Regulations, Other Guidance on New Qualified Business Income Deduction; Safe Harbor Enables Many Rental Real Estate Owners to Claim Deduction

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From the Editor – Discharge Injunction

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Reaffirmations Impose Impossible Demands on Bankruptcy Counsel

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By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) When BAPCA gutted the ipso facto clause, reaffirmation was left as the only way a debtor could be assured of retaining his wheels. Car lenders took sides back then, then changed sides, on whether they would automatically repossess a vehicle when the debt was not reaffirmed. Some wanted the in terrorem effect of...

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Critical Case Comment–Sex, Lies and the Barton Doctrine

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