Post-Petition HOA Fees Not Automatically Discharged in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

By Ansley Owens, Contributing Writer and Intern for the NACTT Academy (Nashville, TN)

A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held homeowner’s association (“HOA”) fees that accrue after a bankruptcy petition cannot be discharged automatically through a debtor’s chapter 13 plan. Batali v. Mira Owners Ass’n (In re Batali), No. BAP WW-14-1557-KiFJu, 2015 WL 7758330 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Dec. 1, 2015).

In January 2011, Michael and Kellie Batali (“Debtors”) filed their chapter 13 petition. The Debtors listed an investment condominium among their assets . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

Honorable Kevin R. Anderson, U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Utah

April 7, 2019

Prior to his appointment as a bankruptcy judge for the District of Utah in September of 2015, Judge Anderson served for seventeen years as the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the District of Utah. During this time, he administered over 70,000 Chapter 13 cases. Judge Anderson was elected president of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT), and he...

How My Law Firm Learned to Stop Leaving Money on the Table Part 2 – The “Other Appropriate Relief” of Rule 3001

Mark C. Leffler

May 8, 2022

At my firm, we see a lot of consumers who have some combination of high debt and low income. Many of them arrive for their consultations after having been abused by debt collectors and predatory lenders, harmed by mortgage servicing errors, or subjected to inaccurate and derogatory credit reporting. Until fairly recently, after filing bankruptcies for these folks, we usually...

Members

Thoughts on the Law: “None of My Business” Or “CU Later”? – Does Refusing to Do Business with a Debtor Violate the Automatic Stay?

February 9, 2020

By The Honorable John P. Gustafson Can a creditor refuse to do business with a debtor, or is such refusal a violation of the automatic stay? The case of Brown v. Penn State Employees Credit Union, 851 F.2d 81 (3rd Cir. 1988) held that a credit union’s refusal to continue to do business with a debtor who caused a loss...

Members

Chapter 13 Discharge Expanded by COVID Relief Legislation

January 3, 2021

By Cathy Moran, Esq., Moran Law Group (Redwood City, CA) Chapter 13 debtors got a huge “gift” among the COVID relief provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, signed December 27, 2020 by the president. Debtors may get a full -compliance discharge of dischargeable debts if they have a residential mortgage and have not made all the payments required...

Members

ZOOM – Instructions/Directions from the Office of Ronda Winnecour, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee*

April 26, 2020

(Items in italics have been added by Academy staff) . . . will be held virtually by ZOOM . . . Please visit our website at ch13pitt.com (this site has very detailed directions) for all of the details and instructions. A computer is not a necessity since ZOOM also allows participation by telephone (iphone, Android). Please visit the website before...

Is 1328(i) Ultimately Terrible for Debtors?

February 7, 2021

By Ken Siomos, Staff Attorney for Marsha L. Combs-Skinner (Newman, IL) The December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, more commonly known as the second covid-19 stimulus bill, contains a few bankruptcy related provisions, but none stood out more with respect to Chapter 13 than the newly created § 1328(i). This provision provides that a court may grant a full 1328(a)...

Members

Critical Case Comment – 10th Circuit Says No Default Cures After Month 60

October 24, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) Chapter 13 debtor cannot submit missed payments to the trustee after the 60-month term of the plan has ended in an effort to cure defaults in the plan. (Bacharach) Kinney v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., 5 F.4th 1136 (10th Cir. July 23, 2021) Case Summary Margaret Kinney filed a...

Members

To Conduit, Or Not To Conduit? That Is The Question. Or Less Shakespearean: “Conduit Mortgage Case Law”

The Honorable John P. Gustafson

January 15, 2023

Conduit vs. Direct Mortgage Payments – The Case Law To Consider1 The requirement that debtors pay their mortgage payments to their Chapter 13 Trustee as a “conduit” has advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is the fact that the Chapter 13 Trustee’s records are readily accepted by both the court and creditors in the event of a payment dispute. This advantage...

Members

From the Editor

September 20, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Debt buyer was debt collector under FDCPA. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the Third Circuit that an entity purchasing consumer debts qualified as a debt collector under the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692(a)(6), even though it outsourced the actual debt collection activity. McAdory v. M.N.S. & Assoc., LLC, 952 F.3d 1089 (9th Cir....

Members

Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in City of Chicago v. Fulton

December 22, 2019

By William Houston Brown, Editor/Adviser, Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education On December 18, 2019, the Supreme Court granted the City of Chicago’s petition for certiorari, 2019 WL 6880702, from the decision of the Seventh Circuit at 926 F.3d 916 (7th Cir. June 19, 2019). The Seventh Circuit’s decision was analyzed in a prior article on this website. In its decision,...

Members