The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Tags in on Consumers’ Fight Against Arbitration in the Financial Market Ring

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

Consumers continue to challenge the legality and fairness of the increasing number of arbitration clauses found in their financial agreements. The majority of these complaints focus on consumers’ inability to sue businesses through class action lawsuits.

A recent decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that credit card-issuing banks did not violate the Sherman Antitrust Act by forcing cardholders to settle disputes in arbitration, rather than through class action lawsuits. Ross v. Citigroup, Inc., No . . .

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Senior Moments

December 1, 2019

By Peter Fessenden, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee, Retired September 30, 2017 (Portland, ME) To everything there is a season. There was a time to discover how little I knew about being a Chapter 13 trustee. There was a time to make mistakes. There was a time to address those mistakes. There was a time to solve problems. There was a...

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Taxpayers Should Beware of Property Lien Scam

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With scam artists hard at work all year, taxpayers should watch for new versions of tax-related scams. One such scam involves fake property liens. It threatens taxpayers with a tax bill from a fictional government agency. Here are some details about the property lien scam that will help taxpayers recognize it: This scheme involves a letter threatening an IRS lien...

Kellner Retires

September 29, 2019

By Academy Staff Jeffrey M. Kellner graduated from THE Ohio State University in 1975. Between then and entering law school, Jeff worked in Montana for the park service. He graduated from Capital University College of Law in 1985. After law school, he worked for two years as a law clerk for Judge Calhoun in Columbus, OH. He then went to...

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Trustee Cannot Require Debtor to Treat Nondischargeable Student Loan Debts in a Separate Class

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By Gretchen D. Holland, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Greenville/Spartanburg Division of South Carolina The Bankruptcy Code does not – and thus a trustee cannot – require a debtor to treat nondischargeable student loan debts in a separate class from other general unsecured claims under § 1322(b)(1), even when including them all in the same pool will result in...

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Critical Case Comment – Fourth Circuit Says Easy-Peasy

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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In calculating projected disposable income, 13 debtor may deduct entire mortgage payment notwithstanding amount exceeds the housing allowance as established by the IRS Financial Standards Allowance.

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From the Editor

March 31, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Debtor’s Attorney - Chapter 13 debtors not required to seek approval to employ special counsel. The Chapter 13 debtors moved to employ special counsel for representation in state-court litigation, but § 327(e) did not apply to Chapter 13 debtors when no request was being made to pay the special counsel from...

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Between the 1st and the 15th: Is Mortgage Current?

Cathy Moran

May 7, 2023

The no man’s land between the mortgage due date and late payment is a persistent trouble spot for Chapter 13 practitioners. For example, are there arrears when the case is filed during the grace period and the payment made before it was late? In Borre, Judge Ronald Sargis of ED CA said no. He held that the payment was not...

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Critical Case Comment

May 2, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) In calculating an above-median income debtor’s projected disposable income, the court may deduct from the debtor’s current monthly income only the expenses as listed in the IRS manual and not the debtor’s actual expenses. (Taylor) In re Rodriguez, 520 B.R. 94 (B.A.P. 9th Cir....

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U.S. Trustee Program to Implement Virtual Section 341 Meetings of Creditors Nationwide

The Academy

September 10, 2023

These virtual 341 meetings via Zoom will be implemented on a rolling basis through early 2024. YEP, this means you, y’all, all y’all, you guys, and yoos guys. Doesn’t matter if you have been doing 341’s via telephone for 100 years . . . it’s ZOOM as soon as implemented in your district. For Debtor Atty’s, this may require having clients...