Empowering Consumer Bankruptcy Professionals Through Knowledge.

September 17, 2023

What do you do when you don’t know the answer to a bankruptcy client’s questions? After all, you’re a bankruptcy lawyer.

Members

Current Articles

New Trustee Named

September 10, 2023

Andrew B. Finberg has been appointed as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of New Jersey. Finberg is picking up the mantle left by happily retiring Isabel Balboa.

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

The Honorable William Houston Brown

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...

Good or Bad Faith?

Hale Andrew Antico

September 10, 2023

The Ninth Circuit BAP held that the chapter 13 debtors converted their case to Chapter 7 in good faith and therefore a post-petition inheritance was not property of the chapter 7 estate.

Members

Advising Consumer Clients About Credit Scoring – Some Questions

September 10, 2023

“We have observed consumers who seem to be focused principally on their credit scores, . . . rather than focusing on . . . a more critical immediate focus on their balance sheets . . .”

Members

New Trustee Named

September 3, 2023

Tracy Updike of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been named as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Indiana. Updike will be filling the trusteeship vacated by Debra Miller when she accepted a trusteeship in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

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

September 3, 2023

These virtual 341 meetings via Zoom will be implemented on a rolling basis through early 2024.

Critical Case Comment – Topping Off the Risk Factor

September 3, 2023

To pay present value to a secured creditor, a reorganization plan may start with a treasury rate and add a risk factor and need not start with a prime rate plus a risk factor.

Members

Critical Case Comment – Relief from Stay, Check; But Better Act Fast

August 27, 2023

A creditor having received relief from the automatic stay prior to confirmation of the debtor’s plan is nonetheless bound by the terms of the plan, once confirmed.

Members

The Weak Link in the Means Test

August 27, 2023

The bankruptcy means test, designed to keep people out of bankruptcy, has a fatal weakness. . . . it’s health care.

Members

Topp – Upending Till??

Jody Bledsoe

August 27, 2023

The Eighth Circuit recently released its Topp opinion. At issue was the appropriate starting point for determining the discount rate to be used when paying secured claims under a chapter 12 plan. The debtor, who had gained confirmation of his plan before the bankruptcy court, proposed paying claims to Farm Credit Services over 20 years at a rate based on the...

Members

Passing of Retired Ohio Judge

August 20, 2023

Passing of Retired Ohio Judge Judge Baxter was appointed United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio on December 16, 1985, and served in the Court’s Cleveland, Ohio location until his retirement in 2011. He served as Chief Judge between 2004 and 2008. Click here for obituary.

The Long Reach of R. 3002.1

August 20, 2023

What are the consequences of a secured lender’s failure to comply with R. 3002.1 in a prior case when the debtor files again? Significant, it seems. . . . since their attorney said he “didn’t see the need” to do so. [Can you guess, now, how this comes out?]

Members

Critical Case Comment – The Now Infamous Castleman Case

The Threat to the CFPB – and How You Can Help

August 20, 2023

Equity that accrues as a result of market conditions in debtor’s assets between the time of confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan and conversion to Chapter 7 constitutes property of the estate which may be administered by the Chapter 7 trustee.

Members

Loading more articles...

Curated Selections

From NCLC

From the Courts

Judicial Conference Revises Policy to Expand Remote Audio Access Over Its Pre-COVID Policy

Longtime Clerks Recall ‘Seismic Shift’ in Appellate Courts (Spoiler Alert: Seismic Shift is technology.)

D. SC - Update to Orders Lifting the Automatic Stay for Consensual Loss Mitigation/Mortgage Modification

N.D. NY - Opportunity for Public Comment on Proposed Amendments to Local Bankruptcy Rules Effective December 1, 2023

Student Loans Chronicles

CFPB Report Finds College Tuition Payment Plans Can Put Student Borrowers at Risk

Sanctions and Irony and Fraud, Oh My!

Former Law Firm Partner Pleads Guilty to Bankruptcy Fraud

For Your Blog

Military Pay Could Be a Casualty of Looming Government Shutdown

Vets Don’t Deserve to Be Preyed Upon by Unaccredited ‘Claims Coaches’

Of Interest

Fourth Circuit Ruling Sends Message to Beware of Loan Servicing Practices Involving Bankruptcies and Pay Attention to State Laws

Just for Fun

People Who ‘Manifest’ Big Dreams Are More Likely to Go Bankrupt: Study

Debt and the Economy

Inflation Is Driving Up Consumer Credit Card Debt by Billions of Dollars

Sub V

Subchapter V Trustee’s Facilitation Role (Part 6)—DUTIES & INHERENT POWERS

For Your Health

Bed Rotting: How TikTok’s New ‘Self-Care’ Trend Can Trigger Depression (Also an excellent piece For Your Blog)

Condolences

Passing of Michael L. Sherman
michaelsherman It is with great sadness that we report the passing of beloved Chicago attorney. The Academy sends our condolences to his family and friends.

Student Loans Chronicles

New Biden Student Loan Repayment Plan Enrolls 4 Million Borrowers

Student-Loan Borrowers’ Federal Balances Are Now Growing Every Day from Interest — But Technical Issues Are Delaying Some of Them from Paying It Off

For Your Blog

September Is National Preparedness Month; IRS Reminds Taxpayers to Prepare for Natural Disasters

Of Interest

Forests, Predictions and Census Data: How We Analyzed the Effects of Race on Bankruptcy Rates

Shelby County Tennessee Ranks No. 1 in Bankruptcy

Proposed UCC Amendments: A Conservative Approach that Preserves and Restores Prior Law

Popular from last week: Perpetuating a Bad Homestead Exemption Rule at U.S. Supreme Court (Wells v. McCallister)

Debt and the Economy

Credit Card and Car Loan Defaults Hit 10-Year High as Inflation Squeezes Families

Emptying Office Buildings Bring Back Memories of Mall Failures (But a great environment to renegotiate those leases!)

Loading more articles...

A Fond Farewell

Marie-Ann Greenberg

August 20, 2023

Wishing our dear friend and colleague, Isabel Balboa, a hearty congratulations on her upcoming retirement. As many of you know, Isabel came to the United States from Cuba at the age of 6 with her mother and sisters. Upon leaving Cuba, they were forced to leave everything behind for fear that they would be caught and detained. Her father was...

Some Federal Protections are Stronger Than Others – Sovereign Immunity, Criminal Restitution, and the Automatic Stay

Jeffrey S. Fraser

August 13, 2023

In this brief synopsis, Fraser compares Lac du Flambeauto a case from the Middle District Court of North Carolina and its connection to the automatic stay.

Members

Escrow 101 and 102

Michael J. McCormick, Esq.

August 13, 2023

In the fall of 2021, Michael McCormick provided subscribers with an EXCELLENT, expository, seven-part outline on mortgage escrow. This information is just as relevant today as when we first published it with one important update . . . When the next escrow analysis is performed and the servicer has received less than 12 payments of escrow (and often zero, as is often the case after the borrower received a forbearance during the COVID pandemic), the escrow balance will be far less than anticipated!!

Members

TMI: Too Much Information

Marie-Ann Greenberg

August 6, 2023

Practice Point: Just because it is an unsecured claim does not mean that it should be ignored. Review all claims for inappropriate violations and disclosure of personal identifiers! Keep track of serial violators for possible use in future requests for contempt and sanctions. With all of the emphasis these days on transparency and the requirement for more and more information...

Members

Critical Case Comment – Frontloading Attorney’s Fees

August 6, 2023

Nothing prohibits the confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan which frontloads the payment of attorney’s fees ahead of payments to secured and other creditors.

Members

Don’t Be Dismissive – Rule 41

August 6, 2023

I was the third attorney on this lien avoidance matter. Instead of it being “third time’s the charm”, it came close to being “three strikes and you’re out.” All because of FRBP 7041. This was the set up: debtor’s original counsel filed a number of lien avoidance actions, including the one against a landlord with a large default judgment. The...

Members

Why Your Bankruptcy Client Doesn’t Understand You (And How to Fix the Problem)

The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

August 1, 2023

By Cathy Moran, Moran Law Group (Redwood City, CA) Bankruptcy attorneys and their clients often seem to be a pair, divided by their common language. Even without legal jargon, we talk past each other. How do we misunderstand each other? Let me count the ways: Property: I don’t have any property, lost the house to foreclosure last year. Property 2:...

Members

Chapter 13 Trustees Prosecutorial Discretion

July 30, 2023

While administering cases, Chapter 13 Trustees should carefully exercise their prosecutorial discretion. Trustee discretion is a powerful tool. It should be used wisely and consistently. Trustees should have office policies in place fort heir attorneys and office staff. What matters involve discretion? The UST Chapter 13 Handbook describes some: We asked the NACTT Emeritus Trustees for their thoughts and examples...

Critical Case Comment – Post-Petition/Pre-Conversion Equity

July 30, 2023

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) Post-petition, pre-conversion equity that accrues in a debtor’s residence during the pendency of a Chapter 13 plan is property of the estate in the Chapter 7 estate following conversion. (Hastings) Goetz v. Weber (In re Goetz), 651 B.R. 292 (8th Cir. BAP, June 1,...

Members

Critical Case Comment – Post-Petition 401(k) Contributions ARE Disposable Income