A Trustee’s Perspective on How to Minimize Objections to Confirmation

Kristen Koo is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) and the Sacramento Valley Bankruptcy Forum and is the Staff Attorney for Jan P. Johnson, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division.

Every month we see hundreds of new cases come rolling into our offices. With the hardships that many parts of the country are facing, it appears that Bankruptcy filings are only going to increase over the next few years. Whether it’s new attorneys that aren’t quite sure of how to represent debtors or seasoned veterans . . .

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Critical Case Comment – Watch for Opportunities to Bifurcate Home Mortgage Claims

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

August 21, 2022

Where a Chapter 13 plan treats a claim as secured only by the debtor’s mobile home under § 506 and not real property, the effect of a notice of fees, costs and charges is irrelevant. (Coleman) In re White, 2022 WL 2826531 (Bankr. S.D. Ga. July 19, 2022) Case Summary Shalonda White filed a Chapter 13 petition in July of...

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Passing of Wichita Attorney

The Academy

November 19, 2023

It is with sadness that we report the passing of William (“Bill”) Schantz formerly of the Office of UST.

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...

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Think Beyond The Means Test

August 23, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) It started as a means test question: could emergency medical expenses be deemed non consumer debt. It ended up as a step back to get the bigger picture. Well-seasoned bankruptcy counsel brought the fact pattern to a list serve of colleagues. The prospective debtors’ income in a small consulting corporation is declining, his...

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Meet a New Trustee

The Academy

October 22, 2023

Angela M. Scolforo was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Western District of Virginia on April Fool’s Day. She replaced Herbert L. Beskin who served as the Trustee for 20 years, retiring in March of this year. Angela received a B.A. in English from College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Massachusetts, in1987. She did not immediately go...

Avoidance Powers In Chapter 13 – Part 3 of 6

January 13, 2019

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

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Dollar Amount Increases in Bankruptcy Code

March 3, 2019

By William Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Retired; Editor/Adviser, The Academy On April 1, 2019, an increase takes effect in those dollar amounts in the Bankruptcy Code that are subject to adjustment every three years.1 The following increases have significance in everything from the eligibility maximums for filing under Chapters 12 and 13 to the debtor’s exemptions. Relevant Official...

The Long Reach of R. 3002.1

Cathy Moran

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?]

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In the Trenches: Secrets to Settlement – Competency in the Courtroom Part 2 of 3

June 16, 2019

By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Click here for Part 1 of 3 8. Early Preparation for Trial As suggested, the best way to settle a case is to be willing to try that case, which means you must prepare from the get go. That preparation begins a long time before the eve of trial, namely, at the...

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Measuring Success in Chapter 13: Five Years Later

June 6, 2021

By Brian D. Lynch, Bankruptcy Judge, Western District of Washington Five years ago, I wrote an article for this publication, “Measuring Success in Chapter 13,”1 where I criticized some media and academics for repeating an outdated and misleading statistic about the success of chapter 13 cases. So it was disconcerting to see John Oliver recently on Comedy Central’s Last Week...

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