By Professor Nancy Rapoport Dear Readers: I know, I know—I’ve been absent from this column for a while,1 but I’ve found a set of cases that intrigued me, so here goes. In several cases, bankruptcy courts here in Nevada have made it clear that lawyers should do a better job of proving up their fees (and proofreading them), especially when...

By Herb Beskin, Chapter 13 Trustee and Edward M. Wayland, Esq. (Charlottesville, VA) Trustees are not privy to the struggles of Debtors as they emerge from Chapter 13 and work to re-establish (establish?) their credit worthiness. A crucial factor in this process is the Debtor’s credit report. In this article, we discuss the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), the rules...

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction As of April 16, 2020, more than 22,000,000 people in the United States were reported to have filed for unemployment aid, "a staggering loss of jobs that has wiped out a decade of employment gains and pushed families to line up at food banks as they await government help."1...

The issuance of a subpoena to a Chapter 7 trustee by a third party was subject to the Barton Doctrine and could not be permitted without the parties seeking bankruptcy court consent. (Clarkson) In re Eagan Avenatti, LLP, 2022 WL 630332 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. March 3, 2022) Case Summary Eagan Avenatti, LLP, was the California law firm of the somewhat...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction Following Part 1's review of the December 1, 2021, changes in the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, this Part 2 presents a digest of selected judicial decisions of interest for their procedural import arising under Parts I-III of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Digest of Selected Judicial Decisions

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...

By William H. Brown, Adviser to The Academy d/b/a ConsiderChapter13.org In the most recent opinion on the issue, as of this writing, the Court in In re Rivera, 2019 WL 1430273 (Bankr. D. Ariz. Mar. 28, 2019), in perhaps still a minority view, concluded that debtors’ default in making all direct postpetition mortgage payments was not a failure to complete...

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) Mention tax calculations to a bankruptcy attorney and 7 out of 10 freeze on the spot. I'm not a tax attorney, they retort. That's right, but, if you are a bankruptcy attorney, that doesn't relieve you from knowing enough tax to get the means test right. Not to mention not giving up your...

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA) Eighteen years elapsed between the close of the 2003 tax year and the Tax Court’s 2021 decision Barnes v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo. 2021-49 (U.S.T.C. May 4, 2021) regarding the debtors’ 2003 tax liability. While the most recent decision in the debtors’ battle with the IRS challenged the discretion of a tax officer in...