Post-petition repossession of debtor’s automobile, deliberate indifference to debtor’s request for return and ignoring hearings before the Court merit not only award of damages for violation of the stay but substantial punitive damages. (Bonapfel) In re Hamby, 2022 WL 17428947 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. November 29, 2022) Case Summary Cole Hamby purchased a 2012 GMC Sierra from Everybody Rides Auto Sales....

By Regina Logsdon, Academy Executive Director Erin M. McCartney was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of Nebraska beginning on January 1, 2022.  Erin stepped into metaphorically very large and capable shoes as she replaced retiring Kathleen Laughlin.  Erin grew up in Illinois, graduating college from Bradley University in Peoria (Go Braves!).  Law school required a...

By Anthony J. Gomez, CPA, former extern to the Honorable John P. Gustafson, Northern District of Ohio at Toledo Click here for Part 1 Click here for Part 2 IV. The Hanging Paragraph’s effect on Interest Rates When the hanging paragraph is applicable, creditors are entitled to the full value of their secured claims as . . . It looks...

For a system that is supposed to rehabilitate personal finances and set debtors back on their feet, Chapter 13 nationwide is schizophrenic about on- going retirement savings, divided about whether post petition contributions to retirement accounts preclude confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan. Too many courts, in my opinion, come down barring voluntary provisions for old age for the 5...

Lawrence R. Ahern, III Brown & Ahern Nashville, Tennessee Appendix A Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Amendments Effective December 1, 2020 The proposed rules and Committee notes are set forth below, with changes indicated by striking through deleted text and underlining new text. Rule 2002. Notices to Creditors, Equity Security Holders, Administrators in Foreign Proceedings, Persons Against Whom Provisional Relief...

Introduction This year sees changes in the Code and numerous new and amended Rules of BankruptcyProcedure that are to be effective December 1. The statutory amendments and the changes in therules that do not relate to cases under subchapter V of Chapter 11 are summarized below. They will be followed, by a digest of other new and amended rule and...

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Punitive damages reduced for FDCPA and RESPA violations. The mortgage servicer violated FDCPA, RESPA and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by treating account as delinquent after Chapter 13 debtor had cured arrears, brought account current and obtained discharge. The servicer mistakenly marked the Chapter 13 case as dismissed rather...

Bankruptcy Code Section 521(e)(2)(A)(i) and (ii) provides that a debtor must supply tax returns to the trustee in a chapter 7 or 13 case, and to a creditor who timely requests such copy. Must the debtor provide copies that contain personal identifying information such as names, addresses and social security numbers of dependents including minor children? Or a redacted version...

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Discharge - Section 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) does not include “loan.” Denying Navient’s motion to dismiss debtors’ complaint, reviewing the split of authority on whether § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii)’s “educational benefit” included loans, and finding no controlling authority in the Tenth Circuit, the Court concluded that Congress made a distinction between “loan” in § 523(a)(8)(A)(i) and...