So You Want To Use Respa, N’est-Ce Pas?

By Debra L. Miller and John Gustafson

Qualified Written Requests – Powerful Discovery Is There For The Asking.

“RESPA” is an acronym for the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, passed by Congress in 1974. The full Act is found in Title 12, Chapter 27 of the United States Code. See, 12 U.S.C. §§2601 – 2617. The amount that a lender can collect as a monthly escrow is governed by RESPA.

The overall Act had, as its initial purpose, preventing undisclosed kickbacks, and other practices that interfered with transparency and legitimate price competition.

First we will focus . . .

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Is Nunc Pro Tunc Really Sunk?

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By James M. Davis, Staff Attorney to Chapter 13 Standing Trustee Henry E. Hildebrand, III (Nashville, TN) Bankruptcy Courts take determinations from the Supreme Court seriously. And rightfully so. But sometimes, some bankruptcy courts are guilty of reading too much into the Court’s statements. The latest example is the soul searching around “nunc pro tunc” (“now for then”) orders. Earlier...

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How to Build and Strengthen Your Chapter 13 Debtor Practice

The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

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In these times of fewer case filings, it may be helpful to look at ways that debtor attorneys may build and strengthen their chapter 13 bankruptcy practice. The following are some recommendations and ideas from the Emeritus Trustee Committee:

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Mention keeping time records to a bankruptcy lawyer and you’re likely met with expressions of utter revulsion. All too many assert that the major appeal of being a bankruptcy lawyer is precisely that they don’t have to keep time. Between flat fee deals with clients, and no look fees in Chapter 13, they feel liberated from the clock and the...

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Meet One of Our Newest Trustees

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Jason Wilson-Aguilar was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for Western District of Washington, Seattle Division, effective on October 2, 2018. He replaces retiring K. Michael (Mike) Fitzgerald who served as the Standing Trustee for nearly twenty years. During the ten years prior to his appointment as Trustee, Jason was the Senior Staff Attorney and Legal Department Manager in...

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Planning for Attorney Disability or Death

Pat E. Morgenstern-Clarren

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Although this article was originally published in 2009, Judge Morgenstern-Clarren took a fresh look just this week. It is just as relevant today as the day she first wrote it

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By Angela M. Scolforo, Staff Attorney to Herbert L. Beskin, Chapter 13 Trustee (Charlottesville, VA) In Hurlburt v. Black,1 the en banc Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned its prior decision in Witt,2 and held that Bankruptcy Code § 1322(c)(2) authorizes modification of some home mortgage loans through bifurcation and cram down. This enables debtors to cram down home mortgage...

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ZOOM – Instructions/Directions from the Office of Ronda Winnecour, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee*

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