Critical Case Comment

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee

In re Marotta, 479 B.R. 681 (Bankr. M.D. N.C., Oct. 9, 2012) (Waldrep). The filing fee advanced by a debtor’s attorney on behalf of a Chapter 13 debtor is a dischargeable unsecured claim; the recovery of such fees are not recoverable administrative expenses which can be paid in the Chapter 13 case.

Case Summary

John Orcutt, a well-known debtor’s attorney in North Carolina, advertised the availability of Chapter 13 relief as a “$0 money-down bankruptcy” to certain . . .

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Critical Case Comment

February 24, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) It was impermissible and contrary to the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code for the bankruptcy clerk to enter an order which dismissed a Chapter 13 case based only upon the trustee’s certification that the debtor did not make a timely first payment. (Duncan). No...

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Arbitration in Bankruptcy: Reading Opinions & Tea Leaves in Recent Supreme Court & Lower Court Actions Part IV

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By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) PART IV: What's an Attorney to Do? Considerations for Counsel on all Sides of the Arbitration Question Click here for Part I Click here for Part II

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From the Editor – Claims

June 21, 2020

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Two Supreme Court Decisions with Effects on Bankruptcy Practice

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By William Houston Brown, Adviser, Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, Inc. and Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown and Ahern (Nashville, TN) In two February opinions, the Supreme Court addressed issues that appear in bankruptcy cases, one dealing with a common practice of entering nunc pro tunc orders and the other affecting determination of property rights under state law. In a...

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Conflicting Interpretations: A Chapter 13 Trustee’s Compensation After Pre-Confirmation Dismissal or Conversion* Part 3 of 3

Brittani Bushman

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(Used with expressed permission from the MI Bankruptcy Journal and the Steven W. Rhodes Consumer Bankruptcy Conference)By Brittani Bushman, Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. John T. Gregg, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan B. Illustrative Decisions (Minority Approach) The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit recently issued a comprehensive unpublished decision adopting the minority...

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Michael B. Joseph

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Faced with abusive and serial bankruptcy cases,courts have fashioned various sanctions to put a stop to gaming the system. The favored sanction of the majority of courts is to enter an order of dismissal with prejudice under Section 349(a) of the Bankruptcy Code that adds a condition prohibiting refiling another bankruptcy case for a set period of time. See Lundin...

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Critical Case Comment–“No Realistic Future Prospects”

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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A 34-year-old Chapter 7 debtor could discharge his student loan obligation by establishing that he could not reasonably make payments on the balance, could not maintain a reasonable standard of living, and because the expiration of his payment term had already passed, his standard of living was likely to persist, with no realistic future prospects. (Silverstein) In re Wolfson, No....

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Word to the Wise: Failure to Properly Notice a Creditor Is Bad!

M. Jonathan Hayes

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When the debtor fails to properly schedule a creditor in an asset case, is the now non-dischargeable debt under § 523(a)(3) limited to the amount the creditor would have received had it filed a proof of claim?

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From the Editor

March 31, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Lien Modification - Modification of mortgage on mixed-use property. Reviewing the split of authority on whether a Chapter 13 debtor may modify a mortgage on property used for both business and residential purposes and when the use determination is made, the bankruptcy court adopted the filing date as the appropriate time...

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