From the Editor – Discharge and Dischargeability

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Landlords committed willful and malicious injury by eviction. After the state court announced oral ruling of judgment for tenant in forcible entry and detainer action, and landlords were in courtroom at ruling, the landlords committed willful and malicious injury to tenant when they proceeded with eviction. The state court had determined $104,000 damages, including tenant’s attorney fees. Brown v. Ausley (In re Ausley), ___ B.R. ___, 2014 WL 1044252 (Bankr. W.D. Tenn. March 18, 2014).

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The Honorable William Houston Brown retired in . . .

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Rescuing a Troubled Chapter 13: The Unseen Threat

February 24, 2019

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) We all get sucked in, at some time, to try and rescue a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case gone bad. Make sure that you don’t let a bad situation get worse. Get your arms around §109(g). When only a do-over will do, don’t wait around. No Payments for Months The debtor came to me...

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Shoe Leather to Chapter 13 Success: The Power of Referral Marketing

Charles A. (Chuck) Newton

February 2, 2025

“I tend to believe that . . . attorneys are worried about . . . office looks like, key word/website optimization and the like. As a result, consumer bankruptcy attorneys fail to focus on referral sources. . . . Before costs, he or she needs to worry about a steady stream of paying clients.” See also: Personal Injury Attorney’s Duty of Reasonable Inquiry of a Client’s Bankruptcy This is a free resource you can share when contacting PI attorneys for referrals.

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Are Direct Payments by Debtor on Mortgage Considered Payments “Under the Plan” for Purposes of Discharge?

April 28, 2019

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...

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Critical Case Comment

December 27, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) Section 506(d) does not allow the voiding of a lien when the underlying claim, filed by the debtor, has been disallowed; when notice is provided to a corporation it must be addressed to the individual who holds the office of an officer, manager, or general...

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From the Editor – Discharge Injunction

May 31, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Only bankruptcy court issuing discharge order can enforce injunction. The Fifth Circuit held that only the bankruptcy court issuing a discharge order has authority to enforce the discharge injunction. The opinion reviews pre-2005 Code provisions and current 28 U.S.C. § 1963, citing other Circuits that “have insisted on a return to the bankruptcy...

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Critical Case Comment–“No Realistic Future Prospects”

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

March 26, 2023

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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Escrow 101 – Part 2 of 3

September 12, 2021

By Michael J. McCormick, Esq., McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC (Roswell, GA) Escrow 101 – Part 1 Escrow 101 – Part 3 Escrow 102 – Part 1 Escrow 102 – Part 2

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A Fireside Chat with Dr. ChatGPT – Hallucinations

Jan Hamilton

March 8, 2026

Emeritus Trustee Jan Hamilton has embarked on a new exploration of artificial intelligence. This week, he “speaks” with Dr. ChatGPT about what constitutes a “hallucination” in the context of legal citations and how such errors arise.

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Artificial Intelligence and Bankruptcy Law

Blake Warner

September 14, 2025

“. . . newer ‘generative’ AI uses machine learning algorithms to create completely original outputs like text, audio, images, and videos.”

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Avoidance Powers in Chapter 13 – Part 4 of 6

January 20, 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 3 of 6

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From the Editor – Discharge and Dischargeability

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Related Articles

Rescuing a Troubled Chapter 13: The Unseen Threat

Shoe Leather to Chapter 13 Success: The Power of Referral Marketing

Are Direct Payments by Debtor on Mortgage Considered Payments “Under the Plan” for Purposes of Discharge?

Critical Case Comment

From the Editor – Discharge Injunction

Critical Case Comment–“No Realistic Future Prospects”

Escrow 101 – Part 2 of 3

A Fireside Chat with Dr. ChatGPT – Hallucinations

Artificial Intelligence and Bankruptcy Law

Avoidance Powers in Chapter 13 – Part 4 of 6

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