From the Editor – Discharge and Dischargeability • NACTT Academy

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).

________________________________

The Honorable William Houston Brown retired in . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

Is Nunc Pro Tunc Really Sunk?

December 20, 2020

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...

Members

SBRA – The Sequel: Leases in Bankruptcy Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

February 21, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction The Academy has focused at length on the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA).1 SBRA deals on its face with a non-consumer topic, but it is of interest also to Chapter 12 and 13 trustees and debtors, creating a new, more debtor-friendly subchapter V of Chapter 11 for...

Members

Spitballing Chapter 13’s Image Makeover

Cathy Moran

January 12, 2025

“Three cheers for Jen Lee’s piece on the need to pitch the manifest strengths of Chapter 13. Her advice to use head-to-head comparisons with alternative approaches to debt for the client is right on. An image makeover for Chapter 13 would be even more powerful if we can spread the word to a broader audience, before they’ve shorted their tax withholding, encumbered their exempt homestead, signed on with a profit-focused ‘debt consolidation’ company, or dipped into their retirement funds.” Think Chapter 13 needs an image makeover? Let us hear from you.

Members

ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – What Does It Mean to Surrender?

November 24, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) One of the most confusing elements in consumer bankruptcy practice is the effect of electing the option given in § 1325(a)(5)(C) or § 521(a)(2). Section 521(a)(2) requires every debtor to file a statement of intent that indicates whether the debtor intends to “surrender or retain” estate property which secured...

Members

Tax Form 1099 Needs A Closer Look: Chances Are It’s Wrong

April 14, 2019

By William J. Purdy, III, Simmons & Purdy (Soquel, CA) Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in the past few weeks have looked at or at least thought about, Form 1099-A or Form 1099-C documents they have received. Some arrived in the tax year a debt was allegedly cancelled. Others are issued by financial instructions many years after they should have...

Members

William E. Heitkamp (44)

David G. Peake

December 17, 2023

At the end of this calendar year, after 44 years, the Southern District of Texas and the bankruptcy community will lose one of our standard bearers. William E. Heitkamp, “Bill” was appointed Chapter 13 Trustee in 1979. His appointment came shortly after the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 became law.

Members

Critical Case Comment

February 3, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Middle District of TN (Nashville) Where a Chapter 13 plan provides that a mortgage payment will be paid “outside the plan,” the plan does not “provide for” the mortgage payment and, accordingly, the discharge under § 1328 is not applicable to the mortgage obligation. Dukes v. Suncoast Credit Union, 909...

Members

Chapter 13 Trustees Prosecutorial Discretion

The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

July 30, 2023

While administering cases, Chapter 13 Trustees should carefully exercise their prosecutorial discretion. Trustee discretion is a powerful tool. It should be used wisely and consistently. Trustees should have office policies in place fort heir attorneys and office staff. What matters involve discretion? The UST Chapter 13 Handbook describes some: We asked the NACTT Emeritus Trustees for their thoughts and examples...

Today’s AI Stands to Create Work for Lawyers

Cathy Moran

June 25, 2023

Most lawyers were torn between wincing and laughing when a lawyer filed a brief packed with case authority created out of whole cloth by an AI bot. Meanwhile, a segment of the bar is fretting that we will be replaced by powerful artificial intelligence. My concern, based on a couple of casual forays into AI, is not that I will...

Members

Fastest Way to Check Tax Refund Is ‘Where’s My Refund?’ Tool at IRS.Gov

February 17, 2019

Offering time-saving alternatives to a telephone call, the IRS reminds taxpayers they can get fast answers to their refund questions by using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool available on IRS.gov and through the IRS2Go app. The IRS issues nine out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days, and the fastest way to get a refund is to use IRS...