From the Editor – Discharge and Dischargeability • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Discharge and Dischargeability

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Marital settlement agreement’s obligation to hold spouse harmless from credit card debt gave rise to implied indemnity right for purposes of § 523(a)(15). Under California law, the Chapter 7 debtor’s promise in marital settlement agreement to pay credit card debt and hold wife harmless was enforceable, even though the agreement did not include indemnification language. Section 523(a)(15) does not require that the obligation be paid directly to the former spouse, and under California law, the debtor’s obligation was an implied indemnification claim. The . . .

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Critical Case Comment – “Extraordinary” Key to Set Aside Dismissal

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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Chapter 13 debtor must demonstrate extraordinary circumstances to justify the extraordinary relief of setting aside or “reconsidering” an order dismissing a Chapter 13 case. (Cary) In re Canas, 2022 WL 10707000 (Bankr. D. Ma. October 18, 2022) Case Summary Nelson and Annemarie Canas filed a Chapter 13 petition in August of 2019. The debtors immediately fell behind on their proposed...

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Score One for the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Service of the African America Community[1]

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By Selwyn D. Whitehead, Esq. Because inquiring minds need to know; below is a discussion of the Johnson Publishing Company, LLC’s Chapter 7 Liquidation Bankruptcy, Case No. 19-10236, which was filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division in Chicago on April 9, 2019, and its week-long auction from July 22-24, 2019. Here's...

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From the Editor – Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

February 2, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Class action certification on predominance. The Eleventh Circuit remanded, finding that the District Court had abused its discretion in refusing to certify a class on a predominance theory for former debtors who had obtained discharge of personal liability on residential mortgages and who asserted violations of the FDCPA by a loan servicer. The...

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ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – Student Loans – Suggested Regulatory and Judicial Changes

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By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) Section I. Student Loans, Part II – Suggested Regulatory and Judicial Changes In our last installment of the Academy Report on the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy we dealt with the ABI Commission’s suggested statutory modifications which could address some of the problems facing borrowers confronted with substantial student...

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In the Trenches: Secrets to Settlement – Competency in the Courtroom Part 1 of 3

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By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Introduction Preliminarily, I recognize that many of those reading this do not need to. There are many fine trial attorneys in the bankruptcy bar. Those folks could well be writing this article. By way of defending myself in advance, this little piece does not consist of a series of war stories or...

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Small Business Reorganization Act…(“SBRA”) H.R. 3311 – PART ONE

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By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Topeka, KS) “I do not suggest my thoughts here are anywhere close to exhaustive. . . . Of course, my thoughts may be off mark on one or more items, but the discussions need to start somewhere, so here we go…” See also: 2019 Legislation Affecting Bankruptcy Practice – Overview

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George Stevenson

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My life in 1982 was in a bit of turmoil. I had recently gotten married and was working as in-house counsel for a regional furniture retailer. My position included a lot of collection work – beating up on debtors in state and bankruptcy courts. I was not unhappy but I was not comfortable with my work – it was clear...

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James M. Davis

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Can a debtor provide for a non-debtor’s loan under § 1322(b)(5) even if the plan does not address a non-monetary default on the claim? In re Lazaro suggests the answer may be “yes.” In that case, the Court held not only that the Debtor’s plan could provide to cure a monetary default on a loan taken out by the Debtor’s...

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Cathy Moran

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The skills of a consumer bankruptcy lawyer must include a healthy dose of the skillset of a teacher. More on listening/communicating with Clients: Who Is Stupid Here? Why Listening Is a Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Superpower

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Nancy B. Rapoport

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Cathy Moran’s article Bankruptcy Lawyer Must Have Otherworldly Powers raised an interesting issue: what should a lawyer do when a client calls and says, “what the heck IS this [notice, letter, order, whatever] that I just got?” Professor Rapoport’s take on this issue is not at all what you would expect. She puts the responsibility squarely on . . .

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