IRS issued the 2019 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 58 cents per mile driven for business use, up 3.5 cents from...

Prior to his appointment as a bankruptcy judge for the District of Utah in September of 2015, Judge Anderson served for seventeen years as the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the District of Utah. During this time, he administered over 70,000 Chapter 13 cases. Judge Anderson was elected president of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT), and he...

By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division Click here for Part 1 Click here for Part 2

On 6/14/19, the CFPB (Bureau) announced a settlement with Student CU Connect CUSO, LLC (CUSO), a company set up to hold and manage private loans for students at ITT Technical Institute. The Bureau filed a complaint and a proposed stipulated judgment in federal district court for the Southern District of Indiana alleging that CUSO provided substantial assistance to ITT Educational...

By Jan M. Sensenich, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of Vermont As we reach the end of the first month of the partial government shutdown, with no end in sight, 800,000 federal workers have started missing their paychecks. As the shutdown continues, Chapter 13 trustees are weighing how best to address the inevitable question from federal government employee...

A new day is coming to high debt borrowers seeking to file Chapter 13 but confounded by the debt limits imposed by 11 U.S.C. § 109(e). Although debt limits have been increasing since the effective date of the Code in 1979, consumer debts have been increasing at a far more rapid rate. Starting in 2009, when the housing crisis first...

(Published with the consent of the Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Assn Newsletter, October 2021) By M. Jonathan Hayes, Resnik Hayes Moradi LLP (Encino, CA) Question from old bankruptcy lawyer: Judge Jury, chapters 13s are such a huge amount of work. Do you have any pointers on avoiding common mistakes? Response from Judge Jury: Of course! I will focus on...

By Mark C. Leffler, Boleman Law Firm, PC, Richmond, Hampton, and Va. Beach, Virginia In order to “eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors . . .”, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) bars debt collectors from using any “false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt . . .” 15...

Recently, the Emeritus Trustees (“ETC”) commented on “How to Manage Incompetent, Unprepared, and Negligent Bankruptcy Counsel”. We now turn to ETC to share their collective wisdom when addressing the issues raised by incompetent, unprepared and unreasonable creditor counsel. CREDITOR ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION ISSUES Several ETC Trustees list the following as problematical during their tenure. Attorney claims lack of authority from creditor...