From the Editor’s Desk – Conversion and Dismissal

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Failure to file state income tax return warranted dismissal. The debtor had filed multiple bankruptcy cases in three states prior to the current filing, with no discharges entered, and the current petition did not disclose all of the prior filings. The petition was filed on the date an auction was set by a self-storage company, and the debtor had not filed a required state tax return. Failure to file required tax returns was contrary to § 1325(a)(5)’s requirement, the schedules were not accurate, and, under the . . .

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.

Consumers Are Consuming Cash at an Unsustainable Rate

Kevin R. Anderson

June 26, 2022

Consumers have burned through their stimulus cash and are now drawing down their savings to satisfy pent up spending sprees and to cover the increasing cost of living. This cannot continue. From 2015 through the end of 2019, consumers held a consistent average of $1.1 trillion in savings. However, with the commencement of the COVID pandemic and the first of...

Members

The Hanging Paragraph – Hanging on Every Word Part 4 of 4

July 5, 2020

By Anthony J. Gomez, CPA, former extern to the Honorable John P. Gustafson, Northern District of Ohio at Toledo V. The Good Faith Requirement The hanging paragraph was enacted to protect creditors. It accomplishes this by prohibiting the bifurcation of certain secured debts that were acquired shortly before the time of filing. Despite a Chapter 13 debtor’s inability to bifurcate...

Members

From the Editor – Lien Modification

March 28, 2021

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Junior mortgage lienholder not affected by modifications of senior mortgage. Under Pennsylvania law, the prepetition modification of terms of the senior mortgage had recapitalized interest and costs already owed but had not created new liabilities. As a result, the junior mortgage holder was not materially prejudiced. The Chapter 13 debtors could avoid the...

Members

From the Editor

September 20, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Chapter 13 debtors’ FDCPA claim was not “related to” bankruptcy case. After reopening closed case, the debtors filed adversary complaint against mortgage holders and servicers, alleging various claims for violation of discharge injunction, automatic stay and FDCPA. The complaint plausibly pleaded elements required for §§ 362(k) and 524(i), but the claims under FDCPA...

Members

Just the Facts, Ma’am – Consolidated Appropriations Act, December 27, 2020

January 10, 2021

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) This legislation includes several bankruptcy-related provisions, in addition to government funding and other COVID relief. Consumer bankruptcy issues are addressed in Title X of the Act, section 1001, which amends Bankruptcy Code § 541(b)’s exclusions from property of the estate, adding subsection 11 for certain coronavirus relief, defined as “recovery rebates made under...

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

From the Editor – Lien Issues

September 15, 2019

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Chapter 13 debtor had no authority under § 544. Discussing the split of authority, the Court adopted the majority view that the Code gives § 544 avoidance authority exclusively to the trustee, and the Chapter 13 debtor could not use that power to avoid a mortgage lien. In re Dobbs, _________B.R._________, 2019 WL...

Members

From the Editor

September 27, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Debtors’ attorney fees not authorized under Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Although the Chapter 13 debtors had prevailed before the Ninth Circuit, In re Sisk, 962 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir. 2020), their application for attorney fees as prevailing parties under EAJA was denied. That Act did not authorize awards of attorney fees...

Members

Will Getting Home Mortgage Forbearance Save Your Client’s Home?

April 19, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) Mortgage forbearance for homeowners, shout the headlines. No need to make a house payment. Borrowers who can’t make this month’s mortgage payment were thrown a lifeline of sorts in the coronavirus rescue package. Only it’s probably not the help they think it is. And the lifeline may be far more fragile than they...

Members

Critical Case Comment – Don’t File a Individual Chapter 13 If the Assets Are Owned by an LLC; It Will Cost You – BIG

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

September 25, 2022

Where a debtor and debtor’s counsel initiated a Chapter 13 petition in an effort to halt a foreclosure against property held by the debtor’s LLC, and where the debtor took no steps to correct the filing, sanctions would be imposed against debtor’s counsel. (Grabill) In re Scaccia, 2022 WL 1216284 (Bankr. E.D. La. April 25, 2022) Case Summary Scaccia owned...

Members