From the Editor’s Desk - Conversion and Dismissal • NACTT Academy

From the Editor’s Desk – Conversion and Dismissal

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Case properly dismissed on eve of 60th month for failure to pay confirmed percentage to unsecured. Although the debtors had made the monthly plan payments for almost all of the 60-month applicable commitment period, they had not paid the 48% dividend to unsecured creditors that was provided for in their confirmed plan, and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held, under the facts and circumstances of the case, a confirmed case may be dismissed for failure to pay both the required plan payments and the confirmed percentage dividend. During the . . .

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National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act of 2023

The Academy

December 31, 2023

The National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act of 2023 (H.R. 3315) enacted on December 19, 2023 extends for an additional four years the existing exemption from the means test for qualifying reservists and National Guard debtors who are called to active duty or to perform a homeland defense activity for not less than 90 days. See 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(D)(i). A debtor...

Sub V Update

Paul W. Bonapfel

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Many of you are familiar with the extensive outline on Sub Chapter V that the Honorable Paul W. Bonapfel, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, produces. This is a FREE resource and is freshly updated!! Thank you Judge Bonapfel!

Making Sense of the Cause Requirement for Plan Payment Period Extensions Under 11 U.S.C. § 1322(d) – Part 1 of 2

Blake Warner

August 17, 2025

For below-median income debtors, plan extensions beyond 36 months are meant to be voluntary and flexible—not coerced by courts, trustees, or creditors. While ‘cause’ can justify a longer plan, it must be determined case-by-case.

Members

Chapter 13 And Death: Discharge or Dismissal?

Michael B. Joseph

December 15, 2024

“It is said that nothing is certain except for death and taxes, but today the Court is asked a question about death and discharge, for which there is some uncertainty in the Chapter 13 context.”

Members

U.S. Trustee Program to Implement Virtual Section 341 Meetings of Creditors Nationwide

The Academy

September 3, 2023

These virtual 341 meetings via Zoom will be implemented on a rolling basis through early 2024.

Meet Another New’ish Trustee

The Academy

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Gregory D. Stefan was appointed as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Eastern District of Virginia effective May 1, 2023. He follows in the footsteps of Michael P. Cotter upon his retirement.

Members

How Late Is Too Late to Object to a Proof of Claim?

Robert G. Drummond

May 18, 2025

A resource you are probably going to want to hang onto. Here, Trustee Drummond, offers readers a concise look at the doctrine of laches and answers how late is too late.

Members

List It or Lose It: When Actual Knowledge Isn’t Enough

June 20, 2021

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA) To actually effect abandonment of unadministered assets in a bankruptcy case, the asset in question must appear on Schedule A/B. That’s the hard teaching of Stevens v. Whitmore from the 9th Circuit BAP. A passing reference to an asset in the SOFA isn’t sufficient. Neither was the fact the trustee explicitly knew about...

Members

Generative AI, Degenerative Ethics

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

July 27, 2025

The reliance on AI for the formation of a brief with citations without verifying the accuracy constitutes a violation of Rule 9011 and subjects the submitting attorney to monetary and non-monetary sanctions.

Members

From the Editor

March 31, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Debtor’s Attorney - Suspension of firm upheld. The District court affirmed the 90-day suspension of Law Solutions Chicago, LLC (d/b/a UpRight Law, LLC), with the record supporting the bankruptcy court’s findings that the firm failed to adequately represent the debtor in a “simple” consumer case. Disgorgement of fees was appropriate under...

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