More Schooling to Come on Student Debt Relief?

By Ansley Owens, Contributing Writer and Intern for the NACTT Academy (Nashville, TN)

The arguments for and against the discharge of student debt through bankruptcy are heating up and may even reach the Supreme Court. The issue has gained momentum recently by the increase of this type of debt in default, news coverage, and courts refusing to back off of stringent definitions of how dire a debtor’s circumstances must be.

Congress began treating student loan debts different that other unsecured debts when it passed the Education Amendment Act of 1976.1 The Act . . .

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.

A Chink in the Armor of TitleMax

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 27, 2024

Failure of TitleMax to re-perfect lien when first loan was “refinanced” and debtor made a new loan with TitleMax, precluded them from holding a perfected security interest in the automobile that originally served as its collateral would be unsecured.

Members

Early Christmas Present for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorneys

M. Jonathan Hayes

December 1, 2024

Saldana v. Bronitsky – The facts.

Members

Critical Case Comment – Watch for Opportunities to Bifurcate Home Mortgage Claims

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

August 21, 2022

Where a Chapter 13 plan treats a claim as secured only by the debtor’s mobile home under § 506 and not real property, the effect of a notice of fees, costs and charges is irrelevant. (Coleman) In re White, 2022 WL 2826531 (Bankr. S.D. Ga. July 19, 2022) Case Summary Shalonda White filed a Chapter 13 petition in July of...

Members

From the Editor

April 7, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Attorney Fees - Chapter 13 debtor’s attorney not entitled to recovery under § 330 of fees that were incurred in defending prior attorneys’ sanctions motion. The debtor’s prior attorneys had sought to impose sanctions on the current attorney, and that attorney successfully defended against sanctions. However, the fees incurred by the...

Members

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

June 23, 2019

By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Click here for Part 1 of 3 Click here for Part 2 of 3 19. In the Courtroom ― Leading Questions Learning how to conduct a direct examination of your witnesses is the cornerstone to your case. Early . . . It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This...

Members

Critical Case Comment

July 7, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) Where a confirmation order of a debtor’s Chapter 12 plan specifically provided for payments to a creditor and the Chapter 12 trustee had supported confirmation of the plan, the trustee would be precluded from seeking to disallow a late-filed claim. Following the plan, the...

Members

Bozeman Revisited: The Anti-Modification Clause Chisels Away at Espinosa

Herbert L. Beskin

July 16, 2023

Remember Mort. Corp. of the South v. Bozeman (In re Bozeman), 57 F. 4th 895 (11th Cir. 2023)? That was the recent 11th Circuit case previously reviewed by Lawrence Ahern on this site. It was the Chapter 13 version of The Perfect Storm. The Debtor proposed to pay the principal balance of her mortgage ($17 . . . It looks...

Members

Fast Track to Freedom: Judge Greenlights Early Payoff

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

January 5, 2025

Chapter 13 debtor has the right to modify a confirmed Chapter 13 plan to pay off the plan early; at modification the “best interest of creditors test” applies to the modified plan as of the effective date of the modification.

Members

How to Pay for Bankruptcy When You’re Flat Broke

June 14, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) One of the cosmic ironies of our legal system is that it costs money to file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy gets you out of debt only if you have the money to file. The costs of bankruptcy include the filing fee collected by the court; the required credit counseling; and, if you’re smart, an experienced...

I Win. I Win. Trustee Holds Record for Having the Oldest Open Chapter 13 Case

April 7, 2019

By Helen M. Morris, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia It really takes so little to make a Chapter 13 Trustee happy—debtor’s counsel using calculators when they draft a plan ($100 for 36 months is NOT $4,936.87 no matter how many times it is repeated); saying “the Trustee is right” distinctly in open...