From the Editor – Conversion and Dismissal

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Marital adjustments for non-debtor spouse’s expenses disallowed. The United States Trustee moved to dismiss Chapter 7 case of one spouse under § 707(b), alleging improper marital and other adjustments under the means test. The non-filing spouse’s income is only excluded from the debtor’s disposable income “to the extent that the income is used to pay non-household expenses, i.e., expenses that are purely personal to the non-debtor spouse.” The non-debtor spouse earned more than the debtor, and the debtor . . .

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From the Editor – Claims

October 20, 2019

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Claimant in proof of claim lacking prima facie validity was sanctioned. The proof of claim secured by the debtor’s residence failed to satisfy Rule 3001(c)(2)(C) requirements, including incomplete Form B 410A with no payment history. The claimant’s attempt to amend the claim on the eve of the contested objection to claim would defeat...

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Thinking About the “Two-Dismissal Rule”

M. Jonathan Hayes

November 3, 2024

“I had a profound thought - what in the world is the two-dismissal rule? I guess the 9th Circuit wondered the same thing because it affirmed . . . bankruptcy court’s dismissal of a debtor’s declaratory relief complaint against a bank on the basis that the debtor had previously filed three other cases and then voluntarily dismissed them.”

Critical Case Comment – And There is Also Blanco

October 31, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) Rule 3002.1 gives the Bankruptcy Court authority to impose sanctions, including punitive sanctions, as part of the rules-granted authority to award “other appropriate relief.” (Rodriguez) Blanco v. Bayview Loan Servicing LLC (In re Blanco), 2021 WL 4190170 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. September 14, 2021) Case...

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Character Counts

Merideth Akers

November 6, 2022

“Does wearing these horizontal stripes make me look fat?” My wife, Becky, tells me that clothes with horizontal stripes make one look broad or fat. However, wearing clothes with vertical stripes create the illusion of making one look tall or slim. Smart fashion designers design clothing that creates the illusion that people are something they are not. I must confess...

Travis Sasser

March 3, 2019

Travis Sasser practices bankruptcy law in Cary, North Carolina. He is a board certified specialist in Consumer Bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification and the North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization. He serves on the Bankruptcy Committee for the North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of ABI and NACBA. He graduated from the University of...

Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protections at the Intersection of Consumer Bankruptcy and UCC Article 9

October 25, 2020

In the world of consumer bankruptcy, trustees and debtors' counsel often are uncomfortable with the rules in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). In this space, we have looked at several places where Article 9 meets the Bankruptcy Code. In this new series, we have been reviewing Article 9's important rules related to consumer transactions.

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The Bankruptcy Moot Court Experience – Duberstein 2019

August 25, 2019

By Cameron Kelly & Michael Carroll, Law Students, The University of Texas School of Law I. Starting the Journey Instead of starting class by cold-calling people, Professor Westbrook chose to suspend my terror briefly. While I was thankful for the reprieve from what would inevitably be a disappointing cold call, I was more thankful for what he had to say....

The Continuing Saga of Chapter 13 Trustee Fees in Pre-Confirmation Dismissals

Thomas D. DeCarlo

June 25, 2023

Courts continue to wrestle with the issue of trustee fees in pre-confirmation dismissals. The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois has now weighed in in In re Johnson, 2023 WL 3406597 (Bankr. N.D. Il. 2023). The facts are pretty typical. Debtor filed for Chapter 13. After 8 months and 8 confirmation hearings, the Court granted Trustee’s request for...

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Tips and Traps: Issuing A Subpoena for Bank Records

March 10, 2019

By Beverly M. Burden, Chapter 13 Trustee (Lexington, KY) I recently had to issue subpoenas to banks to get the records of a non-debtor (long story involving an attorney’s mishandling of escrowed funds held on behalf of a chapter 13 debtor). Here are some tips for others like me who do not often need to use subpoenas. These tips apply...

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From the Editor – Dismissal

August 2, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Chapter 13 debtor had absolute right to dismiss. Facing a contested confirmation hearing, the debtor moved to dismiss the case, and his estranged spouse objected. Concluding that § 1307(b) provides an absolute right to dismiss a case that had not been previously converted, the court posed questions about whether there should be limits...

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From the Editor – Conversion and Dismissal

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Related Articles

From the Editor – Claims

Thinking About the “Two-Dismissal Rule”

Critical Case Comment – And There is Also Blanco

Character Counts

Travis Sasser

Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protections at the Intersection of Consumer Bankruptcy and UCC Article 9

The Bankruptcy Moot Court Experience – Duberstein 2019

The Continuing Saga of Chapter 13 Trustee Fees in Pre-Confirmation Dismissals

Tips and Traps: Issuing A Subpoena for Bank Records

From the Editor – Dismissal

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