Supreme Court Corner

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Unreasonable fees for proof of claim. $4,000 fee for private mortgagee’s proof of claim and objection to proposed plan was unreasonable, and creditor was denied recovery of $7,500 attorney fee for responding to debtor’s objection to proof of claim. The Court considered Fannie Mae’s guidelines for maximum fees related to proof of claim...

By Michael J. McCormick, Esq., McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC (Roswell, GA) Escrow 101 – Part 1 Escrow 101 - Part 2 Escrow 101 – Part 3 Escrow 102 – Part 2

Summertime activities often affect the tax returns people file the following year. Here are some things taxpayers do during the summer along with tips they should consider now: Getting married. Newlyweds should report any name change to the Social Security Administration. They should also report an address change to the United States Postal Service, their employers, and the IRS. This...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) One of the most confusing elements in consumer bankruptcy practice is the effect of electing the option given in § 1325(a)(5)(C) or § 521(a)(2). Section 521(a)(2) requires every debtor to file a statement of intent that indicates whether the debtor intends to “surrender or retain” estate property which secured...

When a debtor fails to disclose a post-petition asset as required by Local Rule and the terms of her plan, the trustee may seek a modification of the plan notwithstanding the expiration of the applicable commitment period; the best interest of creditors test applies only at commencement of the case and not to a plan modification; a trustee’s motion to...

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction This series has focused on the four bankruptcy-related bills that were enacted during the 116th Congress and signed into law on August 23, 2019. One bill, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), became effective February 19, 2020. It appears in its entirety in Appendix B to this...

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...

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Confirmation - Debtors could not deduct ownership costs for vehicle secured by non-purchase money lien. The above-median debtors claimed ownership deduction of $497 from projected disposable income, when the title loan payments on the vehicle were only $66.67. The difference in these amounts meant unsecured creditors could receive $25,819.80 over the...

If a Chapter 13 plan makes no provision for a mortgage obligation, omits any treatment of the mortgage claims, and prohibits the Trustee from making disbursements toward the claims, the claims are not provided for by the plan and the plan can be confirmed over the objection of the creditor and the trustee; nothing requires a plan to provide for...