From the Editor - Confirmation • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Confirmation

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

United States Trustee’s objections to confirmation overruled. In a thorough examination of ten cases in which the United States Trustee objected to confirmation, the primary issue was whether debtors exercised good faith in choosing to file Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7, when the plans would primarily pay filing fees and debtors’ attorney fees. The United States Trustee urged the court to adopt a “high threshold” for such debtors, and that they should not be able to choose Chapter 13 “unless they can show ‘special circumstances’ justifying the . . .

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The Change to Chapter 13 Law I’d Most Like to See?

The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

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A question recently presented to the NACTT Emeritus Trustees is “the change to chapter 13 law I’d most like to see?” Here is a summary of their responses. This question was presented by a ConsiderChapter13.org reader. If you have a question for the Emeritus Trustees or Ms. Ps & Qs (ethics), please submit them here.

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After Chicago v Fulton: Not Only Cars – A Survey of Fulton Rulings and a Weakened Automatic Stay

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Intro: What is a Fulton ruling? When Chicago v Fulton (In re Fulton), 141 S Ct. 585 (Sup Ct, 2021) was first decided by the Supreme Court, there was a consensus among bankruptcy attorneys that the erosion of the automatic stay with regard to turnover was only about cars. That is, Fulton was a narrow ruling that was only about...

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New Academy Podcasts

The Academy

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Nicole P. Novak

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A New Jersey attorney is the subject of a legal malpractice complaint for allegedly failing to properly preserve a marital tort claim as an exception to discharge. Asma J. Warsi v. Adrian J. Johnson (Case No. MID-L-001023-22, Super. Ct. of N.J., Middlesex County); In re Chaundry, 569 B.R. 372 (Bankr. D. N.J. 2017). In Chaundry, Creditor Wife had a marital...

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Critical Case Comment – Pay the TAXES!

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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Failure of Chapter 13 debtors to satisfy post-petition property tax payments to the county, specifically required in the debtors’ Chapter 13 plan, renders the debtors ineligible for a discharge, even where the debtors proposed a loan modification to repay the mortgage creditor which had advanced the post-petition taxes. (Rodriguez) In re Villarreal, 2022 WL 1102223 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. April 12,...

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Notice of Error Regarding Misinformation Given During Phone Call to Mortgage Servicer

The Academy

January 16, 2022

There is no special language/verbiage. Keep is simple. Stick to one issue per NOE. Pertinent loan/debtor information – “name, rank, and serial number” Called bank twice. Tried to get borrower reviewed for FHA Recovery Mod. Both times I was essentially told that the loan was “too many months delinquent” to be reviewed for FHA Recovery Mod. I was also told...

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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...

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