Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

By Professor Nancy Rapoport

Dear Readers:

To continue the new year off right, here’s a discussion about a question that I received:

I get a telephone msg (or email or text) from a client with a legitimate legal question. How long do I, ethically, have to respond? A day, a week? What if I never respond?

I know that each of you is very busy (or at least I hope you are). But the right answer to this is a combination of “it depends on the question” and “do you want to stay busy as . . .

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When the Duty to Provide Tax Returns Collides with Confidentiality

Michael B. Joseph

February 6, 2022

Bankruptcy Code Section 521(e)(2)(A)(i) and (ii) provides that a debtor must supply tax returns to the trustee in a chapter 7 or 13 case, and to a creditor who timely requests such copy. Must the debtor provide copies that contain personal identifying information such as names, addresses and social security numbers of dependents including minor children? Or a redacted version...

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Critical Case Comment – Debtor Refuses to Give Location of Surrendered Mercedes; Pleads the Fifth

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

December 26, 2021

Where a Chapter 7 debtor fails to disclose the location of his Mercedes which he intended to surrender, fails to produce documents relating to the ownership of his property, and invokes his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, the Court appropriately denied the debtor a discharge. (Preston) In re Appleby, 2021 WL 5121854 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio, Nov. 3, 2021) Case Summary...

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Tell the Story

May 16, 2021

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA) Have I got a story for you. A rousing tale of schedules, hearings, frustrations, and ultimately fortunes, traceable to a good story in the fee application. Maybe that's a bit overblown, but I'm telling this story with a purpose. Good stories lead to fair compensation for bankruptcy attorneys. Fee applications aren't hard Filing...

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Critical Case Comment – Bad Faith to Not Pay Both Tests?

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

February 27, 2022

Chapter 13 debtor is not obligated to pay both the disposable income pool and the best interest of creditors test pool to achieve confirmation, only the larger of the two; it is not a manifestation of bad faith that the debtor does not pay both the disposable income pool and the best interest of creditors test amounts. (Altenberger) In re...

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Good or Bad Faith?

Hale Andrew Antico

September 10, 2023

The Ninth Circuit BAP held that the chapter 13 debtors converted their case to Chapter 7 in good faith and therefore a post-petition inheritance was not property of the chapter 7 estate.

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Eviction and Bankruptcy Remedies

August 30, 2020

By Wayne Silver, Wayne Silver Law (Redwood City, CA) The 120-day CARES Act eviction moratorium expired on Saturday, July 25. At the expiration of the moratorium, landlords covered by the federal moratorium could begin serving eviction notices, and begin filing eviction lawsuits 30 days thereafter. That means on Monday, August 24, 2020 the moratorium on evictions expired, while we face...

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What the FICO? Reaffirming Doesn’t Help My Credit Score?

May 23, 2021

By The Honorable John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo) Reaffirmation hearings during the pandemic have been difficult, at least for me. The economic risks for debtors are greater. There are uncertainties about the availability of credit, and the availability of suitable vehicles. Prices of used cars have gone up – with stimulus money pushing...

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Post-Petition Causes of Action, Inheritances and Windfalls Are Property of the Estate and Must Be Reported to the Trustee – Part 1 of 5

July 14, 2019

By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division A. Property Acquired After The Filing Of The Chapter 13 Case: The Different Approaches. 1. Property Acquired Post-Petition vs. Property “Vesting In The Debtor”. Click here for Part 2 The broad issue of what becomes property of the Chapter 13 estate post-petition involves consideration of two...

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From the Editor

September 20, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Three-month delay in completing bare-bones petition. When the Chapter 13 debtor filed a skeletal petition, her motion for more time to complete schedules, statement and plan was denied, with no cause found for extending time after three-month delay, and show cause hearing was set to determine if case should be dismissed with 180-day...

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Critical Case Comment

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

April 17, 2022

In re Galloway, 2022 WL 1017951 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. April 5, 2022) A Chapter 13 trustee’s final audit and notice of completion of payments is not necessary or a precondition to the court granting a discharge to a debtor who has satisfied the requirements of § 1328. (Judge Thorne) Case Summary Tara Galloway filed a Chapter 13 petition in May...

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Related Articles

When the Duty to Provide Tax Returns Collides with Confidentiality

Critical Case Comment – Debtor Refuses to Give Location of Surrendered Mercedes; Pleads the Fifth

Tell the Story

Critical Case Comment – Bad Faith to Not Pay Both Tests?

Good or Bad Faith?

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Critical Case Comment

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