Chapter 13 debtor’s counsel’s fee award was reduced to $48,116 from the requested $95,480 due to pre-petition payments, confusing and “lumped” time entries, and excessive hourly rates for some services performed, even though the debtor’s Chapter 13 plan was never even proposed much less confirmed. The debtor never attended a meeting of creditors, but the debtor managed to recover his...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Click here for Part I Click here for Part II Part III - Description of Collateral Introduction The . . . It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members. Join Now Or Sign In Below: Username or E-mail:

By Angela M. Scolforo, Staff Attorney to Herbert L. Beskin, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Western District of Virginia Since January 2019 alone there have been about 250 student loan discharge cases decided in the federal courts.1 One site reports that student loan debt in the United States totals $1.73 trillion, across 43.2 million borrowers, and the debt is growing6...

On October 1, 2018, Dynele L. Schinker-Kuharich was appointed as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Ohio. She maintains her offices in Canton. Ms. Schinker-Kuharich replaces retiring Toby Rosen who served in this position for 30 years. Prior to her appointment as a Standing Chapter 13, Schinker-Kuharich was on the panel of Chapter 7 Trustees for...

Section in 109(g)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code bars a debtor from filing a new case for 180 days if the Debtor voluntarily dismisses a case “following” a motion for relief. Not surprisingly, courts are split on how they interpret the word “following” as used in § 109(g)(2). After all, the word “following” is not limited to one definition, or even...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) PART II: More Supreme Court Action on Arbitration Introduction Click here for Part I Click here for Part III Click here for Part IV What is the effect of an . . . It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members....

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) When a case converts from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 prior to the confirmation of a plan, the Chapter 13 Trustee is not permitted to divert funds from the debtor to the debtor’s attorney. In re Lettie, 597 B.R. 637 (Bankr. E.D Wis. 2019)...

Below-median Chapter 13 debtor bears the burden of justifying a plan longer than three years as confirmation of a five-year plan would be denied as providing insufficient justification to exceed three years. (Robinson) In re Ingram, 2023 WL 2529730 (Bankr. N.D. Ala. March 15, 2023) Case Summary Danny Ingram filed four bankruptcy cases over 20 years. He was single with...

Jason Wilson-Aguilar was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for Western District of Washington, Seattle Division, effective on October 2, 2018. He replaces retiring K. Michael (Mike) Fitzgerald who served as the Standing Trustee for nearly twenty years. During the ten years prior to his appointment as Trustee, Jason was the Senior Staff Attorney and Legal Department Manager in...