Critical Case Comment

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee (Nashville, TN)

A Chapter 13 trustee is not permitted to retain the trustee’s percentage fee on payments made in cases where a Chapter 13 plan is not confirmed; the trustee is under a statutory obligation to return all funds, including the trustee’s percentage fee, to the debtor. (Whipple) In re Lundy, 2017 WL 4404271 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio September 29, 2017)

Case Summary

The Lundys filed a Chapter 13 petition, pro se, and had a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service about the filing . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

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....

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...

Members

From the Editor – Plan Modification

June 7, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) HAVEN Act applied to modification when plan was confirmed prior to Act becoming law. The debtor proposed a plan modification deleting from disposable income $1,789 monthly VA disability benefits. First concluding that the HAVEN Act was applicable law at time of this decision, nothing in the Act, its legislative history or the Official...

Members

Finding the Flaws in IRS Tax Liens

Cathy Moran

March 12, 2023

Lien perfection follows state law The secret tax lien attaches to all of a taxpayer’s property of any kind, wherever located. However, a tax lien is perfected against other creditors only by compliance with state laws on perfection of liens. AND during the pendency of a bankruptcy case, counsel only has to deal with the properly perfected tax lien. State...

Members

The Weak Link in the Means Test

Cathy Moran

August 27, 2023

The bankruptcy means test, designed to keep people out of bankruptcy, has a fatal weakness. . . . it’s health care.

Members

From the Editor – Debtor’s Attorney

May 17, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Sanctions for including foreclosed property in petition. On creditor’s motion, sanctions for attorney fees and costs were awarded against Chapter 13 debtor’s attorney for scheduling as property of estate real property that had been foreclosed and on which debtor’s redemption period had expired. Under Rule 9011(c), a safe harbor letter from the creditor...

Members

Did Congress Mean What It Said in Section 1328(i)?

April 25, 2021

By Pardis Akhavan, Resnik Hayes Moradi LLP (Encino, CA) The bankruptcy court in In re Ritter, 2021 WL 864092 (Bkrtcy C.D. Cal, 2021)(J. Tighe),denied debtors’ motion for an immediate discharge under Section 1328(i) ruling that Congress apparently did not intend that a chapter 13 debtor who obtains a loan modification should also receive a discharge, on that basis alone at...

Members

2022 Bankruptcy Procedure Year in Review: Revised Statute and Rules and Selected Cases – Part 7 Selected Decisions Under Parts I and II of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

March 26, 2023

Introduction Amendments to 16 rules and new one new rule took effect December 1, 2022. Many reflected changes necessitated by the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA),1 and had been in place in the same or similar form on an interim basis since that legislation took effect. Part 1 of this series summarized 2022 . . . It looks...

Members

Cyber Security – You Are The Weakest Link

Naliko Markel

February 19, 2023

At the NACTT 2023 Mid-Year Trustee Meeting in January the presentation that resonated the most with me was one about the dark web. The presenter, Mark Lanterman (CTO Computer Forensic Services), said something that haunts me still: your biggest security risk is your people. Mind blown. We spend so much time, energy, and resources on physical security and network security,...

Members

Supreme Court on Statute of Limitations Under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

December 15, 2019

By William Houston Brown, Editor/Adviser Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education Construing the statute of limitations for actions against debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCA), the Supreme Court held on December 10, 2019, that “absent the application of an equitable doctrine, the statute of limitations in § 1692k(d) begins to run on the date on which the...

Members