Critical Case Comment

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville)

When Chapter 7 debtors’ counsel bifurcated services and “factored” the fees due for post-petition services and failed to adequately disclose the arrangement, the attorney violated § 329; the business of “factoring” of obligations owed to debtors’ counsel constituted an impermissible splitting of fees. (Michael) In re Roberta Ellarae Wright, et al, 2018 WL 4211570 (Bankr. N.D. Okla. Sept. 4, 2018)

Case Summary

Judge Michael consolidated 17 Chapter 7 cases, all filed by the same debtors’ counsel, to determine whether . . .

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.

ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – What Does It Mean to Surrender?

November 24, 2019

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...

Members

Report of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy

April 28, 2019

By William Houston Brown, Co-chair of the Commission and Adviser to the Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education The Report of the Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy for improvements to the consumer bankruptcy system was made public on April 11, 2019. The full report is available free by download from the American Bankruptcy Institute’s website, www.abi.org. The following Foreward to the Report...

Members

SBRA – The Sequel: Leases in Bankruptcy Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”)

February 21, 2021

Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Appendix 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(3) and (4), Showing Changes Made by Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 ("CAA"), Pub. L. 116-260, 134 Stat. 1182 (eff. Dec. 27, 2020) (Sunset December 27, 2022. Changes continue to apply in cases commenced before sunset under subchapter V of Chapter 11.) 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(3) Pre-CAA Post-CAA...

Members

Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in City of Chicago v. Fulton

December 22, 2019

By William Houston Brown, Editor/Adviser, Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education On December 18, 2019, the Supreme Court granted the City of Chicago’s petition for certiorari, 2019 WL 6880702, from the decision of the Seventh Circuit at 926 F.3d 916 (7th Cir. June 19, 2019). The Seventh Circuit’s decision was analyzed in a prior article on this website. In its decision,...

Members

IRS Warns of Impersonation Email Scam; Reminds Taxpayers IRS Does Not Send Unsolicited Emails

August 25, 2019

On 8/22/19 the IRSe and its Security Summit partners warned taxpayers and tax professionals about a new IRS impersonation scam campaign spreading nationally on email. Remember: the IRS does not send unsolicited emails and never emails taxpayers about the status of refunds. The IRS detected this new scam as taxpayers began notifying phis[email protected] about unsolicited emails from IRS imposters. The...

Mortgage Matters in Times of COVID-19

April 5, 2020

By Robert (Bob) Schuman, Owner/Managing Broker, Network Financial Group Is it 2008 again? For us in the mortgage industry, we woke up this week feeling as if during the night, we were transported back to 2008 when the mortgage industry basically collapsed. Then, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA were the exceptions. As of March 25, 2020, like everything...

Members

What to Do with the Dreaded Timeshare?

August 25, 2019

By Karin N. Amyx, Staff Attorney to the Trustee Carl Davis (Wichita, KS) To me, the word “timeshare” conjures up images of a dark conference room at a resort hotel where unwitting tourists are being goaded into signing usury contracts in exchange for a free meal ticket at the buffet. But what is a timeshare? And how do you deal...

Members

IRS Updates Guidance for Deductible Business, Charitable, Medical and Moving Expenses

November 17, 2019

11/14/19, the IRS issued guidance for taxpayers with certain deductible expenses to reflect changes resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Revenue Procedure 2019-46, posted today on IRS.gov, updates the rules for using the optional standard mileage rates in computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving expense purposes. The guidance also...

Critical Case Comment

June 14, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee (Nashville, TN) Chapter 13 debtor may exclude from disposable income amounts projected to be paid to an employer sponsored 401(k) where such payments are consistent with pre-filing contributions made to the retirement account. Davis v. Helbling, 2020 WL 2831172 (6th Cir. June 1, 2020) (Larsen) Case Summary In 2017, Camille Davis filed...

Members

Legal Aid and Who Are Our Chapter 13 “Customers”

January 31, 2021

By Rachel Jones, Staff Attorney to Chapter 13 Standing Trustee Chris Micale, Western District of Virginia (Roanoke) The events of 2020 have had a devastating impact on the very low-income population. The working poor are struggling, particularly those working in sectors such as hospitality and tourism. State and Federal funding and local programs such as food banks and community action...