Give Me Back My Car! Recent Cases Highlight Circuit Split over Whether Failure to Return Repossessed Property Violates the Automatic Stay

By Glenn Huether, Senior Counsel Consumer Banking Division, Wells Fargo Legal Department (Charlotte, NC)

One of the hallmarks of the Bankruptcy Code is the automatic stay - and gaining the protection of the automatic stay is one of the primary factors driving debtors into bankruptcy. For some debtors, protection of the automatic stay means getting back their vehicles that were repossessed prepetition.

Whether a lender is required to turnover repossessed property immediately after a debtor files a Chapter 13 petition – and whether the failure to return that property is a violation of the automatic stay – is an issue that . . .

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.

Honorable Kevin R. Anderson, U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Utah

April 7, 2019

Prior to his appointment as a bankruptcy judge for the District of Utah in September of 2015, Judge Anderson served for seventeen years as the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the District of Utah. During this time, he administered over 70,000 Chapter 13 cases. Judge Anderson was elected president of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT), and he...

A Practical Approach to Using Bankruptcy Rules Effectively

Caleb Chaplain

March 23, 2025

Part 6: Rule 9024 (Relief from a Judgment or Order) Mistakes are often made, even by bankruptcy judges. Bankruptcy Rule 9024, by incorporating Civil Rule 60 into bankruptcy cases, allows a bankruptcy court to correct mistakes either on their own sua sponte or at the request of a party. In requesting such relief, parties must be aware of the grounds in...

Members

Can Good Facts Also Make Bad Law? Finality of Orders in Bankruptcy Revisited after Ritzen Group

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

March 20, 2022

"Finality" in Bankruptcy When is an order within a bankruptcy case "final"? When must a party to the proceeding appeal within 14 days? When may a party either seek interlocutory review or sit back and wait until something more occurs to make the order final? Final orders are appealable. In civil actions, this is a relatively easy proposition to apply...

Members

Meet One of Our Newest Trustees

January 13, 2019

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...

Members

Critical Case Comment

June 2, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee If a Chapter 13 debtor does not list a creditor on the creditor matrix when filing the petition and makes no effort to provide supplemental notice to the creditor, the provisions of Rule 3002 allow the extension of time for the creditor to file a...

Members

Critical Case Comment – No Mulligans for Gardners

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 30, 2022

In order for a debtor to succeed in setting aside a dismissal in a motion filed under Rule 9024, F.R.B.P., the debtor must prove specific grounds as outlined in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b). (Oxholm) In re Gardner, 2022 WL 654410 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. May 24, 2022) Case Summary Carl and Taisha Gardner filed Chapter 13 in September of...

Members

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...

Members

Supreme Court Corner: Homestead vs. Lien

M. Jonathan Hayes

November 17, 2024

Issue: Does the bankruptcy discharge terminate the right of a secured creditor to foreclose its lien on the debtor’s exempt homestead?

Members

Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, And Limitations – Part 2

October 11, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama What are the statutory duties of the standing chapter 13 trustee? Bankruptcy Code §§ 1302 and 704 provide the statutory framework for the trustee’s duties, and provide as follows: 11 U.S.C. § 1302. Trustee (a) If the United States trustee appoints an individual under section 586(b) of...

Members

Critical Case Comment – No POC, No Money

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

April 30, 2023

A secured creditor would not be granted relief from the stay because the motion was based on the creditor’s failure to file a timely proof of claim. (Grant) In re Flores, 2023 WL 2787514 (Bankr. N.D. Ind. March 8, 2023) Case Summary Mr. Flores filed a petition under Chapter 13 proposing to pay Gaeta Auto Sales in full, with interest,via...

Members