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.

The PUMP Act

Mark T. McCarty

June 11, 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released an updated Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Minimum Wage Poster that covers employers’ new lactation accommodation obligations under the recently passed Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act. The PUMP Act went into effect on December 29, 2022 and requires employers to provide nursing employees with reasonable accommodations, such as...

Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, And Limitations – Part 3

October 18, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Can the trustee challenge the debtor’s attorney’s fee? In re Rodriguez Perez, 2018 WL 3655656 (Bankr. D.P.R. 2018). In this case, the chapter 13 trustee asked the bankruptcy court to assess the contract between the debtor and counsel under § 526-528. The trustee alleged that the contract...

Members

The Dangers of Extending a Plan Too Long – Or Alternatively, Why Take as Little Time as Possible

April 26, 2020

By Joseph A. Bledsoe, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Eastern District of North Carolina (New Bern) Under section 1113(b)(1)(C) of the CARES Act, upon the request of a debtor, and after notice and a hearing, a plan confirmed may be extended up to 7 years from the date the first payment under the original plan came due if...

Members

Critical Case Comment – Free Parking

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

January 29, 2023

Percentage fees collected by a Chapter 13 trustee prior to confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan must be returned to the debtor by the trustee if Chapter 13 plan is not confirmed. (Ebel) Goodman v. Doll, 2023 WL 216778 (10th Cir. January 18, 2023) Case Summary Daniel Doll filed Chapter 13 in November of 2017. The debtor complied with 11...

Members

An Update on Student Debt Relief and What this Means for Chapter 13 Practitioners

MaryAnn Bennett Bride

November 20, 2022

What is the Student Debt Relief Plan? On August 24, 2022, President Joe Biden announced a three-part student debt relief plan to help borrowers transition back to regular payments as pandemic-related support expires. The plan includes loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt...

Members

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

Critical Case Comment – You Gotta Fix Your Own Screwups, on Your Own Dime

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

December 3, 2023

Debtor’s counsel should not be compensated for work undertaken on behalf of a debtor in order to correct errors.

Members

FFIEC Issues Statement on Examination Principles Related to Valuation Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending

The Academy

February 18, 2024

FFIEC Issues Statement on Examination Principles Related to Valuation Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending

Critical Case Comment – How Much Is It Worth – Then/Now?

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

January 22, 2023

On a trustee’s motion to modify a confirmed Chapter 13 plan, Court required debtor to commit funds to unsecured creditors based upon the previously undisclosed equity generated from post-petition sale of property. (Warren) In re Croniser, 2022 WL 3639413 (Bankr. E.D. N.C. August 23, 2022) Case Summary Duane Croniser filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 13 in January of 2020....

Members

Weighted Caseload: Why It Matters and How It Works and Doesn’t Work

Honorable Brian D. Lynch

December 31, 2023

“Currently, if a district’s weighted caseload is below one-thousand per the number of judges in that district . . . in all probability, recommend that the circuit not replace the judge.”

Members