Avoidance Powers in Chapter 13 – Part 4 of 6

Chapter 13 Trustees occupy unique positions.  Every day they work with the courts, clerks’ offices, debtors, creditors, and their attorneys, and the Office of the United States Trustees.  Within ethical bounds, it is important that Chapter 13 trustees build and maintain relationships with each of these constituents.  Civility, professionalism, and trust are the mainstays for all of these interactions. We...

____________________________ 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...

The Eighth Circuit recently released its Topp opinion. At issue was the appropriate starting point for determining the discount rate to be used when paying secured claims under a chapter 12 plan. The debtor, who had gained confirmation of his plan before the bankruptcy court, proposed paying claims to Farm Credit Services over 20 years at a rate based on the...

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,...