On June 26, 2017, Bradford W. Caraway was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division. He replaced D. Sims Crawford who had been appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Trustee Caraway maintains his office in Birmingham. At the time of his appointment as Standing Trustee,...

By Daryl J. Smith, Senior Staff Attorney to Sylvia Ford Brown, Chapter 13 Trustee (Memphis, TN) and Katherine L. Rea, Staff Attorney to Pamela Simmons-Beasley, Chapter 13 Trustee (Columbia, SC) Is there ever a reason to oppose a voluntary dismissal of a chapter 13 that has not been converted from a chapter 7? Maybe. But will you be successful? Probably...

Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians et al. v. Coughlin Supreme Court rules in favor of borrower of tribal loan –Chapter 13 stay applies.  Justices reject tribal immunity from bankruptcy stay.

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction This year's changes in the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure are summarized below. They will be followed, in Part 2, by a digest of selected judicial decisions in the past year of interest for their procedural implications. December 1, 2021, Amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 2005, 3007, 7007.1 and 9036 On...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) In calculating an above-median income debtor’s projected disposable income, the court may deduct from the debtor’s current monthly income only the expenses as listed in the IRS manual and not the debtor’s actual expenses. (Taylor) In re Rodriguez, 520 B.R. 94 (B.A.P. 9th Cir....

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction The Academy has focused at length on the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA).1 SBRA deals on its face with a non-consumer topic, but it is of interest also to Chapter 12 and 13 trustees and debtors, creating a new, more debtor-friendly subchapter V of Chapter 11 for...

By Craig Shopneck, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Ohio Retired It was many months ago when Mike Joseph asked, if, as a retired trustee, would I be interested in writing an article for the NACTT Academy. This may seem like a rather straightforward task but before putting pen to paper I needed time to reflect not...

By Michael J. McCormick, Esq., McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC (Roswell, GA) Escrow 101 - Part 1 Escrow 101 - Part 2 Escrow 101 - Part 3 Escrow 102 - Part 1

(Used with expressed permission from the MI Bankruptcy Journal and the Steven W. Rhodes Consumer Bankruptcy Conference) I. Introduction Although the Bankruptcy Code has been around for decades, bankruptcy courts continue to be faced with significant disputes regarding the interpretation of its provisions. An emerging issue that has gained traction in recent years involves the compensation of a chapter 13...

By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Topeka, KS) “I do not suggest my thoughts here are anywhere close to exhaustive. . . . Of course, my thoughts may be off mark on one or more items, but the discussions need to start somewhere, so here we go…” See also: 2019 Legislation Affecting Bankruptcy Practice – Overview