From the Editor

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired)

Confirmation - Trustee’s “double-dipping” objection to above-median confirmation denied. The trustee objected to confirmation based on above-median debtor deducting the IRS Local Standard housing deduction when the actual mortgage expense was on a marital residence owned by the debtor’s nonfiling spouse, while also claiming the marital adjustment for the spouse’s income not regularly paid for the debtor’s household expenses. The trustee didn’t take positions on splits of authority on either the income or expense issues, rather arguing that the debtor . . .

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Nancy B. Rapoport

May 14, 2023

Dear Readers: Want to know why your 1L Civ Pro course is your best friend when it comes to “undue hardship” cases? Because burdens of proof matter. (They matter in other cases, too, but I’m in love with the case of Love v. U.S. Dept. of Education (In re Love), Case No. 19-20532-C-7, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern...

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Who Gets Grannie’s Cash – Grannie or the Bankruptcy Trustee?

Cathy Moran

February 13, 2022

When there’s a joint bank account and a bankruptcy filing, good intentions can quickly go sour. The bankruptcy trustee sees a pile of money in the bank to which the debtor has access, even though the account also bears the name of someone not in bankruptcy. If the debtor can get the money, the trustee contends, so can a bankruptcy...

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Tracking Down the Illusive Mortgage Interest Deduction

Cathy Moran

March 10, 2024

Are your clients curing mortgage arrears through their Chapter 13 plan? If so, I’m convinced a mortgage interest tax deduction lurks, unclaimed, in the trustee’s records.

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Thoughts on the Law: Stay at the Crossroads – The Code of the Wild, Wild West?

February 23, 2020

By The Honorable John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo) There are two legal battles going on that may end up being dysfunctionally related…. 1. What Happens If The Automatic Stay Is Not Extended In A “Second Case Pending Within One Year”? A split of authority has been percolating since 2005, involving the all too...

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From the Editor – Discharge

June 7, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Hardship discharge denied. Section 1328(b)’s requirements for hardship discharge are conjunctive and failure to satisfy any one of three conditions results in denial. Reviewing judicial decisions on requirements of the statute, the court considered “the extent of a debtor’s accountability and degree of control; the substantiality and foreseeability of the changed circumstances at...

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The Hunt for Deductible Interest – Money Too Often Left on the Table

February 16, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) One of the mysteries of Chapter 13 is why mortgage lenders don’t send an IRS 1098 for mortgage payments made through a Chapter 13 plan. And without that reminder piece of paper, our clients don’t realize that much of what the trustee pays to mortgage creditors is deductible interest. Miss that deduction and...

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From the Editor – Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

February 2, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Limitations period for actions under FDCPA. Construing the statute of limitations for actions against debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Supreme Court held that “absent the application of an equitable doctrine, the statute of limitations in § 1692k(d) begins to run on the date on which the alleged...

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Deconstructing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: Obduskey Says Lawyers Conducting Nonjudicial Foreclosure Are Not “Debt Collectors”

April 7, 2019

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction On March 20, 2019, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP1 that actions required by state law in a nonjudicial foreclosure are not regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).2 The decision resolved a split in the circuits. In addition to the...

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When Wishes Come True

September 19, 2021

By Helen M. Morris, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia Like most trustees, my case load is down, and I’ve been actively encouraging new filings. Perhaps too enthusiastically as certain new cases reflect. A bankruptcy filer who has been dormant for months filed a new case recently. Schedule A is clearly marked with...

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Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protections at the Intersection of Consumer Bankruptcy and UCC Article 9

August 9, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction to this Series Current pandemic circumstances and economic conditions portend an onslaught of bankruptcy filings. In the consumer bankruptcy field, trustees and debtors' counsel often are uncomfortable with the rules in UCC Article 9. Here, we look at a couple of topics that touch on the interplay of Article...

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Related Articles

Ask Ms. Ps and Qs

Who Gets Grannie’s Cash – Grannie or the Bankruptcy Trustee?

Tracking Down the Illusive Mortgage Interest Deduction

Thoughts on the Law: Stay at the Crossroads – The Code of the Wild, Wild West?

From the Editor – Discharge

The Hunt for Deductible Interest – Money Too Often Left on the Table

From the Editor – Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Deconstructing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: Obduskey Says Lawyers Conducting Nonjudicial Foreclosure Are Not “Debt Collectors”

When Wishes Come True

Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protections at the Intersection of Consumer Bankruptcy and UCC Article 9

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