What IS a Principal Residence?

By Phil Lamos, Chief Legal Counsel, Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee Lauren A. Helbling (Cleveland, OH)

Section 1322(b)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code states that a Chapter 13 plan may not modify a claim that is “secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor’s principal residence.” But the inverse of this statute is true; if a debtor can prove that a claim is secured by something other than “the debtor’s principal residence” then the claim can be modified in a Chapter 13 plan. A debtor can bifurcate or even . . .

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Amended Rule 2002(a)(5) – Who Gets Served and Who Petitions the Court for Change?

November 22, 2020

By Phil Lamos, Chief Legal Counsel, Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee Lauren A. Helbling (Cleveland, OH) Bankruptcy Rule 2002(a)(5) directs that 21 days’ notice must be given of the “time fixed to accept or reject a proposed modification of a [Chapter 13] plan.” But to whom must notice be given? Specifically, which creditors need to be given notice? This...

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From the IRS – Using Strong Password Is a Strong Defense Against Identity Thieves

December 15, 2019

Two things taxpayers can do to protect themselves from identity theft is to use strong passwords and keep those passwords secure. While many people use fingerprint or facial recognition technology to protect their devices, sometimes it’s still necessary to use a password. In recent years, cybersecurity experts’ recommendations on what constitutes a strong password has changed. With that in mind,...

From the Editor

April 7, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Attorney Fees - Chapter 13 debtor’s attorney not entitled to recovery under § 330 of fees that were incurred in defending prior attorneys’ sanctions motion. The debtor’s prior attorneys had sought to impose sanctions on the current attorney, and that attorney successfully defended against sanctions. However, the fees incurred by the...

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Memories of a Chapter XIII Trustee

November 10, 2019

By C. Kenneth Still, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Retired (1968-2015) January 2, 1968, my first day as Trustee for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Southern and Winchester Divisions. I really didn’t know what I was doing or why I wanted the appointment. But there I was, duly appointed and ready to go but where...

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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...

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Memorial Day 2023

The Academy

May 28, 2023

Memorial Day 2023 Honoring the Sacrifices of All Who Served

How My Law Firm Learned to Stop Leaving Money on the Table Part 1 – Looking at Bankruptcy Cases Differently

Mark C. Leffler

April 17, 2022

Mark Leffler, of the Boleman Law Firm in Virginia and also the current President of the Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, begins a series of articles describing his firm’s development of a broader practice on behalf of consumer debtors. Look for subsequent parts of this series over the next few weeks. My fellow self-described consumer bankruptcy lawyers: you wield more...

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Are Direct Payments by Debtor on Mortgage Considered Payments “Under the Plan” for Purposes of Discharge?

April 28, 2019

By William H. Brown, Adviser to The Academy d/b/a ConsiderChapter13.org In the most recent opinion on the issue, as of this writing, the Court in In re Rivera, 2019 WL 1430273 (Bankr. D. Ariz. Mar. 28, 2019), in perhaps still a minority view, concluded that debtors’ default in making all direct postpetition mortgage payments was not a failure to complete...

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Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, And Limitations – Part 6

November 8, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama When do the trustee’s duties end, and who gets the money? Harris v. Viegelahn, 135 S. Ct. 1829 (2015). This opinion of the unanimous Court requires the trustee to return to the debtor undistributed plan payments—originating from wages earned postpetition—on hand at a good-faith, post-confirmation conversion rather...

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Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, And Limitations – Part 7

November 15, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Is the trustee’s service worth her commission? The Eleventh Circuit recently issued its opinion in In re Dukes, 909 F.3d 1306 (11th Cir. 2018), which spoke primarily to the issue of what it means for a mortgage to be “provided for” in the plan. The court found...

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