Eleventh Circuit Adopts the Path of Leased Resistance in Chapter 13

By Chris Hawkins, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP (Birmingham, AL)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued an opinion that may have far-reaching procedural implications for debtors and trustees in Chapter 13 cases. In Microf LLC v. Cumbess, the court articulated multiple canons of statutory interpretation in holding that a chapter 13 debtor’s proposal to assume an unexpired lease of personal property in a chapter 13 plan – without a corresponding assumption by the chapter 13 trustee . . .

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Barking Up the Wrong Tree: A Canine Conundrum

Robert G. Drummond

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“ . . . creditor couldn’t fetch a break. . . . Court first found that the state court judgment was void because it was entered after the discharge order. . . . also found the creditor in contempt of the discharge injunction.”

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A Confirmed Plan with a Marijuana Wrinkle

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By Gretchen D. Holland, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Greenville/Spartanburg Division of South Carolina Although this is a chapter 11 case, it has chapter 13 implications because the confirmation requirement that a plan be “proposed in good faith and not by any means forbidden by law” is identical in both chapters (§ 1129(a)(3) and § 1325(a)(3)). Garvin v. Cook...

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Purdue Pharma and Chapter 13 Codebtor Stays

Michael B. Joseph

July 28, 2024

Could it be that chapter 13 got it right? How does the recent United States Supreme Court holding in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma impact chapter 13 cases?

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Assumption of Auto Lease in Chapter 7 Requires No Court Approval Says the 9th Circuit: In re Bobka

May 9, 2021

By Matthew D. Resnik, Resnik Hayes Moradi, LLP (Encino, CA) In Bobka v. Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (In re Bobka), 968 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. August, 2020), the chapter 7 debtor wanted to retain her leased Toyota. Toyota sent her an "assumption agreement" which she signed and returned to Toyota the day before she received her discharge. By then she...

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Separately Classifying Student Loans in Chapter 13

The Academy

June 23, 2024

We originally ran this item in May to give you a heads up of what was coming. July is almost here . . . Starting July 1st, Chapter 13 debtors in Federal Student Loan IDR plans will receive IDR credit for each month they make their bankruptcy plan payments, without needing to separately classify their student loans.

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Critical Case Comment

July 26, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) Chapter 13 debtor may include a provision in the Chapter 13 plan that only estimates the duration of the plan and, absent an objection, such provision would cause the debtor’s plan to terminate and the debtor receive a discharge when the claims have been...

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In the Trenches: Secrets to Settlement – Competency in the Courtroom Part 1 of 3

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By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Introduction Preliminarily, I recognize that many of those reading this do not need to. There are many fine trial attorneys in the bankruptcy bar. Those folks could well be writing this article. By way of defending myself in advance, this little piece does not consist of a series of war stories or...

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2022 Bankruptcy Procedure Year in Review: Revised Statute and Rules and Selected Cases – Part 7 Selected Decisions Under Parts I and II of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

March 26, 2023

Introduction Amendments to 16 rules and new one new rule took effect December 1, 2022. Many reflected changes necessitated by the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA),1 and had been in place in the same or similar form on an interim basis since that legislation took effect. Part 1 of this series summarized 2022 . . . It looks...

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Is a CARES Act Stimulus Payment Exempt?

April 26, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction Since April 1, 2020, many unemployed people in the United States have begun to receive "a recovery benefit" in the amount of $1,200.1 These payments, under the CARES Act2 stimulus program, were intended to provide some relief to suffering Americans. However, the most financially distressed Americans, perhaps with existing,...

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Diaz: Is it Really a Tax Refund?

December 20, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq., Moran Law Group (Redwood City, CA) On its face, Diaz (Diaz v. Viegelahn, No. 19-50982 (5th Cir. Aug. 26, 2020)) is a pretty straightforward decision that struck down a local form plan as violating a below-median income debtor's right to use her tax refund to finance necessary expenses for maintenance and support. On a deeper level,...

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