Paying the Car Loan Directly vs. Through the Plan: Till Debt Us do Part?

By Herbert L. Beskin, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Western District of Virginia (Charlottesville)

In a recent case out of the Sixth Circuit, the Appeals Court heard an appeal by the Chapter 13 Trustee concerning direct payments by the debtor on a car loan and the applicable interest rate. The case is In re Chambers, 6th Circuit, # 20-1376, Appeal from the E.D. of Michigan, 2021 WL 100566, decided 1/12/21, opinion by Judge Chad Readler.

The debtor owed $13,000 to Dort Federal Credit Union (“DFCU”) on a car loan. The confirmed plan . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

Ms. Ps & Qs

Nancy B. Rapoport

May 15, 2022

Dear Readers: There are some basic truths. One is that when someone says, “hey, watch this!,” the result is likely to involve blood or stitches. Another is that, when an author describes something with the leadoff word, “interestingly,” it often isn’t. And a third is that one shouldn’t mislead bankruptcy judges. In two wonderfully written cases, bankruptcy judges made this...

Members

From the Editor – Claims

February 9, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Unreasonable fees for proof of claim. $4,000 fee for private mortgagee’s proof of claim and objection to proposed plan was unreasonable, and creditor was denied recovery of $7,500 attorney fee for responding to debtor’s objection to proof of claim. The Court considered Fannie Mae’s guidelines for maximum fees related to proof of claim...

Members

Generative A.I. – Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Naliko Markel

October 22, 2023

“ . . . next leap: Generative A.I. learns everything there is to know about you from your public social media presence and crafts phishing attacks unique to YOU.”

Members

Critical Case Comment–“No Realistic Future Prospects”

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

March 26, 2023

A 34-year-old Chapter 7 debtor could discharge his student loan obligation by establishing that he could not reasonably make payments on the balance, could not maintain a reasonable standard of living, and because the expiration of his payment term had already passed, his standard of living was likely to persist, with no realistic future prospects. (Silverstein) In re Wolfson, No....

Members

Critical Case Comment

October 18, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee (Nashville, TN) There is no requirement to show a change in circumstance in order to modify a Chapter 13 plan pursuant to § 1329. Whaley v. Guillen (In re Guillen), 2020 WL 5015287 (11th Cir. Aug. 25, 2020) (Marcus) Case Summary Rachel Guillen filed a Chapter 13 petition in August of 2015....

Members

Rules, Means-Test Amounts and Miscellaneous Fees: Changes Wrap Up 2020

November 15, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Amendments Effective December 1, 2020 The Judicial Conference proposed, and Congress has not changed, the amendments to the following Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure: Rules 2002, 2004, 8012, 8013, 8015 and 8021. Absent Congressional action, which is not expected, they will be effective at the...

Members

Disregarding Bankruptcy Protections Can be Costly: How Courts Decide Punitive Damages Awards for Stay Violations

December 15, 2019

By Veronica D. Brown-Moseley and Stephen F. Relyea1 The automatic stay serves as a shield that immediately protects debtors in bankruptcy and their property from a host of creditor collection actions ranging from foreclosure, repossession, and garnishment to collection letters and phone calls. In most instances, the filing of a bankruptcy case forces creditors to cease all collection actions and...

Members

Critical Case Comment

June 2, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee If a Chapter 13 debtor does not list a creditor on the creditor matrix when filing the petition and makes no effort to provide supplemental notice to the creditor, the provisions of Rule 3002 allow the extension of time for the creditor to file a...

Members

From the Editor

September 27, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Debtors’ attorney fees not authorized under Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Although the Chapter 13 debtors had prevailed before the Ninth Circuit, In re Sisk, 962 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir. 2020), their application for attorney fees as prevailing parties under EAJA was denied. That Act did not authorize awards of attorney fees...

Members

Measuring Success in Chapter 13: Five Years Later

June 6, 2021

By Brian D. Lynch, Bankruptcy Judge, Western District of Washington Five years ago, I wrote an article for this publication, “Measuring Success in Chapter 13,”1 where I criticized some media and academics for repeating an outdated and misleading statistic about the success of chapter 13 cases. So it was disconcerting to see John Oliver recently on Comedy Central’s Last Week...

Members