The “Snapshot” Rule – Part 1: The Circuits Begin to Line Up

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) After bankruptcy, credit scores go steadily up, says a 17 year study released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Got that? Go UP. Every year. Importantly, credit scores start improving the same year that the bankruptcy is filed. Think on that for a moment. How collectors stoke fears about bankruptcy Creditors and their...

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Failure to include creditor on matrix not grounds to extend time for proof of claim. The Chapter 13 debtor had timely filed her list of creditors, pursuant to Rule 1007(a), but she failed to include a creditor either on that list or in the schedules, resulting in the creditor not receiving notice of...

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Background Last year, the Ninth Circuit in In re Taggart1 ruled that an act in violation of the discharge injunction did not empower a court to find a creditor in contempt, if the creditor believed in good faith that the discharge injunction did not apply—even if the creditor's belief was...

Most lawyers were torn between wincing and laughing when a lawyer filed a brief packed with case authority created out of whole cloth by an AI bot. Meanwhile, a segment of the bar is fretting that we will be replaced by powerful artificial intelligence. My concern, based on a couple of casual forays into AI, is not that I will...

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 The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Application of Taggart to lien avoidance. When the Chapter 13 confirmed plan bifurcated the secured creditor’s claim and the secured portion had been paid in full with interest, the completion of payments voided any lien, and the creditor violated the discharge injunction by commencing foreclosure. The Panel found the plan’s language, although “inartful,”...

At my firm, we see a lot of consumers who have some combination of high debt and low income. Many of them arrive for their consultations after having been abused by debt collectors and predatory lenders, harmed by mortgage servicing errors, or subjected to inaccurate and derogatory credit reporting. Until fairly recently, after filing bankruptcies for these folks, we usually...

(Items in italics have been added by Academy staff) . . . will be held virtually by ZOOM . . . Please visit our website at ch13pitt.com (this site has very detailed directions) for all of the details and instructions. A computer is not a necessity since ZOOM also allows participation by telephone (iphone, Android). Please visit the website before...