List It or Lose It: When Actual Knowledge Isn’t Enough

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA)

To actually effect abandonment of unadministered assets in a bankruptcy case, the asset in question must appear on Schedule A/B.

That’s the hard teaching of Stevens v. Whitmore from the 9th Circuit BAP.

A passing reference to an asset in the SOFA isn’t sufficient.

Neither was the fact the trustee explicitly knew about the claim then . . .

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.

Best Practices in Bankruptcy: Power of Attorney or Guardian

Michael B. Joseph

June 12, 2022

It is always troublesome when an individual bankruptcy petition is filed by power of attorney. It may be less of a concern in a chapter 7 case when the debtor is in the military, incarcerated, or temporarily disabled. More worrisome is the incompetent or advanced aged debtor who has been placed in a chapter 13 by someone holding a power...

Members

More Federal Student Loan Debt Relief is Coming

Scott Waterman

March 24, 2024

An ordinary title for a very NON-ordinary article! A computer program which will accurately predict whether a borrower will default and relief extended based on the data. WHAAAT???

Tax Form 1099 Needs A Closer Look: Chances Are It’s Wrong

April 14, 2019

By William J. Purdy, III, Simmons & Purdy (Soquel, CA) Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in the past few weeks have looked at or at least thought about, Form 1099-A or Form 1099-C documents they have received. Some arrived in the tax year a debt was allegedly cancelled. Others are issued by financial instructions many years after they should have...

Members

Declining Cases and Increasing Judicial Vacancies

Kevin R. Anderson

February 18, 2024

With facts and graphs, Judge Anderson discusses lowest filing levels since ’85, the impact of filings on judgeships, weighted caseloads, judicial vacancies, and recall judges.

Members

Undersecured Short-Term Mortgages May be Crammed Down

September 8, 2019

By Angela M. Scolforo, Staff Attorney to Herbert L. Beskin, Chapter 13 Trustee (Charlottesville, VA) In Hurlburt v. Black,1 the en banc Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned its prior decision in Witt,2 and held that Bankruptcy Code § 1322(c)(2) authorizes modification of some home mortgage loans through bifurcation and cram down. This enables debtors to cram down home mortgage...

Members

Spitballing Chapter 13’s Image Makeover

Cathy Moran

January 12, 2025

“Three cheers for Jen Lee’s piece on the need to pitch the manifest strengths of Chapter 13. Her advice to use head-to-head comparisons with alternative approaches to debt for the client is right on. An image makeover for Chapter 13 would be even more powerful if we can spread the word to a broader audience, before they’ve shorted their tax withholding, encumbered their exempt homestead, signed on with a profit-focused ‘debt consolidation’ company, or dipped into their retirement funds.” Think Chapter 13 needs an image makeover? Let us hear from you.

Members

Topp – Upending Till??

Jody Bledsoe

August 27, 2023

The Eighth Circuit recently released its Topp opinion. At issue was the appropriate starting point for determining the discount rate to be used when paying secured claims under a chapter 12 plan. The debtor, who had gained confirmation of his plan before the bankruptcy court, proposed paying claims to Farm Credit Services over 20 years at a rate based on the...

Members

Negotiating Plan Confirmation with Secured Creditors – Issues Involving Balloon Payments and Other Mortgage Loans Subject to Modification Under § 1322(c) – Part 3

November 22, 2020

By David Cox,1 Cox Law Group, PLLC (Lynchburg, VA) III. Providing for the Secured Mortgage Claim, as Modified. A. Does the requirement of § 1325(a)(5)(B)(iii) for equal monthly payments permit the Debtor to propose a balloon payment in the payment of the creditor’s claim? Equal Monthly Payments Required By § 1325(a)(5)(B)(iii) Does NOT Permit Debtor To Propose A Balloon Payment....

Members

The Valuation Problem Under § 1325(a)(4)

Brittani Bushman

June 9, 2024

“The U.S. Supreme Court has remarked that “[v]alue is a word of many meanings.” This is particularly true in bankruptcy, where the concept of value comes up repeatedly throughout the Bankruptcy Code, but “value,” with few exceptions, is not defined.”

Members

Critical Case Comment–IRS and the “Innocent Spouse”

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

May 14, 2023

Bankruptcy courts lack jurisdiction to apply “innocent spouse” relief to determine the amount of a tax claim to be paid in a Chapter 13 case. (Taddonio) In re Geary, 2023 WL 2996720 (Bankr. W.D. Pa. April 19, 2023) Case Summary When a taxpayer signs a joint tax return with their spouse, the Internal Revenue Code is very clear. Both signatories...

Members