The Case for Conduit Mortgage Payments

Max Gardner’s Top Ten Reasons

The late Waylon Jennings had a hit song years ago called “Sick and Tired of Getting Up Sick and Tired.” The song related to the chronic consumption of alcohol but the analogy to the need for a mandatory rule for mortgage payments through the Chapter 13 Trustee is not that far-fetched. As a debtor’s attorney who has learned through torture, pain and error how to read the Da Vinci Code produced by mortgage servicers, and as a lawyer who has spent countless hours reviewing postal receipts, personal . . .

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O. Max Gardner, III

Attorney

O. Max Gardner, III, currently limits his practice to consumer bankruptcy cases and all consumer claims arising with respect to those cases. He has been widely recognized as the leading consumer attorney in America on “predatory mortgage servicing” in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases. The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyers (NACBA) recognized Mr. Gardner as a Champion of Consumer Rights in 2003; named him the Outstanding Consumer Lawyer of 2004 and awarded him The Distinguished Service Award in April of 2013. Gardner has been elected five times as a member of the “Legal Elite” of North Carolina lawyers by his fellow attorneys in a state-wide poll conducted by Business North Carolina magazine. He is the only consumer lawyer who has been named as a North Carolina “Super Lawyer” in the field of consumer law for five consecutive years by Law & Politics and the Charlotte Magazine. Mr. Gardner was named a Top Lawyer in N.C. in 2013 by The Legal Network. Gardner has received the AV Preeminent Award from Martindale Hubbell for the past 22 years, the highest ethical rating for lawyers. He is a long-time member of NACBA and the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and a frequent national speaker on bankruptcy law, mortgage servicer abuses, and consumer representation. Gardner has also trained thousands of consumer lawyers and legal professionals since 2005, and is the Chief Executive Officer of Max Gardner’s Consumer Defense Academy (pka Max Gardner’s Bankruptcy Boot Camps). Gardner is also “Of Counsel” to the Dallas, Texas firm of Kellett and Bartholow. The firm focuses on major cases against mortgage servicers in consumer bankruptcy cases and on discharge violations by original creditors and the debt-buying industry.

A Practical Approach to Using Bankruptcy Rules Effectively – Part 4

Beverly M. Burden

March 2, 2025

As of December 1, 2024, an adversary is no longer required to recover a car repossessed prepetition or is otherwise being held by a third party. Rule 7001(a) now excludes from the definition of an adversary “a proceeding by an individual debtor to recover tangible personal property under § 542(a).”

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ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – Dischargeability of Homeowner Association Fees

May 19, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) Homeowner association fees that obligate homeowners of condominium and planned unit developments can be a substantial obligation that accrue on a monthly basis. These obligations are generally a burden when a debtor files for bankruptcy relief. To be fair, homeowners’ associations provide a significant benefit to homeowners. Exterior maintenance,...

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National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act of 2023

The Academy

December 31, 2023

The National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act of 2023 (H.R. 3315) enacted on December 19, 2023 extends for an additional four years the existing exemption from the means test for qualifying reservists and National Guard debtors who are called to active duty or to perform a homeland defense activity for not less than 90 days. See 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(D)(i). A debtor...

Thoughts on the Law: Stay at the Crossroads – The Code of the Wild, Wild West?

February 23, 2020

By The Honorable John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo) There are two legal battles going on that may end up being dysfunctionally related…. 1. What Happens If The Automatic Stay Is Not Extended In A “Second Case Pending Within One Year”? A split of authority has been percolating since 2005, involving the all too...

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Justice Sotomayor’s Direction in Fulton Becomes Reality in Amended FRBP 7000(1)(A)

Karen D. Visser

April 6, 2025

After Fulton cast doubt on how Chapter 13 debtors could recover vehicles repossessed before filing, a 2024 amendment to Rule 7001 clarified the issue.

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2022 Bankruptcy Procedure Year in Review: Revised Statute and Rules and Selected Cases – Part 2 Rules Related to SBRA

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

November 13, 2022

Introduction This series reviews developments in bankruptcy procedure during 2022. Amendments to 16 rules and new one new rule take effect December 1, 2022, absent Congressional action. Many reflect changes necessitated by the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA),1 and have been in place in the same or similar form on an interim basis since that legislation took effect.

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Duty to Update Trustee Regarding Changes Post-Plan Confirmation

Daryl J. Smith

April 23, 2023

Is there a duty to inform the trustee about changes post-plan confirmation? Yes. There is an inherent duty for the consumer debtor to update the trustee on any and all material changes, particularly windfalls, post plan confirmation. In a very recent case, In Re Robinson, the United States Trustee moved to dismiss debtor’s chapter 13 case because the debtor received...

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Taxpayers Should Beware of Property Lien Scam

October 6, 2019

With scam artists hard at work all year, taxpayers should watch for new versions of tax-related scams. One such scam involves fake property liens. It threatens taxpayers with a tax bill from a fictional government agency. Here are some details about the property lien scam that will help taxpayers recognize it: This scheme involves a letter threatening an IRS lien...

Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

Nancy B. Rapoport

June 4, 2023

Dear Readers: We’re now at the season where things go a bit wacky, and one thing that can go wacky has to do with people who are represented by counsel who want to talk with you. “Let’s cut out the middleman,” they think. After all, what harm could it be to save time? Plenty of harm, actually: Model Rule 4.2...

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Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, and Limitations

October 4, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Who appoints the standing chapter 13 trustee? The United States Trustee appoints the standing chapter 13 trustee for each judicial district where the UST system is in place, while the court appoints the standing chapter 13 trustee under the Bankruptcy Administrator program. See 11 U.S.C. § 1302...

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