Critical Case Comment

Where a debtor and debtor’s counsel initiated a Chapter 13 petition in an effort to halt a foreclosure against property held by the debtor’s LLC, and where the debtor took no steps to correct the filing, sanctions would be imposed against debtor’s counsel. (Grabill) In re Scaccia, 2022 WL 1216284 (Bankr. E.D. La. April 25, 2022)

Case Summary

Scaccia owned a residence in Covington, Louisiana, as his primary residence. Following a divorce, he struggled to maintain mortgage payments and fell into arrears. Searching for a method to refinance the . . .

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Henry E. Hildebrand, III

Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville)

Henry E. Hildebrand, III has served as Standing Trustee for Chapter 13 matters in the Middle District of Tennessee since 1982 and as Standing Chapter 12 Trustee for that district since 1986. He also is of counsel to the Nashville law firm of Belcher Sykes Harrington, PLLC. Mr. Hildebrand graduated from Vanderbilt University and received his J.D. from the National Law Center of George Washington University. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and the Nashville Bar Foundation. He is Board Certified in consumer bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification and serves on its faculty committee. He is Chairman of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee for the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT). He is on the Board of Directors for the NACTT Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, Inc. and is an adjunct faculty member for the Nashville School of Law and St. Johns University School of Law. In addition, he served as a commissioner to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy.

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...

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Remembrances of a Retired Trustee

October 6, 2019

By Mike Fitzgerald It has been almost one full year since I retired as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee in Seattle. I am happy to report that my family and I are enjoying ourselves immensely. As retirement grows more comfortable, I find myself looking back with mostly very fond memories at the nineteen years I served as a Trustee, as...

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Bankruptcy Protections Limited for Repeat Filers

January 13, 2019

By William H. Brown, Academy Editor & Advisor The First Circuit held that under § 362(c)(3)(A), upon the repeat filing by Chapter 7, 11 or 13 debtors within one year of dismissal of a prior pending case, the automatic stay terminates entirely on the 30th day after filing of the subsequent case as to the debtor, property of the debtor...

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“Lien Stripping” Based on Claim Disallowance by Default: Ninth Circuit Clarifies its Rule

June 7, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction Chapter 13 practitioners certainly do not need to be told that a lender with a mortgage1 on the debtor's principal residence has a special position in a Chapter 13 case. A chapter 13 plan may "modify the rights of holders of secured claims, other than a claim secured only...

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Parker, HOA, and Sanctions – Multiple Thrills to a Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Heart

May 2, 2021

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA) I don't know just what makes Parker such a treat for me, but it delivers multiple thrills to my bankruptcy lawyer heart. It's a stay violation case with a BIG sanctions award. It's a clearly, simply written opinion that lays out the circuit law on multiple issues. It hits hard at HOA hubris....

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From the Editor – Claims

May 16, 2021

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Unpaid filing fee in prior case was unsecured claim. The Chapter 13 trustee moved for authority to pay unpaid filing fee from prior case, but Court denied that to the extent the motion sought payment ahead of unsecured creditors. The unpaid filing fee was nothing more than a general unsecured claim in the...

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From the Editor – Claims

October 20, 2019

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Debtor’s objection to tax claim for being “too low” was rejected. Noting that the debtor could not benefit prior to distribution to creditors, in event trustee found assets for distribution, debtor’s objection to claim filed by tax creditor on basis that claim was “too low” was rejected. “The debtor comes last, not first,...

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Judicial Year in Review 2021: Revised Rules and Selected Cases – Part 1 Amended Rules

November 7, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction This year's changes in the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure are summarized below. They will be followed, in Part 2, by a digest of selected judicial decisions in the past year of interest for their procedural implications. December 1, 2021, Amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 2005, 3007, 7007.1 and 9036 On...

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Critical Case Comment – Repeat: No Fee Splitting

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 23, 2022

A referral fee by retained special counsel paid to debtor’s attorney violates the prohibition in § 504 in that it constitutes an unauthorized splitting of attorney’s fees. (Williamson) In re Davis, 638 B.R. 198 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. March 31, 2022) Case Summary Four years after Lisa Davis filed her Chapter 13 petition, she was involved in an auto accident resulting...

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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....

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