The Weak Link in the Means Test

Lawrence R. Ahern, III Brown & Ahern Nashville, Tennessee Appendix A Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Amendments Effective December 1, 2020 The proposed rules and Committee notes are set forth below, with changes indicated by striking through deleted text and underlining new text. Rule 2002. Notices to Creditors, Equity Security Holders, Administrators in Foreign Proceedings, Persons Against Whom Provisional Relief...

If you put your ear to the ground you may hear the rumblings regarding a change to Bankruptcy Rule 3002.1 requiring the institution of a mid-case bankruptcy audit. This mid-case audit would be like the Notice of Final Cure but would be performed by a trustee’s office in the middle of a pending Chapter 13, rather than at the end,...

Two new proposals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) could make it easier for payday and other high-cost lenders to use banks as a fig leaf, allowing online lenders to offer predatory loans at interest rates that are prohibited under state law. Online lenders have become increasingly bold in...

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...

(Used with expressed permission from the MI Bankruptcy Journal and the Steven W. Rhodes Consumer Bankruptcy Conference)By Brittani Bushman, Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. John T. Gregg, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan B. Illustrative Decisions (Minority Approach) The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit recently issued a comprehensive unpublished decision adopting the minority...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) While in personam liability of a junior mortgage on the debtor’s residence is discharged by a Chapter 7, the lien survives and constitutes an allowed unsecured claim in the debtor’s subsequent Chapter 13 case. In re Hopper, 2021 WL 3435445 (Bankr. E.D. N.Y. Aug....

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction to this Series Current pandemic circumstances and economic conditions portend an onslaught of bankruptcy filings. In the consumer bankruptcy field, trustees and debtors' counsel often are uncomfortable with the rules in UCC Article 9. Here, we look at a couple of topics that touch on the interplay of Article...