Motions to Extend or Impose the Automatic Stay

“In most cases, debtor’s counsel addresses only the argument that the debtor’s personal or financial affairs have substantially changed since dismissal of the preceding case.”

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Hon. Erik P. Kimball

United States Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division

Hon. Erik P. Kimball, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division. Erik P. Kimball serves as Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in the Southern District of Florida. He was appointed in 2008 and reappointed in 2022. Judge Kimball received his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1990 and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1987. Judge Kimball began his legal practice at Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) in the firm’s Boston office. He twice left legal practice to work in the mutual fund industry as an investment professional. At the time of his judicial appointment in 2008, Judge Kimball was a shareholder at Akerman in the firm’s Orlando office. In legal practice, he specialized in representation of institutional investors and indenture trustees in connection with defaults of publicly traded debt securities.

Ask Ms. Ps and Qs

March 15, 2020

By Professor Nancy Rapoport, University of Nevada Dear Readers: The marvelous, indefatigable Regina Logsdon just forwarded me this hypothetical: Post-confirmation, debtor/client gets upset with attorney. Let’s assume for this scenario that the attorney hasn’t done anything wrong – perhaps just a difference of opinion on a plan modification (or not). Debtor/client says ugly things to attorney – name-calling, etc. THEN...

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The Irony of Filing a Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice

April 12, 2020

By Daryl J. Smith, Senior Staff Attorney to Sylvia Ford Brown, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Memphis, TN) Are chapter 13 serial filers abusing the bankruptcy system? Maybe or maybe not. There are many reasons debtors file multiple bankruptcy cases across the nation, including but not limited to parking tickets, court fines, utilities, lack of financial literacy, foreclosure, past due rent,...

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Vesting of Property in the Debtor Cuts Off Creditor’s Rights, Ninth Circuit Says

January 26, 2020

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) Clouds of uncertainty have hovered over Chapter 13 debtors who find that they need to sell appreciated property before the case is over. Does appreciation occurring after filing go to creditors on the theory that the appreciation is property of the estate? Or does the vesting of property at confirmation entitle the debtor...

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From the Editor – Dismissal

August 2, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Chapter 13 debtor had absolute right to dismiss. Facing a contested confirmation hearing, the debtor moved to dismiss the case, and his estranged spouse objected. Concluding that § 1307(b) provides an absolute right to dismiss a case that had not been previously converted, the court posed questions about whether there should be limits...

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Deduction Goes Up in Smoke

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

May 18, 2025

Debtors could not deduct from their disposable income a $300 per month expenditure for tobacco products as a “special circumstance.”

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Game Stop: Dismissals with Prejudice

Michael B. Joseph

May 8, 2022

Faced with abusive and serial bankruptcy cases,courts have fashioned various sanctions to put a stop to gaming the system. The favored sanction of the majority of courts is to enter an order of dismissal with prejudice under Section 349(a) of the Bankruptcy Code that adds a condition prohibiting refiling another bankruptcy case for a set period of time. See Lundin...

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Eligibility “Twofer”

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

July 14, 2024

These cases are of specific interest to creditors but debtor attorneys and trustees also should be aware. Chapter 7 debtor bears the burden of proof of demonstrating eligibility in order to convert to Chapter 13; such proof requires them to demonstrate that they have regular income adequate to fund a Chapter 13 plan. AND . . . Chapter 13 plan fails to satisfy the eligibility requirements if it depends upon gifts or loans to be feasible.

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Student Loans Debacle-Part II: Failure to Forgive – The Ticking Time-Bomb

R. Michael Smith

October 23, 2022

The recent push for student loan forgiveness has been met with increasing opposition. The rationales for not providing a generally applicable path for student loan forgiveness or cancellation have included arguments based upon imagined unfairness to those previously able to pay off their loans, which seems to be both short-sighted, as well as a “red herring” argument. It does not...

Bankrupt Attorney Cannot Discharge State Court Sanctions

Nicole P. Novak

September 11, 2022

In a recent opinion, the 9th Circuit BAP affirmed a bankruptcy judge’s decision that sanctions order by a state court were nondischargeable under § 523(a)(6)i and that the state court proceeding precluded litigating the issue in bankruptcy.ii The sanctions originate from a California doctor’s defamation suit against two former patients. The Doctor initiated the action against two women who wrote...

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Farewell to a Powerhouse of Energy!

Sylvia Ford Brown Esq.

September 29, 2024

When you hear the words “gone too soon,” it is usually related to death. Fortunately, that is not the case here. Pamela Simmons Beasley, Chapter 13 Trustee for the District of South Carolina in Columbia, made an indelible impression on me and the NACTT. We will miss you, Pam!