By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Failure to pay postpetition fees under Rule 3002.1 did not prevent discharge. The debtor had completed payments to the trustee and postpetition mortgage payments to the creditor, but she had not paid $1,370 in postpetition fees that had been asserted by the mortgage creditor and noticed to the debtor under Rule 3002.1. That...

Selected Consumer Opinions Since January 1, 2022 Automatic Stay Denial of stay relief was final and appealable, although it was “without prejudice.”Deciding an issue not addressed in Ritzen Grp., Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, 140 S.Ct. 582 (2020), the Ninth Circuit concluded that the bankruptcy court’s order denying stay relief was final and appealable, despite its “without prejudice” language, because...

David A. Mawhinney is the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Central and Western Divisions of Massachusetts and a Subchapter V Trustee for Region One. He replaced Denise M. Pappalardo upon her retirement which was effective December 24, 2022. David is a 2002 graduate of Boston College and received his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2011. When David started...

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Debtor’s Attorney - Chapter 13 no-look fee subject to Hawai’i’s general excise tax. Construing the State’s excise tax, the Chapter 13 debtor’s attorney could not collect the required excise tax in addition to the agreed upon no-look fee. The district’s Rights and Responsibilities Agreement between debtor and attorney did not contain...

Question: May a servicer charge to generate a payoff quote? Answer: 1026.36(c)(3) Payoff statements. In connection with a consumer credit transaction secured by a consumer's dwelling, a creditor, assignee or servicer, as applicable, must provide an accurate statement of the total outstanding balance that would be required to pay the consumer's obligation in full as of a specified date. The...

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...

(Yep, there are lots of them right now!!) Jennifer K. Cruseturner currently serves as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee in the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division. After an extended retirement process for George Stevenson (he never could do anything in ‘normal’ fashion!), Jennifer was appointed as Stevenson’s successor on May 1, 2023.   Jennifer graduated from Newcomb College of...

By Jan Hamilton, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) I just got back from RAGBRAI, which is a bicycle ride across Iowa. This year, it was 468 miles, with lots and lots of hills. (Biking Across Kansas was over 500 miles this year.) Such beautiful country. Estimates vary on actual number of riders, but anywhere from 16,000 to 20,000. Iowa...

It is with sadness that we announce the death of retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, James J. Barta, Sr. on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Judge Barta served as a Bankruptcy Referee in the Eastern District of Missouri beginning in 1978, then a Bankruptcy Judge from 1986 through 2006, including three stints as Chief Judge. Before serving with the Court, Judge Barta...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) It was impermissible and contrary to the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code for the bankruptcy clerk to enter an order which dismissed a Chapter 13 case based only upon the trustee’s certification that the debtor did not make a timely first payment. (Duncan). No...