Money For Nothing

It is appropriate that the title of this article is based on the lyrics from Dire Straits’ biggest hit, since that is where many below-median debtors find themselves – in dire straits.

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Pam Bassel

Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Texas (Hust, TX)

Pam Bassel began her career in bankruptcy as law clerk to the Honorable John Flowers, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Texas from 1981 to 1982. After a long career representing creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, she was appointed as a Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Northern District of Texas on October 1, 2013. She still loves her job.

B.S.F.A. from Texas Christian University in 1976, graduated Summa Cum Laude. Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas School of Law in 1981, with top honors.

Frequent speaker on bankruptcy topics, including a recent presentation at the NACTT 2023 Mortgage Seminar.

In her spare time, she oil paints and wrangles three dogs.

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By The Honorable Guy R. Humphrey, Southern District of Ohio It is with heavy hearts that we in Dayton, Ohio say our farewells to Jeff Kellner as our Chapter 13 Trustee. Jeff will be concluding his duties as the Trustee on September 30th and handing the reins over to John Jansing on October 1st. Listing Jeff’s contributions to the bankruptcy...

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By Robert (Bob) Schuman, Owner/Managing Broker, Network Financial Group I’m a mortgage broker. In that role, I see close up the immense relief that a homeowner feels when they file Chapter 13. They are no longer forced to deal with collection calls and a multitude of letters that are aggressive and intimidating, threatening to take their car, foreclose on their...

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Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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Failure of Chapter 13 debtors to satisfy post-petition property tax payments to the county, specifically required in the debtors’ Chapter 13 plan, renders the debtors ineligible for a discharge, even where the debtors proposed a loan modification to repay the mortgage creditor which had advanced the post-petition taxes. (Rodriguez) In re Villarreal, 2022 WL 1102223 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. April 12,...

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From the Editor – Plan Modification

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By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) HAVEN Act applied to modification when plan was confirmed prior to Act becoming law. The debtor proposed a plan modification deleting from disposable income $1,789 monthly VA disability benefits. First concluding that the HAVEN Act was applicable law at time of this decision, nothing in the Act, its legislative history or the Official...

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

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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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Bankrupt Attorney Cannot Discharge State Court Sanctions

Nicole P. Novak

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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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Critical Case Comment – Discharged Junior in 7 Survives in 13

October 17, 2021

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....

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Judge Appointed

The Academy

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Seventh Circuit Announces the Appointment of Michael B. Slade to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois

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Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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Failure of TitleMax to re-perfect lien when first loan was “refinanced” and debtor made a new loan with TitleMax, precluded them from holding a perfected security interest in the automobile that originally served as its collateral would be unsecured.

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Chapter 13 Saves the World!

The Academy

May 21, 2023

(The DuPage County Bar Association grants permission to reprint all or part of this article, Chapter 13 Saves the World! by Arthur Rummler, Volume 29, Issue 9, May 2017 edition of the DCBA Brief. Copyright 2017, DCBA Brief, All Rights Reserved.) We are pleased to reprint an article referred to recently by Director Twomey of the Executive Office for United...