Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

By Professor Nancy Rapoport

Dear Readers:

You and I have seen good lawyers and bad lawyers, but rarely have we gotten a glimpse into a sequence of bad decisions leading to what former Judge Markell would term an “epic fail.”[1] In Greenfield v. Anderson (In re Disciplinary Proceeding of Bruce M. Greenfield), Case No. CC-13-1006-KiTaKu (Bankr. 9th Cir. 2013) (not for publication), the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed disciplinary sanctions for a lawyer who, it seems, did many, many things wrong.

The opinion does not start out well for the . . .

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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...

Assessable Yet Not Assessed Taxes Could Cost You a Malpractice Claim

August 1, 2021

By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA) Eighteen years elapsed between the close of the 2003 tax year and the Tax Court’s 2021 decision Barnes v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo. 2021-49 (U.S.T.C. May 4, 2021) regarding the debtors’ 2003 tax liability. While the most recent decision in the debtors’ battle with the IRS challenged the discretion of a tax officer in...

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The Uneasy Co-Existence of Federal and State Consumer Remedies in Bankruptcy Cases – the Fourth Circuit Weighs In

Mark C. Leffler

October 15, 2023

“Why do I need the FDCPA if there’s already a remedy under Rule 3001?” This is what the bankruptcy judge asked me when I brought an adversary proceeding against a claims buyer, alleging potential class claims under both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and Bankruptcy Rule 3001(c)(2). The defendant had a business practice of filing high volumes of...

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ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – Definition of “Tax Return” for Purposes of Nondischargeability

June 2, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III and Sloan Hastings Section 523(a)(1) excepts from discharge taxes that are priority claims under § 507(a)(8). One of § 507(a)(8)’s provisions makes debts not dischargeable for income taxes requiring the filing of a tax return due during the three years prior to filing bankruptcy. It is this “recent years taxes nondischargeable” moniker that leads many...

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Critical Case Comment – Pay the TAXES!

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

July 10, 2022

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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Critical Case Comment – Pre-Confirmation Payments

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

June 26, 2022

Even though the Model Plan in the district provides that the applicable commitment period starts from confirmation, the debtor may not apply pre-confirmation payments toward payments made during the applicable commitment period but must apply those payments in addition to the applicable commitment period payments. (Applebaum) In re Batoha, 2022 WL 1310943 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. May 2, 2022) Case Summary...

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Bankruptcy Court Strikes Back: Awarding $825,940.55 in Sanctions for Bad Faith Filing

M. Jonathan Hayes

March 24, 2024

Bankruptcy Court in Texas awards sanctions of $825,940.55 for bad faith filing and prosecution of a proof of claim. (Yes it’s an 11 but still, $825k!)

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Critical Case Comment – Nothing Requires a Plan to Provide for All Secured Claims

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

December 12, 2021

If a Chapter 13 plan makes no provision for a mortgage obligation, omits any treatment of the mortgage claims, and prohibits the Trustee from making disbursements toward the claims, the claims are not provided for by the plan and the plan can be confirmed over the objection of the creditor and the trustee; nothing requires a plan to provide for...

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NCLC Seeks Signers Urging Foreclosure Pause When HAF Applied For

The Academy

January 16, 2022

NCLC seeking non-profit organizations to sign two letters (one to the CFPB and one to FHFA, FHA, VA, and USDA) urging the agencies to require servicers to pause foreclosure activity for at least 60 days after being notified that a borrower has applied for HAF assistance and meets conditional program eligibility. We ask organizations to sign both letters, and the...

Report of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy

April 28, 2019

By William Houston Brown, Co-chair of the Commission and Adviser to the Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education The Report of the Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy for improvements to the consumer bankruptcy system was made public on April 11, 2019. The full report is available free by download from the American Bankruptcy Institute’s website, www.abi.org. The following Foreward to the Report...

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Related Articles

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

Assessable Yet Not Assessed Taxes Could Cost You a Malpractice Claim

The Uneasy Co-Existence of Federal and State Consumer Remedies in Bankruptcy Cases – the Fourth Circuit Weighs In

ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – Definition of “Tax Return” for Purposes of Nondischargeability

Critical Case Comment – Pay the TAXES!

Critical Case Comment – Pre-Confirmation Payments

Bankruptcy Court Strikes Back: Awarding $825,940.55 in Sanctions for Bad Faith Filing

Critical Case Comment – Nothing Requires a Plan to Provide for All Secured Claims

NCLC Seeks Signers Urging Foreclosure Pause When HAF Applied For

Report of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy

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