From the Editor – Dismissal • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Dismissal

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Undistributed funds returned to debtor upon dismissal. Under § 1327(b)’s vesting requirement, unless a confirmed plan provides otherwise, any undistributed funds held by the trustee at dismissal of the case must be returned to the debtor. Although not necessary to rely on § 347(b)(3), the conclusion on effect of vesting at confirmation was consistent with that section and case law interpreting it. In re Hernandez, _________B.R._________, 2020 WL 773475 (Bankr. D. Conn. Jan. 17, 2020). See also In re Evans, _________B.R._________, 2020 WL . . .

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Chapter 13 No-Look Fees – Additional Thoughts

The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

January 7, 2024

As a follow-up to The Academy’s December 3, 2023, issue, three Emeritus Trustees weighed in. The 12/3/23 issue included Cathy Moran’s Chapter 13 NoLook Fees: The Horns of a Dilemma and Trustee Hildebrand’s Critical Case Comment, You Gotta Fix Your Own Screw-ups, On Your Own Dime. You may also want to take note of comments on each article and add your own. Today, we offer the thoughts of two additional Emeritus Trustees. Thus a follow-up to our follow-up. 😊

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New Judge Appointed

The Academy

June 4, 2023

Honorable Corali Lopez-Castro Appointed Miami’s Newest Bankruptcy Judge

May the Chapter 13 Trustee Keep Fees Paid Before Dismissal?

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

April 10, 2022

Larry Ahern this week begins a two-part examination of whether a Chapter 13 trustee may retain fees paid without a confirmed plan before dismissal. Part 1 is a detailed analysis of McCallister v. Evans, a recent case accepting the trustee's position considering a division in the caselaw and analyzing in detail the relevant statutes. May the Chapter 13 Trustee Keep...

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Find The Hidden Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction in Bankruptcy

Cathy Moran

October 8, 2023

“Do you have clients in an active Chapter 13 plan paying back mortgage payments that were delinquent when the case was filed?” October 16th is the deadline to file extended income tax returns.

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Critical Case Comment – Prime vs. Riskless Treasury Rate

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

May 28, 2023

In determining the appropriate “present value” factor to be added to the payment of a secured claim in a Chapter 12, the Court should look at the “riskless” treasury rate rather than the “prime rate” before enhancing it with a risk factor. (Ebinger) Farm Credit Services of America v. Topp, 2022 WL 2981590 (S.D. Iowa, July 19, 2022) Case Summary...

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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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Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, And Limitations – Part 7

November 15, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Is the trustee’s service worth her commission? The Eleventh Circuit recently issued its opinion in In re Dukes, 909 F.3d 1306 (11th Cir. 2018), which spoke primarily to the issue of what it means for a mortgage to be “provided for” in the plan. The court found...

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New Federal Guidance on Discharging Student Loans in Bankruptcy Is a Game Changer

Robert B. Branson, Tammy Branson

March 26, 2023

The Justice Department, in partnership with the Department of Education, recently announced new guidelines that loosen the strict application of the “undue hardship” exceptionwhen defending a student loan dischargeability action. This new guidance is a game changer. In the past the Department of Justice narrowly applied the undue hardship exception when defending discharge of student loans to the extent that...

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Critical Case Comment – Fair Discrimination: A Win/Win

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

December 11, 2022

A Chapter 13 plan can be confirmed to pay a 100% dividend to unsecured creditors while maintaining payments to a student loan creditor as a long-term debt (which will not satisfy the student loan in the commitment period) without committing all available disposable income. (Mullin) In re Victoria Florita Durand-Day, 2022 WL 14938726 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. October 26, 2022) Case...

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Less Than 100% Dividend Can a Chapter 13 Plan be Paid off Early?

April 21, 2019

By Stacey A. O’Stafy, Staff Attorney, Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee Faye D. English (Columbus, OH) An above median Chapter 13 debtor settles a workers’ compensation claim and wants to use the exempt settlement proceeds1 to pay off her 100% dividend plan in month 38 – can she? In this simple scenario, the answer is yes. Pursuant to 11...

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