In April's Consumer Corner, we began to consider whether the middle class is about to shatter. While the April article examined the trend between 1980 and 2000, this article focuses on the 90s—a decade that saw bankruptcies explode during a…
Judicial estoppel, the concept that a party is estopped from taking inconsistent positions in different judicial proceedings, is being applied with increasing regularity when the debtor's schedules omit reference to a pending or a potential…
The consumer creditor community recently received a gift from an unlikely source—the First Circuit Court of Appeals. In the case of Jamo v. Katahdin Federal Credit Union (In re Jamo), 1 the appeals court set aside the holding of the bankrup…
When can debtors avoid judicial liens impairing their bankruptcy exemptions in a homestead? Does state law have an effect? Does it make a difference when the debtor acquired an interest in the property? These and other questions were thorou…
Last summer, Prof. Robert M. Lawless of the University of Missouri-Columbia published an excellent paper on the relationship between non-business bankruptcy filings and consumer debt load, including mortgages, titled The Relationship Betwee…
The Bankruptcy Code does not exist in a vacuum. Inevitably, there will be overlap between the Code and other federal and state statutes. Federal pre-emption resolves many conflicts arising with state laws. However, where the Bankruptcy Code…
The consumer debt counseling industry is at a crisis point. After avoiding the limelight for 30 years, debt counselors are finally receiving the scrutiny and evaluation that their importance to the public requires. Consumer Reports presente…
Tying approval of a debtor's reaffirmation of mortgage debt to the reaffirmation of other unsecured debt violates the automatic stay, according to a recent decision in the First Circuit. In re Jamo, 262 B.R. 159 (1st Cir. BAP 2001). The rem…
arlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals took the unusual step of granting a rehearing en banc to determine the standard for non-dischargeability of credit card debt in In re Mercer, 246 F.3d 391 (Miss. 2001). The rehearing foll…
A fundamental distinction exists between a consumer chapter 7 case and a chapter 13 case. This distinction pervades the way each case proceeds through the judicial system. A chapter 7 case is static: non-exempt assets held by a debtor at th…