May a trustee make a distribution to a secured creditor that has not filed a proof of claim? Should trustees or debtors file surrogate claims if secured creditors have not? Does a debtor’s failure to make post‐petition payments to a creditor defeat the debtor’s eligibility for a discharge? This panel addresses the emerging case law on whether direct post‐petition payments as required by the plan are considered “payments under the plan” as contemplated by § 1328(a), the growing complications that may arise from a secured creditor’s not filing proofs of claim, and the impact of proposed rule changes on these hot issues.

This panel explores the question of whether exemptions may be denied for bad faith and whether debtors may amend their claimed exemptions to assert a different statutory basis after an exemption has been denied, including the impact of potential res judicata and collateral estoppel claims. Case law developments since Law v. Siegel are reviewed, as well as important strategic considerations for debtors, trustees and creditors.

Disclosing assets and verifying a debtor’s information is the calling card of any conscientious debtor’s counsel. But how do the rules governing professional responsibility interplay with debtor’s counsel’s obligations under the Code? A real housewife in New Jersey recently blamed her attorney for her prison sentence following her guilty plea for bankruptcy fraud. Did her attorney commit an ethical violation? This panel examines the record behind this headline-making case, as well as other recent bankruptcy court decisions that examine the ethical conduct and obligations of debtor’s counsel.

Practitioners can get up to speed on the new “Qualified Mortgage Rule” (the “QM”) and the ability-to-pay regulations to prepare for future mortgage claim disputes. This panel discusses the changes to TILA and RESPA, as well as the new Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) regulations on mortgage servicing.