Fourth Circuit Seems to Give the Government a Pass for Violating the Stay
Fourth Circuit expands federal government’s setoff rights under the Treasury Offset Program.
Courts Are Split on Whether Counsel Fees Are Considered in the Chapter 13 Best Interests Test
Deferred payments to unsecured creditors in a chapter 13 plan must equal the present value of the distributions required by the best interests test, Judge Halfenger says.
Debtors Win in District Court: They Can Avoid Judicial Liens on Impounded Cars
Car owners lost in Fulton but won when a Chicago district judge affirmed and ruled that debtors may avoid judicial liens on impounded cars.
‘Accrual Test’ Survives to Say Whether the Debtor or the Estate Owns a Claim
Are there two tests for the existence of a claim, one test for claims against the debtor and another for claims by the debtor?
Cross-Collateralization Turns Two Loans into One Claim in the Fifth Circuit
When personal property loans are cross-collateralized, a chapter 13 plan must use the same option for cramming down both loans, the Fifth Circuit says.
Even with Knowledge of Bankruptcy, Discharge Contempt Requires Notice of Discharge
The Ninth Circuit BAP says there must be knowledge of the discharge order to find contempt, even when the debtor continues the same conduct that violated the automatic stay.
The Mailbox Presumption Won’t Deem a Claim to Have Been Timely Filed
Courts are split on the extent to which an affidavit of timely mailing will suffice to prove that a claim was filed.
Ninth Circuit Upholds an FDCPA Suit for Collecting a Debt Paid in Full in Chapter 13
Even though the discharge order had been violated, neither Midland Funding nor Ninth Circuit precedent precluded an FDCPA suit for attempting to collect a debt paid in full.