Consumer Bankruptcy

The lack of ‘pecuniary interest’ may deprive a chapter 7 debtor of constitutional standing, even though the debtor is a ‘party in interest.’

The Separate-Filings Rule Is Neither Practical nor Equitable for Debtors or the Estate By Edward Boltz The separate-filings rule is often described as the most technically precise approach to allocating joint tax refunds between spouses in bankruptcy — yet precision is

The Ninth Circuit holds that claim preclusion doesn’t prevent a debtor from claiming federal exemptions after the bankruptcy court has denied state exemption.

Bankruptcy Judge Meisel implores the Third Circuit to follow other circuits on dismissing bad faith debtors’ chapter 13 petitions but with bars to refiling.

If a lender could collect only once outside of bankruptcy when both spouses guaranteed a debt, the result is the same in a single or joint bankruptcy by the spouses.

Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy Reviewed by Nicholas G. Glover Written by Prof. Pamela Foohey, Prof. Robert M. Lawless and Dr. Deborah K. Thorne Consumer bankruptcy affects Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum. It is a jarring truth that “[a]lmost every

Having 51% consumer debt doesn’t necessarily mean that the debtor has ‘primarily’ consumer debt.

Event Roundup Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop Convenes in Chocolate Town, U.S.A. This year’s Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop, geared toward practitioners in the Mid-Atlantic region, was held Aug. 18-20 in Hershey, Pa., at the family-friendly Hershey Lodge. Attendees

A client calls his lawyer after receiving his chapter 7 discharge. He’s pleased; after all, a discharge is “the holy grail” of chapter 7. [i] But there’s an unexpected adversary proceeding pending that alleges that the client owes a debt for a willful and malicious injury. [ii] The client believes in his defenses but understands that this debt won’t be discharged if the claim succeeds. [iii] After the lawyer mentions that a chapter 13 discharge covers such debts after full plan performance, [iv] the client asks whether he should file a new chapter 13 case.

Section 522(f)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code allows debtors to avoid certain liens, including judicial liens, that impair debtors’ exemptions. [i] But § 522(f)(2)(C) says that “this paragraph shall not apply with respect to a judgment arising out of a mortgage foreclosure,” leaving courts to decide whether debtors can avoid mortgage deficiency judgments under § 522(f). Recently, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut’s In re Gramigna [ii] opinion has joined an overwhelming majority of cases that have said that debtors can avoid mortgage deficiency judgments. These majority courts have relied on three predominant rationales.