Filing Suit in Bankruptcy Court, the Debtor Lost a Seventh Amendment Right to a Jury
Does filing bankruptcy by itself waive a debtor’s right to a jury trial when suing a creditor?
Exemption Waiver Doesn’t Prevent Avoiding Judicial Liens that Impair Exemptions
Issue preclusion and Rooker-Feldman didn’t prevent an individual debtor from avoiding a judicial lien that impaired a homestead exemption despite a waiver of the exemption.
Lender Collects Only Once When Both Spouses Personally Guarantee a Debt
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.
A Deceased Debtor’s Survivor Can Make Chapter 13 Plan Payments from Her Income
Even though a deceased chapter 13 debtor has no regular income, the plan can still be confirmed.
Sale of a Debtor’s Claim Was Champertous and Void, Fifth Circuit Says
Selling a debtor’s claims must be structured to avoid champerty under state law.
A Disguised Loan Agreement Didn’t Create a ‘Fair Ground of Doubt’ Under Taggart
The Fifth Circuit undertook a legal analysis of a complex loan agreement to decide there was no ‘fair ground of doubt’ under Taggart that the lender was violating the discharge injunction.
Without Levy, a Recorded Judgment Lien Is Unperfected in Some States
In New Jersey, a trustee’s hypothetical judicial lien has priority over a judgment lien if the judgment lienholder has not made a levy on the property.
A Judgment Lien Isn’t Created by Filing a UCC Financing Statement, Judge Furay Says
To obtain a judgment lien, filing a UCC financing statement is no substitute for docketing a judgment.
A Mortgage Deficiency Judgment Is a Judicial Lien Subject to Avoidance Under § 522(f)
A deficiency judgment resulting from mortgage foreclosure is not ‘a judgment arising out of a mortgage foreclosure’ and can be avoided as a judgment lien.
A Consensual Judgment Is a Judgment Lien Subject to Avoidance Under Section 522(f)
‘Obtained by’ legal proceedings, a consent judgment is still a judgment lien that can be avoided if it impairs an exemption.