Joining the Tenth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit also has held that chapter 13 trustees are not paid their fees when cases are dismissed before confirmation. The identical issue was argued on February 15 before the Second Circuit.
In short order, we’ll have either unanimity or a split of circuits. A split will give rise to an issue worthy of a grant of certiorari by the Supreme Court.
Notably, the Ninth Circuit’s opinion on June 12 adopted reasoning in an amicus brief filed in support of the debtor by the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center and National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.
On an issue where the circuits are divided, the First Circuit upheld the two lower courts by ruling that a homestead exemption, valid on the chapter 13 filing date, is not lost if the debtor sells the.....
When a chapter 13 debtor has excess disposable income not being paid to creditors every month, some courts in Texas have been imposing a so-called Molina provision on the plan that bars the debtor.....
Believing that Supreme Court authority on preferences didn’t govern, the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ruled that funds allegedly withdrawn from a retirement account before the filing date.....
In Taggart, the Supreme Court raised the bar on holding a creditor in contempt for violating the automatic stay. Some might say that the high court defanged the discharge. See Taggart v. Lorenzen, 139.....
Holding that “the reasonable reliance requirement is a low hurdle for creditors to satisfy,” the Fifth Circuit decided that the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact were clearly erroneous, and directed.....
Writing about the so-called individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ACA or Obamacare) seems like beating a dead horse now that Congress has repealed the penalty for taxpayers who didn.....
In chapter 13, creditors – not just the debtor – may sometimes lose out if the debtor had concealed the existence of a personal injury claim and the defendant invokes judicial estoppel to bar.....
Ordinarily, there is a clear winner and a clear loser when a circuit court decides an appeal. In a dischargeability case involving allegedly false representations and pretenses, the First Circuit.....
A relatively puny case from south Texas involving a false notice under Bankruptcy Rule 3002.1 is making important law on the rule and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, 15 U.S.C.....
A bankruptcy court order awarding damages for willful violation of the automatic stay is a final order that must be appealed immediately, even if the court hasn’t yet ruled on how much the debtor is.....