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.
Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth D. Katz gave some relief to an individual not entitled to discharge student loans.
Under Section 105(a), Judge Katz of Springfield, Mass., discharged whatever would be left.....
For an individual debtor who misbehaves badly, the bankruptcy court may both deny discharge and dismiss immediately thereafter, according to the First Circuit. Consequently, the sanction of denial of.....
Bankruptcy Judge Timothy A. Barnes of Chicago displayed tools a judge can use to help a debtor who may have had a meritorious defense but could not afford to defend a dischargeability suit.
The.....
Auto owners in Chicago sustained a defeat when the Supreme Court held on January 14 that refusing to turn over an impounded car does not violate the automatic stay in Section 362(a)(3). Consequently.....
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.....
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Court authority on preferences didn’t govern, the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ruled that funds allegedly withdrawn from a retirement account before the filing date.....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.....
Bankruptcy Judge Jack B. Schmetterer of Chicago discharged about $73,000 in student loans owed by a 53-year-old single woman who had been unemployed for 16 months, had no income, was not eligible for.....
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 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.....