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.
Although the debtor had been foreclosed and the lender had won a writ of possession, a subsequent state court settlement order before bankruptcy was an executory contract that the debtor could assume.....
Generally speaking, in bankruptcy, property owned as a tenant by the entireties is exempt. Interpreting Section 522(b)(3) and seemingly motived in part by policy concerns, the Fourth Circuit held that.....
Alleging that a debtor was a net winner in a Ponzi scheme doesn’t state a claim for nondischargeability, even when the debtor has realized an “impossibly high” profit of $93,000 on an investment of $2.....
After discharge, state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction to decide whether a debt was discharged.
Allowing a state court to decide a discharge question is risky, for reasons shown in a.....
The Fourth Circuit holds that the debt in a settlement agreement based on a claim for willful and malicious conduct is nondischargeable under Section 523(a)(6) and isn’t a dischargeable debt arising.....
Courts don’t agree on who gets appreciation when a home is sold during a chapter 13 case or if the case converts to chapter 7. Does post-petition appreciation stay with the debtor, or does it go to.....
Even when the debtor has no personal liability on a mortgage secured by investment property, a chapter 13 plan may modify the mortgage, according to Bankruptcy Judge Kevin R. Huennekens of Richmond.....
The Fifth Circuit expanded Bartenwerfer by holding a debt to be nondischargeable when the debtor was neither a partner nor an agent nor the person who himself committed the fraud.
The October 16.....
Student loans consolidated after filing cannot be discharged even on a showing of “undue hardship,” for reasons explained by Bankruptcy Judge Shad M. Robinson of Austin, Texas.
The debtor filed a.....
On a question where the courts are divided, Bankruptcy Judge John S. Hodge of Shreveport, La., ruled that debt service for a non-purchase money lien on an automobile is not deductible in calculating a.....