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.
BAPCPA Limits Remedies Against Debtors Who Don’t Reaffirm or Surrender
In the BAPCPA amendments in 2005, Congress may have intended to bar debtors from allowing mortgages to “ride through” bankruptcy.....
In a case where prebankruptcy exemption planning backfired disastrously, the Fifth Circuit held that a nonfiling spouse had no homestead exemption rights because the husband’s bankruptcy trustee sold.....