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.
When the sweeping language of a landmark Supreme Court opinion conflicted with the statute, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Phillip J. Shefferly of Detroit followed the statute.
In Harris v. Viegelahn, 575 U.S.....
The so-called snapshot rule, calling for valuation of a chapter 7 debtor’s property as of the filing date, doesn’t apply when the debtor moves to compel the trustee to abandon under Section 554(b).....
In August, Congress adopted the so-called HAVEN Act, which allows military veterans to exclude disability benefits from the calculation of “current monthly income.” In practical terms, the new law.....
On an issue where the lower courts are split, the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that a pre-petition personal guaranty is a contingent debt that is discharged, even as to post-petition.....
A $300,000 debt for life-saving, emergency medical treatment was not a “consumer” debt because it was not “voluntarily” incurred, according to Bankruptcy Judge C. Kathryn Preston of Columbus, Ohio.
A.....
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.....
Addressing several issues where the courts are deeply split, Bankruptcy Judge Thomas J. Tucker of Detroit concluded that Social Security benefits can be considered in deciding whether a chapter 7.....
Another court has sanctioned a necessarily cumbersome process to make bankruptcy affordable for those who need it most — namely, people so broke they can’t pay the filing fee, much less a retainer.
Ba.....
Circuit decisions are rare where the concurrence is more significant than the panel opinion. In a bankruptcy that has already generated gobs of law at all levels, Sixth Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton.....
In most of the country, creditors had been judged by an almost strict liability standard for violating the discharge injunction. A decision by Chief Bankruptcy Judge Scott W. Dales of Grand Rapids.....