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.
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.....
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.....
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.....
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.....
On a question where the lower courts are split, Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar of Chicago took sides with the minority by holding that violating a PACA trust does not give rise to denial of.....
A decision from Illinois highlights two flaws in the U.S. health care system: (1) Even with health insurance, medical bills can force someone into bankruptcy; and (2) if medical bills are “consumer”.....