Consumer Corner

arlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals took the unusual step of granting a rehearing en banc to determine the standard for non-dischargeability of credit card debt in In re Mercer, 246 F.3d 391 (Miss. 2001). The rehearing followed a circuit court opinion

Judicial estoppel, the concept that a party is estopped from taking inconsistent positions in different judicial proceedings, is being applied with increasing regularity when the debtor's schedules omit reference to a pending or a potential cause of action. The failure

Creditors in the consumer credit industry face many challenges in managing rising bankruptcy filings. Five components are critical to managing creditor rights recoveries: (1) operational procedures to minimize expenses, (2) a sound management plan, (3) staff training,

In June 1997, the Supreme Court handed down Associates Commercial Corporation v. Rash. 1 Certiorari having been granted to resolve the conflict among the circuits on the issue of valuation in a chapter 13 cramdown, it was hoped that the court would enunciate a bright

The Fourth Circuit was right on target last year when it held that C1322(c)(2) does not permit the bifurcation of an undersecured claim into separate secured and unsecured claims, as several bankruptcy courts had held. Witt v. United Companies Lending Corp. (In re Witt)

The concept of a "needs-based" consumer bankruptcy law has generated numerous reactions, studies and debates. Most of these have focused on the need for a change in the bankruptcy system's approach to granting relief to consumer debtors, the extent to which abuse exists