Consumer Bankruptcy

Assume the following facts:

Assume the following facts:

When an irate creditor comes to bankruptcy court in a chapter 7, 12 or 11 case in which an individual debtor is holding a check issued by the debtor that was dishonored by the debtor’s bank, she often expects a quick and easy finding that the debt is not dischargeable. Unfortunately, the debt based on a bad check is not automatically and not even usually held to be nondischargeable. To succeed, the creditor usually bears a heavy burden of proof of fraud.

It happens every Friday afternoon, usually around 2 p.m.

Creditors in the consumer credit industry face many challenges in managing bankrupt accounts. Five components to the successful management of bankruptcy cases are:

Randolph vs. IMBS Inc. et al. 368 F.3d 726 (7th Cir. 2004)

An issue receiving much recent attention in the courts and among commentators is the nature and extent of the documentation required to be attached to proofs of unsecured claims based on credit card debt. Several courts have recently considered the issue in decisions reflecting mixed results. This subject has also been the focus of several recent articles in the ABI Journal. See, e.g., S. Andrew Jurs, Unsecured Claims and Rule 3001: How Much “Writing” or Supporting Information is Required?, ABI Journal, June 2004, p. 10; John Rao, Debt Buyers Rewriting of Rule 3001: Taking the “Proof” Out of the Claims Process, ABI Journal, July/August 2004, p.

In re Maronde, 332 B.R. 593 (Bankr. D. Minn. 2005), (N. Dreher), is a recent decision that interprets and discusses new §522(o) of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA). The debtor, Kim Morande, a resident of Minnesota, on the eve of filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy, and while insolvent, planned to take cash advances on credit cards and then apply those funds to reduce his equity line of credit against his homestead, and thereby increase his exempt homestead. He planned to then sell a nonexempt truck and trailer to raise cash to offer his new creditors settlements at less than what he owed.

Creditors have always feared states with large homestead protections.

A chapter 7 debtor seeking to retain personal property secured by a lien has several options available, one of which is redeeming the property from the lien pursuant to §722 of the Bankruptcy Code. Although there remains a split of authority on the question, the prevailing view is that the appropriate measure of value for a contested redemption is the liquidation value of the property. This favorable valuation standard has made redemption motions increasingly popular. Another development making the option more accessible to chapter 7 debtors is the emergence of companies willing to finance the redemption payment. The financing package often includes a provision for payment of fees to debtors’ counsel in connection with the redemption.