9th Circuit

The Ninth Circuit BAP interprets circuit authority as giving a chapter 13 debtor the absolute right to dismiss.

Not reaching the merits, the Ninth Circuit nonetheless vacated a BAP decision because the case became moot during the appeal.

The Ninth Circuit again questions the Supreme Court’s ‘atextual’ analysis of Section 523(a)(7).

The lender’s failure to demand reaffirmation before discharge in chapter 7 barred enforcement of a default based on the filing of bankruptcy.

On an issue where the courts are split, a district judge in Washington State holds that the debtors lose the post-petition appreciation in the value of estate property when a chapter 13 case converts to chapter 7.

BAP doesn’t allow debtors to appeal when a trustee sells their home out from underneath them in a short sale.

Even if a dischargeability suit is based on a contract, the winner is not entitled to fee-shifting if the court rules on noncontract issues.

The Ninth Circuit equates nonjudicial foreclosure with bankruptcy discharge in terms of the effect on deficiencies following foreclosure.

If a proceeding is sub judice when the defendant files bankruptcy, the plaintiff should figure out whether a decision after bankruptcy would violate the automatic stay.

Judge Klein let a lawyer off the hook for violating Rule 9011 because the lawyer had already been punished enough.