Illinois

Within the next year, four circuits will have ruled on a split where some lower courts pay chapter 13 trustees and others don’t when dismissal precedes confirmation.

Chicago’s Judge Cleary didn’t compel arbitration of an affirmative counterclaim by the debtor against the creditor that would be determined in the course of passing on the allowance of the creditor’s proof of claim.

Although a disclaimed inheritance is ordinarily beyond the avoiding powers, a trustee can step into the shoes of the IRS to set aside the disclaimer.

Harris v. Viegelahn bars any payment by a chapter 13 trustee after conversion, not just payments to creditors, Judge LaShonda Hunt says.

If a debtor owns property as a joint tenant with right of survivorship, the trustee has nothing to sell if the debtor dies.

The district court opinion affirms the notion that bankruptcy courts have ‘core’ power without a jury to adjudicate claims of attorney misconduct.

So long as the debtor is paying unsecured creditors what chapter 13 requires, the debtor is not obliged to pursue preferences.

Despite Fulton, a Chicago bankruptcy judge rules that the City of Chicago might have violated Section 362(a)(4), (a)(6) or (a)(7) by refusing to release impounded cars immediately after a debtor files a chapter 13 petition.

The suggestion that the debtor never won undercut the poker player’s testimony about uncorroborated gambling losses.

The opinion tells plaintiffs what actions to take before filing suit to ensure constitutional standing to pursue a claim under the FDCPA.