Mortgage

Where the courts are split, Idaho judge sides with the Tenth Circuit BAP and allows a chapter 13 debtor to retain post-petition appreciation in the value of a homestead following conversion to chapter 7.

The appeals court allows a tiny lien to wipe out a big mortgage if the bank wasn’t vigilant at the time of foreclosure.

A subordinate lender lacked appellate standing to appeal the annulment of the automatic stay in favor of a senior lender.

Lender soon recognized that home foreclosure violated the stay but continued denying liability through seven years of litigation.

On an issue where the courts are split, the Tenth Circuit BAP sides with debtors and allows them to retain postpetition appreciation in the value of assets that were in the estate on filing.

A homestead exemption does not bar selling a home when the chapter 7 debtor has no equity in the property, Judge Robert Grossman says.

A claim must be disallowed based on the invalidity of the debt before the associated lien can be voided under Section 506(d), the Ninth Circuit ruled in upholding the BAP.

Even if the two-year statute of limitations for avoidance actions has run, the trustee can still strip away the lender’s secured status in a claim objection.

Judge Rodriguez holds servicer and lender liable under Rule 3002.1 and the FDCPA for making a claim for unpaid real estate taxes that had been paid.