Type: Amicus Date: March 31, 2023 Description: Whether the Bankruptcy Code abrogates tribal sovereign immunity. Result: Pending Coughlin NACBA Amicus SCt March 2023
Author Archives: NCBRC
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin, No. 22-227 (S.Ct.)
April 28, 2023 – 2:47 pm
Too Little, Too Late in Motion to Reopen
April 28, 2023 – 2:40 pm
The bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in declining to reopen the debtor’s case sixteen years after its closure to administer an asset the debtor did not own until after his bankruptcy case closed. Gamez v. Lopez (In re Lopez), No. 22-2379 (E.D.N.Y. March 9, 2023).
“Equity Abhors a Forfeiture”
April 21, 2023 – 3:49 pm
Where the debtor had paid over 70% of the purchase price of real property, the court found that equitable principles precluded granting relief from stay to allow the seller to enforce a provision in the sales documents requiring the defaulting debtor to “forfeit not only the property, but all deposits, improvements and payments made.” Allied […]
Debtor Misled Lender as to Discharge of Debt
April 17, 2023 – 4:52 pm
The debtor’s own conduct gave the lender reason to believe that the debt owed to him was not discharged, so the bankruptcy court did not err in finding that the lender’s continued collection efforts lacked the requisite scienter to support a contempt sanction for violation of the discharge injunction. Bernhard v. Kull (In re Bernhard), […]
Lac du Flambeau v. Coughlin, No. 22-227 (SCt)
April 14, 2023 – 2:24 pm
Type: Amicus Date: March 31, 2023 Description: Whether the Bankruptcy Code abrogates tribal sovereign immunity. Result: Pending Coughlin NACBA Amicus SCt March 2023
Sixth Circuit Questions “Person-Aggrieved” Standard for Appeal
April 14, 2023 – 2:15 pm
The debtors’ claim against lenders for charging improper fees during their bankruptcy belonged to the bankruptcy estate, but the lenders’ appeal of the bankruptcy court’s order of abandonment was dismissed because they lacked a direct financial stake in the outcome of the bankruptcy court’s decision and, therefore were not “persons-aggrieved.” In so holding, the Sixth […]
Tax Sale Survives Multiple Attacks
March 31, 2023 – 3:17 pm
The bankruptcy court applied the proper standard for determining “reasonably equivalent value” in the tax sale of the debtor’s home where it used a hypothetical foreclosure sale as the comparator rather than the fair market value. The Rooker-Feldman doctrine prevented the bankruptcy court from nullifying the sale despite procedural irregularities. And even where the debtor […]
“Sham” Carve-Out Agreement Rejected
March 29, 2023 – 4:25 pm
Calling the agreement a “sham,” the district court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of a carve-out agreement between the chapter 7 trustee and the state and federal tax creditors. The court found the agreement would adhere to no one’s benefit but their own. The court also upheld the bankruptcy court’s finding that the debtor’s homestead […]
Punitive Damages for Stay Violation Were Excessive
March 24, 2023 – 8:57 pm
The punitive damages awarded by the bankruptcy court were unconstitutionally excessive where they were seven times greater than actual damages and the bankruptcy court increased the damages on remand because it found the lender’s success at the BAP level would eliminate a substantial disincentive to engage in the conduct establishing the automatic stay violation. Rushmore […]
Ex-Wife’s Interest in Home Not Property of Debtor’s Bankruptcy Estate
March 22, 2023 – 3:34 pm
Under Colorado law, spouses in dissolution proceedings own marital property as co-owners. Therefore the debtor’s ex-wife had a vested equitable interest in an up-front sum plus 50% of the proceeds from the sale of their marital residence as ordered by the divorce court, and that interest did not enter the debtor’s chapter 13 estate. Williams […]
