The debtors were entitled to discharge despite their failure to disclose an asset where the trustee moved for dismissal for bad faith after the debtors completed all their plan payments but before they had received their discharge. In re Frank, No. 18-12812 (Bankr. D. Colo. March 30, 2022). Less than one year after one of […]
Author Archives: NCBRC
Provision for Balloon Payment after Sale Precludes Confirmation
April 15, 2022 – 1:08 pm
In a consolidated opinion, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts held that the “equal payment provision of § 1325(a)(5)(B)(iii) is best read to prohibit confirmation of a sale plan, over the objection of a secured creditor holding a mortgage of a principal residence, that contemplates periodic payments followed by a lump-sum payment.” In […]
Employment Contract Is Domestic Support Obligation
April 13, 2022 – 12:27 pm
An employment contract between the debtor and his ex-spouse where the ex-spouse’s only responsibilities were to assist the debtor in family matters, was in the nature of domestic support and was entitled to priority treatment in the debtor’s chapter 7 bankruptcy. In re Wibracht, No. 21-50477 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. March 31, 2022).
NCBRC Files Amicus on Pre-Confirmation Trustee Fees when Plan Not Confirmed
April 6, 2022 – 6:55 pm
NCBRC has filed an amicus brief on behalf of the NACBA membership in the Tenth Circuit case of Goodman v. Doll (In re Doll). The case addresses the issue of whether a chapter 13 standing trustee is entitled to keep pre-confirmation statutory fees when the case is ultimately dismissed prior to plan confirmation. Case No. […]
Goodman v. Doll, No. 22-1004 (10th Cir.)
April 6, 2022 – 6:38 pm
Type: Amicus Date: April 6, 2022 Description: Whether Chapter 13 trustee is entitled to statutory commission in case dismissed prior to plan confirmation. Result: Judgment affirmed, January 18, 2023. Doll Decisoin (10th) Jan 2023 Doll Amicus
Terms of Promissory Note Not Enough to Show Nondischargeability of Student Loan
April 5, 2022 – 2:34 pm
Because it was unclear whether the debtor’s private student loan was issued under the auspices of a federally-funded program, neither the debtor nor the student loan creditor were entitled to summary judgment on the issue of whether the loan was excepted from discharge under section 523(a)(8)(A)(i). Mazloom v. Navient Solutions, LLC., No. 18-60206, Adv. Proc. […]
Mortgage May Be Bifurcated Under Section 1322(c)
April 1, 2022 – 4:32 pm
The Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin joined the majority of courts in finding that section 1322(c)(2) “authorizes modification of a principal residence loan through bifurcation, when the last payment on the original payment schedule is due before the final plan payment is due.” In re Harris, No. 21-26280 (Bankr. E.D. Wisc. March […]
IRS Had No “Substantial Justification” for Challenging Jurisdiction
March 30, 2022 – 3:24 pm
The IRS had no reasonable basis for challenging the bankruptcy court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction, where it consented to jurisdiction when it filed a claim in the debtor’s chapter 7 bankruptcy, and the debtor notified it of his objection to the claim using the address the IRS provided. For that reason, the debtor was entitled […]
Efforts to Collect Domestic Support Violates Automatic Stay
March 28, 2022 – 2:33 pm
An ex-husband’s efforts to collect medical expenses and a $50.00 direct payment ordered by the Family Court violated the automatic stay, where, unlike the debtor’s other domestic support obligations which he collected through wage garnishment, payment for the debts was not limited to non-estate property as required by the domestic support exception to the automatic […]
Debtor May Not Exempt Portion of Worker’s Comp Order Earmarked for Medical Care Providers
March 23, 2022 – 2:40 pm
The chapter 7 debtor was not entitled to exempt the portion of a settlement he negotiated with his employer and worker’s compensation insurer where that amount was in a trust for the benefit of his medical care providers and, therefore, did not become part of the bankruptcy estate. Ryan v. Branko PRPA MD, LLC, No.21-449 […]
