Tara Twomey

 The Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019 (“HAVEN Act”) excludes certain benefits paid to veterans or their family members from the definition of current monthly income (“CMI”) found in the Bankruptcy Code. The HAVEN Act amends § 101(10A) of the Bankruptcy Code and supplements the 2005 amendments to the Code that excluded other government benefits, such as social security income. 

This Guide provides an overview of the HAVEN Act, identifies benefits that are excluded, and answers frequently asked questions.

HAVEN Act Guide 2019

 

The Ninth Circuit recently ruled that Section 362(k) of the Bankruptcy Code allows an award of attorney’s fees when the debtor successfully defends or challenges a judgment for violation of the automatic stay.  In Easley v. Collection Serv. of Nev., No. 17-16506, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 35857, at *3 (9th Cir. Dec. 20, 2018), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the District Court.

[Read more…] about 9th Circuit Clarifies Appellate Attorney’s Fees in Sanctions Case

Oral argument in Midland v. Johnson was today.  See the transcript here.

NCBRC is wrapping up its year-end funding campaign.  There’s still time to make a tax-deductible contribution for 2016.

Meanwhile…NCBRC and NACBA weighed in on the Midland v. Johnson case pending before the Supreme Court.  Click here for the brief.   A big thank you to Whitman Holt, Robert Pfister, Daniel Bussel, and Ken Klee at Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern, LLP for all their work on the brief.

 

 

This year, the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center, is participating in #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving. Last year, more than 45,000 organizations in 71 countries came together to celebrate #GivingTuesday. We invite you to join the movement by supporting the work NCBRC does on behalf of consumer bankruptcy debtors.

Each year millions of individuals and families across the country struggle to pay their bills. Often financial distress follows on the heels of other unanticipated events such as job loss, divorce, substantial out-of-pocket medical expenses and natural disasters. Sometimes filing for bankruptcy is the best alternative for relieving the pressure of extreme financial distress. Bankruptcy can provide debtors with a fresh start–a new opportunity in life and a clear field for future effort. The Bankruptcy Code grants financially distressed debtors certain rights that are critical to the proper functioning of the bankruptcy system as a whole. However, bankruptcy debtors, with their limited financial resources and limited exposure to the bankruptcy system, often do not have the ability to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy system and preserve the bankruptcy rights of consumer debtors more generally.  The National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center (NCBRC) is meant to fill that vacuum by filing briefs or providing assistance to consumer debtors’ or their attorneys, especially at the appellate level where a favorable decision will often help thousands of consumer bankruptcy debtors.

[Read more…] about Giving Tuesday and Beyond

A post-discharge settlement based on a consent decree relating to the lender’s misconduct at the time it entered into a lending agreement with the chapter 7 debtors was property of the estate. In re Porrett, No. 09-3881 (Bankr. D. Idaho March 10, 2016).

Gary Allen and Jennifer Sue Porrett had a mortgage through Wells Fargo. They filed chapter 7 bankruptcy and Wells Fargo obtained relief from stay and foreclosed on the property. The Porretts were discharged in 2009. Two years later, Wells Fargo entered into a consent decree with federal regulators based upon Wells Fargo’s practice of pressing borrowers to take sub-prime mortgages even though they were eligible for more favorable prime loans during the period that the Porretts obtained their mortgage. Upon hearing of the consent decree the trustee moved to reopen the Porretts’ bankruptcy to compromise the claim and accept Wells Fargo’s offer of a $8,120.23 settlement. The Porretts argued that because the consent decree was entered into post-bankruptcy it was not property of the estate. The court disagreed.

[Read more…] about Estate Property Encompasses Post-Discharge Consent Decree

The federal government through the Department of Education has entered the fray over what constitutes a hardship sufficient to discharge student loans in bankruptcy.  In an amicus brief filed in support of student loan creditor, ECMC, the government argues that student loans may be discharged only when the debtor’s situation evidences a “certainty of hopelessness.”  Murphy v. U.S. Dept. of Educ., No. 14-1691 (1st Cir. filed July 29, 2015).  Citing a Fifth Circuit decision, DOE suggests that debtors “must specifically prove total incapacity in the future to repay debt for reasons not within his control.” In calling for a standard that requires total incapacity or a certainty of hopelessness, the government’s position is more extreme than that taken by some of the circuit courts of appeal.

[Read more…] about Dept. of Ed.: Undue Hardship = Certainty of Hopelessness or Total Incapacity