“A chapter 13 debtor’s direct payments to a secured creditor pursuant to a ‘cure and maintain’ plan are ‘payments under the plan’ for purposes of § 1328(a), and a debtor who fails to make such payments is not entitled to a discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a).” In re Coughlin, No. 11-76202 and In re Sangamaya, No. 12-71109 (Bankr. E.D. N.Y. June 15, 2017). Read More
Tag Archive: dischargeability
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Direct Payments to Mortgagee are “Payments under the Plan”
Posted by NCBRC - July 6th, 2017
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No False Representation in Loan Acquisition
Posted by NCBRC - May 18th, 2017
Creditors failed to prove that the debtor made false representations with respect to a loan acquired by the debtor’s father claiming to represent the debtor’s company. Hasley v. Irons (In re Irons), No. 15-40876, Adv. Proc. No. 15-4051 (Bankr. D. Neb. March 9, 2017).
Ronald and Vicki Hasley, d/b/a Swite Enterprise, brought an adversary proceeding against the chapter 7 debtor, Tyler B. Irons, seeking an order of nondischargeability under section 523(a) with respect to a state court judgment on a debt.
The litigation between the parties began when the Hasleys filed suit in state court against the debtor; his father, Jack Irons; and his company J & R Motors, LLC, to recover approximately $190,000 Jack Irons borrowed from the Hasleys. The state court rendered judgment against the defendants based, at least in part, on findings of facts resulting from Tyler Irons’s failure to respond to requests for admissions which the court then deemed admitted. Tyler Irons filed chapter 7 bankruptcy shortly thereafter and the Hasleys filed an adversary complaint, seeking an order that the debt was nondischargeable under sections 523(a)(2)(A) and (a)(4). Read More
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Discriminatory Treatment of Student Loan Debt Not Unfair
Posted by NCBRC - December 13th, 2016
“This Court respectfully disagrees with other courts’ holding that, without more, nondischargeability of student loans is an insufficient reason for discriminating in favor of Student Loan Claims.”
In a thoughtful, in-depth discussion addressing the state of student loan debt and the treatment of such debts separately from other debts in chapter 13, the Kansas Bankruptcy Court found that the debtors did not unfairly discriminate against general unsecured creditors by prioritizing their student loan debts in their plan. In re Engen, No. 15-20184 (Bankr. Kans. Dec. 12, 2016). Read More
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Bankruptcy History Creates Inference of Intent to Hinder, Delay
Posted by NCBRC - November 18th, 2016
Where the debtor’s historical use of bankruptcy filings suggested improper purpose to hinder and delay creditors, the trustee’s adversary complaint stated a claim for violation of section 727(a)(2)(A). Rupp v. Pearson (In re Pearson), No. 15-4191 (10th Cir. Nov. 7, 2016).
Ms. Pearson filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy petition and had a plan confirmed in which she agreed to contribute her expected tax refund to the extent it exceeded $2,000. However, she kept the entire $4,829 refund and spent it on non-exempt personal items. As a result, the bankruptcy court dismissed her chapter 13 case. Two week later, she filed the current chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. The trustee filed an adversary complaint seeking to have Ms. Pearson’s discharge denied due to her misappropriation of the tax refund with intent to defraud creditors, in violation of section 727(a)(2)(A). Read More
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Pay-To-Stay Debt Dischargeable
Posted by NCBRC - October 5th, 2016
The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit affirmed that a prison inmate’s pay-to-stay debt was dischargeable in bankruptcy. County of Dakota v. Milan, No. 16-6012 (Sept. 22, 2016).
Section 523(a)(7) precludes discharge of a debt for a fine, penalty or forfeiture owing to a governmental unit unless it is compensation for actual pecuniary loss. While it is not necessary that the debt be explicitly stated to be in the nature of fine or penalty, key to the determination of dischargeability is whether the debt is tied to the debtor’s criminal conduct or whether it is tied to recoupment of the government’s actual expenses. Here, the Minnesota law establishing the pay-to-stay system was explicitly designed to help the county recoup some of its $100/day incarceration expenses. Other factors, while not dispositive in and of themselves, also supported a finding of dischargeability, including that the county had discretion to impose the fee or not depending upon the financial circumstances of the inmate and his family, and that the debt was treated through the county’s civil collection system.
The district court decision was blogged here.
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No Equitable Tolling for Section 727(a)(2) Look-Back Period
Posted by NCBRC - June 30th, 2016
The one-year look-back period for fraudulent transfers is not subject to equitable tolling. DeNoce v. Neff (In re Neff), No. 14-60017 (9th Cir. June 9, 2016).
In October, 2008, Douglas DeNoce obtained a $310,000.00 dental malpractice judgment against Robert Neff. Neff filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in March, 2010, and the following month he quitclaimed property he owned to a revocable living trust that he had created. His bankruptcy was dismissed, and he filed a second chapter 13 petition in June, 2010, listing the revocable trust on his schedules. In August, 2010, he transferred the property back to himself. Neff subsequently voluntarily dismissed that bankruptcy case. In October, 2011, Neff filed a third bankruptcy petition, this time in chapter 7. DeNoce filed an adversary complaint under section 727(a)(2) arguing that the 2010 quitclaim of the property to the trust was a fraudulent transfer. The court granted Neff’s motion for summary judgment on the basis that the transfer had occurred more than one year prior to his chapter 7 bankruptcy. The BAP for the Ninth Circuit affirmed. In re Neff, 505 B.R. 255 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2014). Read More
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Nondischargeability Based on Collateral Estoppel
Posted by NCBRC - May 24th, 2016
Issue preclusion provided a short-cut to finding that the debtor’s liability for the costs and penalties incurred under state consumer protection laws was nondischargeable in bankruptcy under section 523(a)(6). O’Rorke v. Porcaro (In re Porcaro), No. 15-26 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. Feb. 3, 2016). Read More
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Pay-to-Stay Debt Dischargeable
Posted by NCBRC - April 12th, 2016
A debt owed to the county under a pay-to-stay incarceration cost recoupment program was held to be dischargeable under section 523(a)(7). County of Dakota v. Milan, No. 15-3034 (Bankr. D. Minn. March 1, 2016). Read More
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Debtors Denied Discharge for Failure to Make Mortgage Payments Outside Plan
Posted by NCBRC - December 8th, 2015
Debtors whose chapter 13 plan included a provision for curing mortgage arrears through the plan with regular mortgage payments paid outside the plan, are not entitled to discharge when they fail to keep up with the mortgage payments. Kessler v. Wilson (In re Kessler), No. 15-40 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 19, 2015). Read More
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Harsh McCoy Rule Rejected in Late Tax Return Cases
Posted by NCBRC - October 6th, 2015
The bankruptcy court for the district of New Jersey bucked the current trend, and “agree[d] with those decisions that hold that the timing of the filing is not a factor in determining whether the document meets the definition of a ‘return.’”In re Davis, No. 14-26507 (Bankr. D. N.J. Sept. 29, 2015). See also, In re Maitland, 531 B.R. 516 (Bankr. D. N.J. 2015). Read More
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