The Ninth Circuit found that a debtor who assumes a lease under Section 365(p) of the Bankruptcy Code waives her right to discharge of debt arising out of that lease. Bobka v. Toyota Motor Credit Corp., No. 18-55688 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2020).
The debtor filed her chapter 7 petition in 2016. She had an ongoing lease with Toyota Motor Credit on her Toyota Rav4. The trustee opted not to assume the lease. In September 2016, the debtor called Toyota about keeping the vehicle. Toyota agreed and sent her and her attorney a lease assumption agreement. She did not return the agreement until December 5, well more than 30 days after she orally told Toyota she wanted to keep the vehicle. The next day, the debtor received her bankruptcy discharge. [Read more…] about 9th Circuit Equates Lease Assumption with Waiver of Discharge