The above-median income Chapter 13 debtors began taking 401(k) deductions post- Petition and took deductions on the Means Test for those contributions to the husband’s retirement plan. The Chapter 13 Trustee objected and the Court noted that much of the confusion in...
Debtor is jointly liable on a promissory note with ex-spouse and files a Chapter 13 plan proposing to discharge $3,164.00 as a DSO and lists the note as a general unsecured debt. Ex wife objects to confirmation of the plan and nearly a year after confirmation of...
A Chapter 7 Trustee files a motion to dismiss debtor’s case after ascertaining debtor had disposable income of $1,636.21 despite debtor’s Schedule J reflecting a deficit of $239.06. The debtor did not oppose the dismissal and the bankruptcy dismissed the case. The...
A ‘transfer’ does not include a bank account holder’s regular deposit into his own unrestricted checking account. A Chapter 7 debtor, running a Ponzi scheme, deposited funds from his victims into his checking account. The Ponzi scheme collapsed, an involuntary Chapter...
In the recent case of In re Miner, 2017 wL 1011419 (Bankr. W.D. La. 3/14/17), the court denied confirmation of the debtor’s Chapter 13 plan because the court believed the debtor was contributing too much to his retirement plan at the expense of his unsecured...
A recent article in the Washington Post, “The Trap of Payday Loans” highlights the very serious problems that consumers face with payday loans. Payday loans fill a very important need for people in a financial bind, which leads to exploitation–how do I pay the...
Once I am hired as an attorney for a debtor, I advise my client to let any creditors who call know that he or she has retained my firm as his or her counsel and that any questions regarding them must be made to my office. Once the bankruptcy case is filed, I advise my...
In the recent case of Failla v. Citibank, NA (In re Failla), 2016 WL 5750666 (11th Cir. 2016), the 11th Circuit held that debtors who indicated their intention to “surrender” their real property in their Chapter 7 case, could not later contest the foreclosure of the...
If a debtor did not avoid a judicial lien on a piece of real estate he owed when he filed a Chapter 7 case, he may avoid it a subsequent Chapter 13 case, In Re Fielder, 2016 WL 6879252 (Bankr. D. Or. 11/16/16) In Fielder, at the time the debtors filed a Chapter 7 case...
Debtors who file bankruptcy oftentimes complain about the fact that after they file their mortgage companies or car finance lenders stop sending monthly billing statements for fear of violating the automatic stay provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. Now, under a recent...