Several months ago, there was a bill before Congress which, if passed into law, would have allowed Bankruptcy Judges to modify first mortgages on homesteads. However, the bill failed in the Senate. As of now, the Bankruptcy Code does not allow a debtor to cramdown the mortgage on his first mortgage. So, many people are [...]
July 2009
You are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and something has happened that is making it impossible to make your Chapter 13 Plan payments. What should you do? First, the worst thing you can do is to do nothing! If you stop making your Chapter 13 Plan payments to the Trustee eventually the Trustee will dismiss [...]
Most people who have lost their jobs immediately become afraid of lose their homes – and for good reason. After all, the stress of going foreclosure and being evicted from your home is an experience no one wants to have to endure. Plus, most homeowners view mortgage lenders as being unsympathetic to the plights of [...]
Death of the parent or dependent student discharges the obligation to pay a Federal Parent Plus student loan. Most people learn the hard way that student loans are difficult if not impossible to discharge in bankruptcy. The seminal case, In re Bruner, has been discussed on this site. (Brunner v. New York State Higher Education [...]
The Office of the United States Trustee is an arm of the Department of Justice charged with certain duties in bankruptcy cases. Â The role of the U.S. Trustee can differ from district to district, but principal responsibilities are to appoint and supervise case trustees, i.e., the trustees appointed in your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 [...]
On June 23, 2009, in the case of SNTL Corp. 2009 WL 1758759 (9th Cir. Cal.)), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that unsecured creditors may claim attorney fees incurred postpetition based on a prepetition contract with the debtor. The Ninth Circuit essentially adopted the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel decision and attached the same as an [...]
