For many years, it was questionable whether a debtor who filed for chapter 7 relief was able to keep expensive real estate at the expense of paying other creditors.  At least 5 cases have come down since the new laws passed in 2005 that held that such high expenses related to residences was an “abuse” [...]

The United States District Court located in San Diego recently issued an opinion on December 10, 2008, holding that student loans may be discharged in chapter 13 bankruptcy cases where the creditor fails to object after receiving proper notice.  Other cases around the country are also holding the same and the United States Supreme Court [...]

The Southern District of California Bankruptcy Court in San Diego recently issued a ruling that allowed a junior lien to be removed in a Chapter 13 case, even though the debtor was not eligible to obtain a discharge. Discharge was not available since the debtor previously filed a chapter 7 petition and the new bankruptcy laws [...]

Ever wonder how a bankruptcy court would rule, if you actually had a hearing on the question of how much a car is worth in chapter 13?  Did you doubt you could really get a court to reduce the amount of the secured claim to take into account the car’s need for expensive repairs?  Maybe [...]

If you have a commercial lease in bankruptcy, it pays to reject it quickly according to the Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
When a business or individual with a lease on commercial real estate, like a store or (in this case) farmland, files bankruptcy, the debtor or trustee has the right to assume or reject the [...]

The U.S Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, recently ruled that on the means test’s Form B22A, a vehicle ownership expense is allowed even when the debtor has no car payment.  The court’s ruling in In re Tate, No. 08-60953 (5th Cir. June 10, 2009), agrees with the only other circuit court opinion on this issue, In re [...]

The Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel recently reversed a Minnesota bankruptcy court’s ruling that under Minnesota law, a chapter 7 trustee was not entitled to $90,000 which had been mistakenly deposited by a bank president into the debtor’s bank account before he filed bankruptcy.  The bankruptcy court had ruled that because the deposit was a mistake, [...]

It is not uncommon for debtors to have attorney fee claims against themselves and/or future property of the estate.  The most common example is an attorney fee lien agreement on a personal injury case.  In the event of recovery in those cases, the attorney typically receives 33% or more of the gross settlement or judgment.
Recently, [...]

A recent Idaho bankruptcy court decision, In re Jackson, 2009 WL 562621 (Bky.D.Idaho March 5, 2009), shows how critical it can be to correctly choose, in a chapter 13 plan, whether property of the estate should or should not vest in the debtor upon confirmation of the plan.  In this case, the debtors suffered having [...]

A Tennessee bankruptcy court recently ruled that confirmation by the court of a chapter 13 plan did not affect the debtor’s obligation to continue paying his ex-wife’s house payment.  The chapter 13 plan did not specifically say that the ex-wife’s rights were being altered by the proposed plan, although the plan implicitly treated the ex-wife as [...]