Clouds of uncertainty have hovered over Chapter 13 debtors who find that they need to sell appreciated property before the case is over. Does appreciation occurring after filing go to creditors on the theory that the appreciation is property of the estate? Or does the vesting of property at confirmation entitle the debtor to any […]
First Principles For First Meetings
Once again, I sat in a 341 meeting where the trustee purported to deliver vital information to the assembled debtors. She had a captive audience of anxious listeners. She had ostensible power of life and death over their financial future. They needed to know what she had to say. But as communication, it failed. Badly. […]
PACE Loans- New Subprime Debts
Presentation November 2017 NCLC Consumer Litigation Conference 1 NCLC PACE Presentation final
When Worlds of Bankruptcy & Family Law Collide
Bankruptcy, actual or threatened, can cause a genuine disruption in the force when divorce is on the table. That collision can be liberating or disruptive, depending on the timing of a bankruptcy filing and the goals of your client. Because the fallout from a bankruptcy case can be overwhelming, family lawyers need a working knowledge […]
When The Means Test Is Meaningless
A local bankruptcy attorney stumbled over the most basic part of the means test. Just this week… nearly 15 years after the bankruptcy “reform” act of 2005. I thought we were several years past bankruptcy attorneys clueless about the means test. But apparently not. When the means test doesn’t apply This fine fellow told a […]
Win Now, Wreck Later: A Tale of Bankruptcy and Mortgage Servicing
My Google Alert popped up a lovely win for a Chapter 13 homeowner , but all I could see was the train wreck that lies ahead. The bankruptcy court ruled that the confirmed (and completed) plan trumped a late-filed mortgage proof of claim. Payment of the amount provided in the plan cured the prepetition arrearage. […]
Amid the comfortable camaraderie of the Chapter 13 bar’s holiday gathering, the trustee and I were struck by the paucity of young, or even youngish, faces in the group. The stout, dedicated lawyers who’ve toiled in the ND CA bankruptcy courts (rather magnificently, if you ask me) are growing old. And neither the trustee nor […]
