by Devin Sawdayi | Jun 6, 2014
Years after a debtor obtained a discharge of personal debt in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, a mortgage lender with a second-lien mortgage sought to enforce its lien. A bankruptcy court ruled, over the debtor’s objection, that the lender was allowed to do so. In...
by Devin Sawdayi | May 31, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the trustee in a Chapter 7 case who had obtained a bankruptcy court’s leave to pay attorney’s fees, incurred as a result of fraud by the debtor, from the debtor’s exempt assets. Law v. Siegel, No. 12-5196, slip op. (Sup. Ct., Mar....
by Devin Sawdayi | Apr 22, 2014
Bankruptcy cases can present difficult jurisdictional questions. District courts have original jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases, but may refer them to the bankruptcy court system. A party in a bankruptcy case can move the district court to withdraw the reference of...
by Devin Sawdayi | Apr 16, 2014
Vince Young, a National Football League quarterback, filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2014. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows individuals or businesses to reorganize their debt payments. It bears some similarities to Chapter 13, although Chapter 13 is...
by Devin Sawdayi | Mar 11, 2014
Federal law allows bankruptcy courts to dismiss a Chapter 7 petition if it finds that granting a discharge of debt would constitute an abuse of the bankruptcy system. A debtor must overcome a presumption of abuse by using the Chapter 7 “means test” to show that their...
by Devin Sawdayi | Feb 22, 2014
Two debtors, a married couple, brought an adversary proceeding against a bank, claiming that it violated the automatic stay by continuing to prosecute a lawsuit in state court against a corporation in which they were the sole shareholders, by filing another lawsuit...
