It is the rare Chapter 7 case that ends up with sufficient estate assets to pay all claims in full, plus interest as required by 11 U.S.C. §726(a)(5). The question addressed by Judge Sacca in In re Robinson, Ch. 7 Case No. 15-51556, 2017 WL 713571 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. February 22, 2017) (click here for… Continue Reading
In In re Jimerson, Ch. 13 Case No. 16-60838, 2017 WL 393675 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. January 26, 2017 (Basier, J.) (click here for .pdf of opinion), the debtor’s property had been sold at a tax sale for non-payment of Fulton County property taxes. The purchaser at the tax sale sent the appropriate Barment Notice providing… Continue Reading
In In re Anzo, Ch. 7 Case No. 14-22766-jrs, 2017 WL 432787 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. January 30, 2017) (click here for .pdf of opinion), the debtor had been granted a discharge on September 29, 2015 and the case was closed on the same date. Almost a year later, on September 27, 2016 (two days prior… Continue Reading
In In re Vines, Adv. Proc. No. 16-4045, 2017 WL 213806 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. January 18, 2017), the Chapter 13 debtor filed an adversary proceeding to discharge her student loan debt pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §523(a)(8). The lender, Educational Credit Management Corporation, moved to dismiss, arguing that the matter was not ripe for adjudication until… Continue Reading
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (“BAPCPA”), as the name implies, included several amendments to the Bankruptcy Code that were intended to curb alleged “abuses” of the Code and Bankruptcy system. One of the amendments was limiting or eliminating the protections of the automatic stay of §362(a) for repeat filings… Continue Reading
In In re Feagan, 549 B.R. 811, Ch. 13 Case No. 15-40823 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. April 8, 2016) (click here for .pdf of opinion), the issue before Judge Bonapfel was “whether an ‘above-median’ Chapter 13 debtor with car payments on account of a nonpurchase-money debt may deduct the Ownership Costs allowance for purposes of calculating… Continue Reading
Funds in joint bank accounts can generally be accessed by all account-holders — each of them can withdraw all of the money in the account regardless of who actually deposited the funds in the account. This is often the reason for having a joint account. This can create a huge problem for the account holders… Continue Reading
In In re Pete, Ch. 13 Case No. 15-63725-JRS, 2015 WL 8540438 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Dec. 8, 2015), the debtor husband and wife filed a joint Chapter 13 case, disclosing a combined total of unsecured debt of more than $475,000. The Chapter 13 Trustee objected to confirmation and filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that… Continue Reading
In In re Lawson, Ch. 13 Case No. 13-73476-WLH (click here for .pdf of opinion) the issue was whether a settlement agreement between the Debtor and his former spouse, whereby the Debtor retained (via quit claim deed) the marital home and agreed to make the loan payments, was a nondischargeable domestic support obligation pursuant to… Continue Reading
In a July 2015 case the Chapter 7 Trustee sold a house that was underwater with three liens, and received a carve-out from the lender that held the second and third liens. The Debtors did not object to the sale, but to the Trustee’s Final Report because it did not allow for payment of their… Continue Reading
In In re Cochran, Ch. 7 Case No. 13-43242, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 1178 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Feb. 10, 2014), the issue in the motion to avoid lien was whether funds paid into court pursuant to a Summons of Garnishment are property of the Bankruptcy estate after a case is filed. Judge Mary Grace Diehl held… Continue Reading
In Howell v. U.S. Foods, Inc., Ch. 7 Case No. 11-13160, Adv. Proc. No. 13-1054, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 681 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Feb. 5, 2014) (click here for .pdf of Order), the individual debtor owned and managed a restaurant incorporated as Bilbo’s Bar-B-Que, Inc. However, the Trustee alleged that the Debtor operated the business as… Continue Reading
Last week I was at a final hearing on fee applications on behalf of a Chapter 7 Trustee, in a case in which the debtor had failed to disclose a pre-petition personal injury case pending in another state. The defendants in that case ultimately founds out about the Bankruptcy case about a year after it… Continue Reading
In Alley Cassetty Companies, Inc. v. Wren, No. 2:12-cv-196-WCO, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11294 (N.D. Ga. July 22, 2013), the creditor, who had no notice of the Debtor’s Bankruptcy case, filed a collection suit against the Debtor in state court. After receiving notice of the pending Bankruptcy case, creditor’s counsel informed Debtor’s counsel they would… Continue Reading
In Mele v. Bank of America, et al., Adv. Proc. No. 12-5031, 486 B.R. 546, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 455 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. January 8, 2013)(J. Ellis-Monro) (click here for .pdf copy of opinion), the issue before the Court was whether certain communications sent by the home lender after the Debtor’s Chapter 7 was discharged violate… Continue Reading
In a 28 page opinion, Judge Sacca of the Northern District of Georgia held that Bankruptcy Courts have jurisdiction to enter final orders in some cases involving fraudulent transfer claims. Mitchell v. Banks, Adv. Proc. No. 12-0562, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 2384 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. June 5, 2013) (click here for opinion). Judge Sacca based his… Continue Reading
Several popular restaurants in metro Atlanta filed Chapter 11 petitions in the Northern District of Georgia on June 13, 2013 after a $2.14 million judgment was entered in Cobb County Superior Court. The entities filing include: Vinings Dining, LLC (d/b/a Garrison’s Boiler & Tap), Ch. 11 Case No. 13-63089 (click here for Ch. 11 petition).… Continue Reading
In In re Francis, Ch. 13 Case No. 12-73183, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 923 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. March 13, 2013) (J. Hagenau) (click here for opinion), the issue before the Court was whether a Debtor can pay the redemption price from a tax sale through a Chapter 13 plan, where her petition was filed on the… Continue Reading
The Georgia Supreme Court recently answered certified questions from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether a single premium annuity was exempt in a Chapter 7 case, where the annuity was purchased a year before filing with $220,000 in inherited funds. A debtor’s transfer of $220,000 a year before filing Chapter 7 is certainly… Continue Reading
In National City Mortgage v. Gordon (In re Bennett), No. 12-13239, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 10765 (11th Cir. May 29, 2013) (click here for .pdf), the issue was the validity of a Security Deed that did not contain the signature of “one additional witness,” as required by O.C.G.A. § 44-14-33 and identified a larger tract of… Continue Reading
In In re Malone, Ch. 7 Case No. 12-61289, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1282 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. March 28, 2013) (click here for .pdf), the Debtor filed a Motion to Determine Status of Wholly Unsecured Second Mortgage on Real Property when Debtor’s case was pending as a Chapter 13, but the court heard the matter only after… Continue Reading
In United Community Bank v. Harper (In re Harper), Adv. Proc. No. 12-1080, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1080 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. January 29, 2013 (Judge Drake) (click here for .pdf of order), the issue was whether Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 4007(c) created a strict deadline for filing adversary complaints to determine dischargeability of debts under §523(c). Judge Drake… Continue Reading
In a key decision in the Northern District of Georgia, Judge Hagenau has ruled that a secured creditor is only entitled to a secured claim, pursuant to § 506(b), to the extent of its actual and reasonable fees rather than contractual and statutory fees after a foreclosure sale where the property has not been abandoned. … Continue Reading
In In re Stanley, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6031 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Nov. 8, 2012), the debtors certified that they tried to obtain credit counseling but were unable to complete it because they needed to file their Chapter 13 petition to stop a foreclosure the same day. Debtors requested a waiver and deferment of the counseling… Continue Reading
