An email from a new client:
Hi Sam! Thank you for your time yesterday. A few quick questions for you.
I had the pleasure of attending the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys seminar held at the Nebraska College of Law a week ago, and it got me thinking about how much trial attorneys need to understand about the bankruptcy process. In a nutshell, here are seven things every trial attorney should understand about bankruptcy.
1. Injury
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a homeowner has a private right of action to sue their mortgage lender when the bank fails to properly process the application. Topchain v JPMorgan Chase, No. 13-2128 (8th Cir. 2014). This is a significant case because the HAMP laws do not specifically
How much does it cost to file Chapter 13? I have answered that question for nearly 20 years, and it seems that about every 5 years the local court rules provide a different answer. Well, the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court rolled out yet another compensation system for debtor’s attorneys effective December 1, and this time
A recent ruling by the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court underscores one of the primary differences between the treatment of divorce debts in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases. (See In re Schulz, Nebraska Adversary Case #12-04070).
On August 30, 2011, the District Court for Buffalo County, Nebraska entered a divorce decree that included a division
The 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has ruled that a Chapter 13 debtor may not create a special class of unsecured creditors for nonpriority, nondischargeable tax debts at the expense of other unsecured creditors. In the case of Shawn & Lauren Copeland v. Richard V. Fink, the debtors sought to create a separate class
Two new court opinions were recently handed down by the 5th and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of whether Social Security income is considered “projected disposable income” under the Bankruptcy Code. Projected disposable income is income that must be paid over to creditors during a 3 to 5 year Chapter 13 payment plan.
In the
Sometimes simpler is not better. Sometimes cheaper is more expensive in the long run. Those thoughts occurred to me after meeting with a new client regarding her financial problems. The client, a 61-year-old single women earning $14 per hour, was struggling to pay $9,000 of credit cards. Her income had declined after a change in
Chapter 13 cases involve a payment plan over 3 to 5 years. No case may be completed in less than 3 years (unless an undue hardship exists), nor may the plan extend beyond 5 years.
Since 2005, the Bankruptcy Code now requires that debtors whose income is above the median family income levels to remain