The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently held that the "no fair ground of doubt" standard established by the Supreme Court of the United States in Taggart v. Lorenzen, a case involving alleged violation of a Chapter 7 discharge order, governed civil contempt proceedings for violation of a confirmed reorganization plan under Chapter 11.
Posts published in “Bankruptcy”
Federal courts have recently dismissed a number of cases brought by consumers alleging violations of consumer protection law because they lack “standing.” The trend has been hastened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, a case involving the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
In its top consumer credit law decisions of 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that settlement of an FDCPA claim does not trigger an attorney fee award, examined third-party contact as a "communication" under the FDCPA, and ruled there was no "partial surrender" of collateral in a Chapter 13 plan.
When 2020 ended, many of us were unsure what 2021 would look like from a bankruptcy perspective. Would consumer filings increase? Could we see bankruptcy reform and particularly in the area of discharge of student loans?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of several actions by a borrower against a mortgagee, and in so ruling also held that it did not have jurisdiction to review the lower court’s remand order, and that the borrower had waived his right to challenge an award of attorney fees and costs in connection with the remand.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently rejected a borrower’s objections to a bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction and held that the doctrine of res judicata barred the borrower’s claim objection as it was ultimately based on the alleged impropriety of the creditor’s claim from a prior bankruptcy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently ruled that a debtor’s appeal of a sale order was statutorily mooted by Subsection 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently affirmed a bankruptcy court’s grant of a debtor’s motion for summary judgment allowing the debtor to void a mortgage under the “strong arm” provision of the Bankruptcy Code.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed lower court rulings that a bankrupt debtor was entitled to receive damages and attorneys’ fees for a creditor's violation of the automatic stay in bankruptcy.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit vacated the bankruptcy court's order confirming a farm debtor's chapter 12 plan, concluding that the bankruptcy court erred by failing to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine the value of a bank's collateral where the collateral was disputed. The Panel also concluded that the bank needed to file a proof of claim.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of the buyer at a homeowners association’s non-judicial foreclosure sale that was conducted in violation of the automatic stay in the borrower's bankruptcy, and against a mortgagee whose interest in the foreclosed property would have been extinguished.
The last year and a half was a time to be remembered in bankruptcy law. It started with an eye on increasing the ability of small businesses to utilize the Chapter 11 process in a more efficient and less expensive way, which led to a record number of commercial filings, a reduction in consumer filings, and a test of the bankruptcy system. What will the second half of 2021 look like?