December 20, 2019

Treasury Offset Program Can’t Be Used After Bankruptcy, District Judge Says

Now on the district court bench, then-Bankruptcy Judge Frank Volk was upheld in a tricky case involving the government’s right of setoff.

4th Circuit, West Virginia, West Virginia Southern District

December 19, 2019

Supreme Court Grants ‘Cert’ to Decide Whether Inaction Violates the Automatic Stay

Virginia case highlights the damage that will be done to debtor protections if affirmative action is required for a stay violation.

4th Circuit, Virginia, Virginia Eastern District

December 18, 2019

Even a $3 Million Claim for Severance Is Exempt in Illinois as Wages, Easterbrook Says

Pleas to injustice and unfairness failed to persuade the Seventh Circuit to depart from a state law exemption for wages.

7th Circuit

December 17, 2019

An Inherited IRA Can Be Exempt Under State Law When It’s Not in Section 522(b)(3)(C)

A divided Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that an inherited IRA, not exempt under federal law, is exempt under state law.

1st Circuit, Rhode Island

December 12, 2019

Fifth Circuit Creates a Circuit Split on Stay Termination for Repeat Filers

Disagreeing with a decision by the First Circuit last December, the Fifth Circuit rules that the ‘plain language’ in Section 362(c)(3)(A) does not terminate the automatic stay as to estate property 30 days after the second filing within one year.

5th Circuit

December 10, 2019

Supreme Court Might Allow FDCPA Suits More than a Year After Occurrence

The ‘fraud-specific discovery rule’ might permit FDCPA suits filed more than one year after the occurrence that gives rise to the claim.

Supreme Court

December 09, 2019

Mortgage Servicer Blew the Statute of Limitations, Judge Grossman Says

New York intermediate appellate courts are split on critical questions about the ‘start date’ for the statute of limitations on mortgage foreclosure.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Eastern District

December 06, 2019

Seventh Circuit Limits Punitive Damages to Total Compensatory Damages of $582,000

Despite atrocious mortgage servicing, the circuit court cut a jury’s $3 million award of punitive damages to $582,000.

7th Circuit

December 04, 2019

Law v. Segal Allowed a Fraudster to Retain $30,000

Eighth Circuit was compelled to overrule its own precedent that permitted the bankruptcy court to bar a debtor from amending schedules based on bad faith.

8th Circuit

November 27, 2019

Support for Indigent Extended Family Cut Off in Chapter 13, but Life Insurance Wasn’t

Chapter 13 forces judges to micromanage the lives of debtors.

4th Circuit, Virginia, Virginia Eastern District