March 25, 2016

Seventh Circuit Tells Lower Courts to Duck State Law Foreclosure Issues

State courts should rule on state law issues, says circuit panel including Richard Posner.

7th Circuit

March 07, 2016

Courts Split on Stripping Down Residential Mortgages in Chapter 11

Ninth Circuit B.A.P. and Third Circuit duke it out over Section 1123(b)(5).

9th Circuit, California, California Northern District

February 23, 2016

Unpaid Condominium Fees Cannot Be Stripped Off in New Jersey

Condos in New Jersey get better protection from the court than from the state legislature.

3rd Circuit, New Jersey

February 05, 2016

Lender Protected from Forced Vesting of Title; Debtors Win on Fees and Repeat Filings

Debtors notch three wins and lose once in significant consumer cases.

Supreme Court

January 29, 2016

Sixth Circuit Nixes the Notion of Artificial Impairment for Plan Confirmation

Sixth and Fifth Circuits arguably disagree on what constitutes artificial impairment to confirm a chapter 11 plan.

6th Circuit

January 20, 2016

Lenders Win Again, Beating Back Forced Vesting of Title through Chapter 13

Massachusetts judges disagree on ‘forced vesting’ in chapter 13 plan.

1st Circuit, Massachusetts

January 14, 2016

New York’s ‘Loss Mitigation’ Program Survives One Lender Attack

SDNY’s ‘loss mitigation’ program for mortgage modification may face another attack.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

January 07, 2016

Stripped-Off Mortgages Don’t Count Toward Chapter 13 Unsecured Debt Limits

Ninth Circuit BAP removes another potential barrier to using “chapter 20.”

9th Circuit

January 06, 2016

Second Circuit Charts a New Course Favoring Debtors on the FDCPA

Circuit split grows on the conflict between the Bankruptcy Code and the FDCPA.

2nd Circuit

January 06, 2016

Fifth Circuit Clarifies Rule on Surcharging Collateral Under Section 506(c)

Specific intent to benefit the lender not required before surcharging collateral.

5th Circuit