In light of current events, on April 7, 2020, the Consumer Committee held one of the most successful webinars in its history: “The Consumer Provisions of the CARES Act and Local Court Responses to the Pandemic.” The webinar drew over 1,000 attendees and was held within days of the passage of the far-reaching coronavirus pandemic legislation.
Featuring University of Illinois Prof. Robert Lawless (who was the Reporter for ABI’s Consumer Commission), Judge Tracey Wise of the Eastern District of Kentucky, Chapter 7 Trustee and Debtor Counsel Eric Goering of Cincinnati, Creditor Counsel Michael McCormick of Atlanta, and Moderator David Leibowitz of Chicago, the panel discussed the consumer bankruptcy provisions of the CARES Act. In addition, the panelists discussed how bankruptcy courts have reacted on a local basis to the need for debtors to suspend their chapter 13 plan payments for extended periods of time due to the COVID-19 federal emergency.
Specifically, the panelists discussed the CARES Act amendments, the stimulus payment exclusion from CMI, seven-year plan modifications, the “Sunset” provision, new chapter 13 cases (post-3/27/2020), suspension of payments/modification of plans confirmed prior to 3/27/2020, plans confirmed prior to 3/27/2020, suspension of plan payments for conduit mortgage plans, suspension of plan payments for cure-and-maintain plans, no-look fees, student loans and the CARES Act, stimulus payments in chapters 7 and 13, mortgages in the wake of COVID-19, and the Paycheck Protection Plan.
The committee’s next webinar, “Understanding the Nuts and Bolts of the ‘New’ Subchapter V Small Business Chapter 11,” will be held on May 7, 2020. For more information and to register for the webinar, please click here.