Nonjudicial Foreclosure Is Not Subject to the FDCPA, Supreme Court Rules
Supreme Court says that activities not required by state law in nonjudicial foreclosure may be covered by the FDCPA.
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Gatley Bankruptcy Faces Dismissal as U.S. Trustee Cites Ongoing Incapacitation
A U.S. Trustee is asking a federal judge to dismiss or convert the personal bankruptcy of landlord Chris Gatley, saying that he continues to be "incapacitated" and hasn't filed several key monthly operating reports (MORs), Springfield News-Leader reported. The new filing comes days after Randall S. Reed Sr. filed a motion allegedly on behalf of Gatley asking the court to dismiss the case. The court then asked Reed to prove that he had power of attorney for Gatley, who is acting as his own lawyer for the chapter 11 proceeding. In January, a federal judge dismissed a chapter 11 bankruptcy for Gatley's rental company, 417 Rentals, saying that he did not have a viable plan to reorganize his business, didn't comply with court orders and failed to file MORs. Filings in that case said the company's debts amounted to about $19 million. Since then, dozens of Gatley's properties have been foreclosed and auctioned off. Acting U.S. Trustee <b>Daniel J. Casamatta</b> filed a motion asking a federal judge to either dismiss Gatley's remaining bankruptcy case or convert it to a chapter 7. The federal trustee wrote that Gatley didn't file required MORs for September, November, December or February, and only filed partial reports for October and January. The motion states that Gatley has been "incapacitated" and "unable to fulfill his responsibilities" as a debtor since he was shot in January and had missed scheduled meetings of creditors. The motion also accuses Gatley of transferring "a substantial number of his individually owned assets to 417 Rentals to avoid personal liability for code violations and to prevent the local taxing authorities from selling the properties to pay delinquent real estate taxes."
Appeals Panel: Bankruptcy Code Not Intended to ‘Shelter’ Chicago Parking, Traffic Ticket Scofflaws
A federal appeals panel has determined that a bankruptcy filing shouldn’t offer protection from traffic fines, the Cook County Record reported. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a consolidated appeal from the city of Chicago, which has been trying to get money from car owners who said bankruptcy proceedings precluded them from paying speeding, red light and parking tickets. According to the opinion, Chicago’s municipal code makes vehicle owners responsible for traffic tickets. The city said seven debtors failed to pay 72 fines totaling nearly $12,000 because their chapter 13 estates can ignore the tickets because there is no provision for the payment of fines incurred after filing for bankruptcy, and that their cars can’t be towed or booted. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Pamela Hollis denied the city’s motion to vacate the orders, keeping the vehicles in the chapter 13 estates. Seventh Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook noted Judge Hollis said she hadn’t read the city’s motions. “The only reason she gave is that the court as an institution routinely keeps all assets in all chapter 13 estates,” Easterbrook wrote. “She did not say why she and her colleagues do this — and, as far as the parties are aware, or we could ascertain, the court has never explained why it made this decision.” In the alternative, the city asked Hollis to treat the fines as administrative expenses needed to preserve each estate’s holdings. She denied that motion as well, and U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo affirmed that ruling. “Immunity from traffic laws for the duration of a chapter 13 plan does not seem to us an outcome plausibly attributed to the Bankruptcy Code,” Judge Easterbrook wrote. “Nothing in the text of the Code so much as hints at such an objective, and one point of returning property to the debtors’ ownership … is to ensure that debtors pay the ordinary and necessary expenses of maintaining that property.”
Colorado Doctor Sentenced to Prison for Bankruptcy Fraud
A Boulder, Colo., doctor who pleaded guilty in August to bankruptcy fraud was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Denver on Friday to 18 months in prison, The Denver Post reported. Cathleen Van Buskirk appeared in court free on bail on Friday and must report to the Bureau of Prisons no later than April 19, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office. Van Buskirk pleaded guilty to a single count of bankruptcy fraud in August. Court records show that Van Buskirk’s prosecutors agreed in a plea deal not to ask for more than 33 months in federal prison. Van Buskirk was indicted last year after prosecutors said she “deliberately failed to disclose certain assets and took various steps to conceal her interest in those concealed assets” in 2014 and 2015. According to the plea agreement, Van Buskirk went into debt after a failed real estate investment in New Mexico. Prosecutors said that while considering filing for bankruptcy, Van Buskirk had her sister and an employee create companies to which she moved money. In total, prosecutors believe Van Buskirk hid about $250,000 in assets from the bankruptcy trustee.
The Rule 3001(f) Presumption of Claim Validity Doesn’t Include the Value of Collateral
California judge differs with the Third Circuit regarding the presumption of collateral value flowing from a lender’s proof of secured claim.
Judge Name - Do not use it.
Christopher D. Jaime
H.R. 1726, the "Protecting Gun Owners in Bankruptcy Act of 2019."
To amend title 11 of the United States Code to include firearms in the types of property allowable under the alternative provision for exempting property from the estate.
Seventh Circuit Bars Chapter 13 Plan from Conferring Immunity from Traffic Tickets
Judge Easterbrook pens another gem. Even if you don’t like the result, you gotta like the language.
Judge Name - Do not use it.
Frank Easterbrook
Reading Stern Narrowly, Delaware Judge to Issue Final Order in Fraudulent Transfer Suit
Judge Sontchi declines to rule that 28 U.S.C. § 157 is unconstitutional by denominating fraudulent transfer suits as ‘core’ proceedings.
Judge Name - Do not use it.
Christopher S. Sontchi
