Consumer Bankruptcy

Case Law Update

Personal Injury Settlement Was Not ‘Income’ Payable to Creditors in Chapter 13

Memphis Bankruptcy Judge Denise Barnett reads the BAPCPA amendments as excluding personal injury settlements from the calculation of ‘projected disposable income.’

Post-Petition Appreciation: Whose Line (Item) Is It, Anyway?

Nov 2023

Soldiers and Recent Veterans May Soon Be Subject to the Means Test/Thank You for Your Service

Nov 2023

Ten Economic Insights: How Consumer Attorneys Can Maximize Their Value

Nov 2023

Balance 101: Recalibrating the Student Debt Relationship

Nov 2023

Chapter 7 Debtors Have No Appellate Standing to Challenge a Short Sale, Circuit Says

Ninth Circuit doesn’t allow debtors to appeal when a trustee sells their home out from underneath them in a short sale.

College Tuition Made a Debtor Ineligible for Chapter 7

Chapter 7 can be inaccessible for a married debtor living in the same household with a nonfiling spouse who has substantial income.

Rising Home Values and Chapter 13: A Deepening Split

When, post-confirmation, a chapter 13 debtor sells his or her home, who gets the benefit of the appreciation: the debtor, or his or her creditors? Judge Randon in Michigan adopted the so-called “estate replenishment approach” and held that sale proceeds derived from post-confirmation appreciation of a home belong to the debtor.