Govt. Claims/Sovereign Immunity

First Circuit BAP Limits the Student Loan ‘Borrower Defense’

The First Circuit BAP suggests that invocation of the borrower defense with regard to dischargeability of student loans requires exhaustion of administrative remedies in the Department of Education.

Sometimes, a Federal Tax Lien Will Never Be Enforceable in Bankruptcy

Congress left a gap in the statute for perfecting a tax lien on personal property against someone who has no ascertainable residence.

Aug 2022

First Circuit Majority Says Sovereign Immunity Abrogated as to the Puerto Rico Oversight Board

Dissenter implies that the First Circuit should sit en banc and rule that the Oversight Board’s sovereign immunity was not waived

Two Circuits Now Give Priority Status to Obamacare’s Individual Mandate Penalty

The Affordable Care Act’s ‘individual mandate’ was a tax measured by income, thus giving the IRS a priority tax claim.

Circuits More Deeply Split on Waiver of Sovereign Immunity for Native American Tribes

Over a vigorous dissent, the First Circuit Joins the Ninth Circuit by holding that Section 106(a) waives tribes’ sovereign immunity.

Liens on Impounded Cars Are Judicial Liens that May Be Avoided, Seventh Circuit Says

The City of Chicago argued unsuccessfully that liens on cars are statutory because they arise automatically when the car is impounded.

Sixth Circuit BAP Gives Priority Status to Obamacare’s Individual Mandate Penalty

A question may be headed to the Sixth Circuit, where debtors hope to create a circuit split.