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Bankruptcies soar to near 2005 levels
Bankruptcy filings soared in 2010 to their highest levels since 2005, the year the pending Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act prompted record filings in order to beat the Act’s effective date.
09-3448 Stamat v. Neary
Bankruptcy Denial of discharge Where the debtors made numerous material omissions, displaying a reckless disregard for the truth, they were properly denied discharge of their debts. “Some bankruptcy courts examining ‘ordinary course,’ both in the section 727 context and in others, have found that the payment of living expenses occurs in the ‘ordinary course of […]
Bankruptcy courts divide on student loans
Wisconsin’s bankruptcy courts are divided over whether a Chapter 13 debtor can give preferential treatment to student loan debts.
10-32528 In re Johnson
Bankruptcy Student loans Student loan obligations are not a special circumstance under 11 U..C. 707(b)92)(B); but a debtor may separately classify the loan obligations and maintain regular payments on them. “The Debtor has failed to demonstrate that the repayment of her student loan obligations constitutes a special circumstance under § 707(b)(2)(B). Although an involuntary or […]
10-2757 In re Davis
Bankruptcy Discharge; fraud A judgment pursuant to a state’s home improvement act can be discharged in bankruptcy. “At bottom, this case involves a miscommunication, not fraud. Reeves and Davis had different understandings of what was included in the contract. The state court found Reeves’s understanding to be the correct one. But only if Davis in […]
08-15716-7 In re Risler
Bankruptcy Estate Where an unambiguous deed gives the debtor an interest in real estate, the trustee is authorized to sell it for the benefit of creditors. “As the Wisconsin Supreme Court has observed, if a deed is susceptible to only one interpretation on its face, its construction is purely a question of law and extrinsic […]
10-32042 In re Snyder
Bankruptcy Sanctions Where an attorney filed a bankruptcy petition, knowing the client was not eligible for discharge, for the sole purpose of delaying a garnishment creditor, a $500 sanction is appropriate. “She freely admitted she had filed the case solely to thwart the creditor’s legal action, and she knew the debtor did not qualify for […]
09-15224 In re Bronk
Bankruptcy Exemptions; EdVest EdVest College Savings Plans are not exempt property in bankruptcy. “It is certainly not inconceivable that the Wisconsin legislature intended to create an unlimited exemption for college savings accounts and that the ‘account owner’ would be entitled to claim that exemption. But as the cited authorities indicate, there are a number of […]
Substantial bankruptcy sanction upheld
It is common knowledge that student loans are nearly impossible to discharge in bankruptcy.
08-4317, 09-4009 & 10-1456 In re Busson-Sokolik
Bankruptcy Sanctions Where most of an attorney’s errors in a bankruptcy proceeding were procedural errors rather than the result of bad faith, a sanction of more than $60,000 is excessive. “Notwithstanding the reasonableness of the decision to award sanctions and the reasonableness of MSOE’s fees , we do not find that the full amount awarded […]
10-38561 In re Willems
Bankruptcy Retroactivity The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ransom v. FIA Card Services, 2011 U.S. LEXIS 608 (Jan. 11, 2011), applies retroactively to unconfirmed Chapter 13 plans filed prior to the decision. “Ransom announces the Supreme Court’s construction of the ownership expense deduction under the Bankruptcy Code. 2011 U.S. LEXIS 608. This Court, therefore, is […]
10-1882 In re Berman
Bankruptcy Nondischargeability; fiduciary duty Even if a corporate director or officer of an insolvent corporation owes a fiduciary duty to creditors, that duty is not a basis for non-dischargeability of the debt, absent fraud. “Here, the bankruptcy judge correctly concluded that an ordinary principal-agent or buyer-seller relationship, without more, is not a fiduciary relationship under [&helli[...]
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