News
US Supreme Court Rules That Purchaser Of Defaulted Debt Is Not “Debt Collector” Under FDCPA
The US Supreme Court ruled, 6/12/17, in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., No. 16-349, 2017 BL 198032 (U.S. June 12, 2017), that the purchaser of a defaulted debt is not a “debt collector” subject to the FDCPA. The FDCPA applies to “debt collectors,” a term defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) as anyone who “regularly collects or attempts to collect . . . debts owed or due . . . another.” The term includes “any creditor who, in the process of collecting his own debts, uses any name other than his own which would indicate that a third person…
Midland Funding LLC v. Johnson
US Supreme Court on 5/15/17 issued a decision in Midland Funding LLC v. Johnson holding that Debtor Collectors That Pursue Stale Debt In Bankruptcy cases, by filing a proof of claim on a debt that is beyond the state law statute of limitations, do NOT violate the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) federal consumer protection statute. US Supreme Court decision reversed an US Circuit Court, Eleventh Circuit, decision that had held that it DID violated the FDCPA for creditors to file proofs of claim in a bankruptcy case, that were past the non-bankruptcy law statute of limitations. Click here…
Circuit Split on Whether or Not Bankruptcy Courts Are “Courts of the United States”
Circuit split on whether or not bankruptcy courts are “courts of the United States”. If they are, Bankruptcy Courts can use 28 USC 1927 (as well as 11 USC 105) to order misbehaving debtors, creditors, and their attorneys to pay monetary sanctions. If Bankruptcy Courts are NOT “courts of the United States”, they cannot use 28 USC 1927, but can still use 11 USC 105. This Circuit split is reported in a 2016 not for publication 6th Circuit case, In re Royal Manor Management (6th Cir. 6/15/16), 652 Fed. App. 330, as follows: There is a split of authority regarding…
Fees to Recover Sanctions Are Permitted under 28 U.S.C. § 1927
Whether a court can award “fees on fees” is a hot topic, exemplified by the US Supreme Court’s decision in Baker Botts LLP v. Asarco LLC , 135 S. Ct 2158 (2015) which holds that retained counsel cannot obtain compensation for successfully defending a fee application. In the appellate context, the Ninth Circuit laid down rules explaining when an injured party can recover fees incurred in obtaining a sanction against an adversary for a frivolous appeal. Essentially, the expense of obtaining a monetary sanction can be recovered if the basis for the award is a fee-shifting statute. If the basis…
US Supreme Court to Hear Oral Argument on 4/18/17 in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc.
The U.S. Supreme Court today will hear oral argument in a case that looks at whether a company that regularly attempts to collect debts it purchased after the debts had fallen into default is a “debt collector” subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
U.S. Bank NA v. The Village at Lakeridge LLC
U.S. Bank NA v. The Village at Lakeridge LLC: US Supreme Court on 3/2717 Granted Petition for Certiorari on U.S. Bank NA v. The Village at Lakeridge LLC, to decide the issue of Appellate Standards for Non-Statutory Insider Status. However, does not appear that granting certiorari on U.S. Bank NA v. The Village at Lakeridge LLC will result in the US Supreme Court reviewing the more important question of INSIDER treatment.
U.S. Bank N.A. v. The Village at Lakeridge, LLC
U.S. Bank N.A. v. The Village at Lakeridge, LLC (In re The Village at Lakeridge, LLC), 814 F.3d 993 (9th Cir. 2016): Held that purchasing a claim from an insider of the bankruptcy debtor does NOT necessarily result in the person/entity purchasing the claim becoming an insider. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a vote on a plan of reorganization submitted by a non-insider claimant was not to be disregarded under Bankruptcy Code section 1129(a)(10) merely because the claimant purchased the claim from an insider. FACTS: The debtor owned a commercial real estate development in…
Retailers’ Free Speech Challenge to Surcharge/discount Distinction for Describing Price Differences for Credit Card and Cash Sales
Retailers’ Free Speech Challenge to Surcharge/discount Distinction for Describing Price Differences for Credit Card and Cash Sales (US Supreme Court docket certarari granted on 10-20-16, and US Supreme Court heard argument of case on 1/11/17 :U.S. Supreme Court on 1/11/17 struggled over how to decide a challenge to a state law barring retailers from charging more to buy with credit instead of cash, debating whether it merely regulates prices or violates merchants’ constitutional rights. The eight justices heard an hour of arguments in an appeal brought by merchants to a lower court’s ruling upholding the New York law, which is…
Beware of Online Bankruptcy Solicitations
BEWARE OF SUPPOSED “NATIONAL” LAW FIRM (PRINCE LAW FIRM, LLC) WHICH ADVERTISED ON INTERNET, SOLICITING FOR BANKRUPTCY CASES, BUT WHICH WAS NOT A NATIONAL LAW FIRM, AND WHICH WAS FARMING THE CASES OUT TO LAW FIRMS IN VARIOUS STATES, SOMETIMES WITH BAD RESULTS: In re Aimee Dawn Futreal and Judge A. Robbins, US Trustee for Region Four, Movant v. Brent Barbour and Barry Proctor and Prince Law Firm, LLC, Respondents; and In re Micah Jerimey Repass and Holly Leigh Repass, Debtors, and Judgy A. Robbins, US Trustee for Region Four, Movant v. Brent Barbour and Barry Proctor and Prince Law,…
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys files Amicus Brief, arguing against the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals Judicial Estoppel Doctrine
NCBRC has filed an amicus brief in the Eleventh Circuit on behalf of the NACBA membership to address the issue of that circuit’s approach to judicial estoppel. Slater v. U.S. Steel, No. 12-15568 (filed October 24, 2016). Twenty one months after filing an employment discrimination suit in federal district court against her former employer, U.S. Steel, Sandra Slater filed for bankruptcy. (The original case was filed under chapter 7 and later converted to chapter 13). She failed to list the pending federal case in her bankruptcy schedules. U.S. Steel then moved the district court to bar the discrimination suit based…