News
Supreme Court Holds that Denial of Confirmation of a Plan is Not an Appealable Final Order
On 5/4/15, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided, in case Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, Case No. 14-116, that a bankruptcy court’s order denying confirmation of a debtor’s proposed chapter 13 plan is not a final order that the debtor can immediately appeal under 28 U.S.C. Sect. 158(a)(1) and (d)(1). The Court resolved a split among the Courts of Appeals, adopting the majority view. Interestingly, the Court rejected the argument of the Solicitor General, who had joined the debtor in arguing that denial of plan confirmation should be treated as an appealable final order, just as confirmation of a plan…
Will a Debtor with the Right to Appeal an Order Denying Confirmation of a Bankruptcy Plan be Less Likely to Negotiate with Creditors? Justices Examine in Bullard
The Supreme Court on April 1 heard oral argument in Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, the second of two bankruptcy cases that the Court heard that day (an analysis of Harris v. Viegelahn appeared in Tuesday’s edition of the ABI Bankruptcy Brief). In Bullard, the Court took up the question of whether an order denying confirmation of a chapter 13 plan with leave to file an amended plan is a final order appealable as of right. While several Justices were skeptical of the dire consequences cited by respondent Blue Hills Bank, they also recognized that a debtor with the right…
Who Gets Funds Held By Ch. 13 Trustee When Case Converts to Chapter 7? Supreme Court Looks to Policy, Equity and the Code During Oral Argument
On Wednesday, April 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in two bankruptcy cases: Harris v. Viegelahn and Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank. The issue for the Court in Harris is whether funds already paid to, but not yet disbursed by, the chapter 13 trustee should revert to the debtor or be distributed to creditors when the debtor converts his case to chapter 7 after confirmation of his chapter 13 plan. Many of the questions that the Justices asked at oral argument focused not on the nuances of statutory language, but rather on the usefulness of trust law…
Supreme Court, Advocates Struggle with Dewsnup at Oral Argument on Lien Stripping
On Tuesday, March 24, 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the consolidated cases of Bank of America, N.A. v. Caulkett and Bank of America, N.A. v. Toledo-Cardona. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Caulkett and Toledo-Cardona to decide whether a chapter 7 debtor may “strip off” a junior mortgage lien, pursuant to Sect. 506(d), when the debt owed to the senior lienholder exceeds the current value of the collateral. In its 1992 decision in Dewsnup v. Timm, the Supreme Court held that Sect. 506(d) did not permit the chapter 7 debtors to “strip down” a lien to the…
US Supreme Court has heard argument in, and has “under submission” (awaiting Court ruling) on Court’s THIRD case on jurisdiction of Bankruptcy Courts since 2011
Since 2011, the Supreme Court has decided two cases relating to the constitutional authority of Bankruptcy Courts to enter final judgments in proceedings that are outside the resolution of the debtor-creditor relationship and that seek to augment the bankruptcy estate. Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011) and Executive Benefits v. Arkison, 134 S. Ct. 2165 (2014). In January 2015, the Supreme Court heard arguments in its third bankruptcy jurisdiction case in four years. Wellness International v. Sharif, No. 13-935, places at issue both the constitutional authority of the bankruptcy court to enter final judgment that a chapter 7…
Supreme Court Doubleheader
The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (“NACBA”) reports, in its 2/3/15, e-newsletter to members, that NACBA has filed amicus briefs, in two bankruptcy cases on which the US Supreme Court has granted petitions of certiorari, as follows: NACBA filed amicus briefs on Monday in two Supreme Court cases: Harris v. Veigelahn, 14-400, and Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, 14-116. Harris asks whether funds paid into a confirmed chapter 13 plan that are still in the trustee’s possession when the bankruptcy is converted to chapter 7 should be refunded to the debtor or paid to creditors. At the time of…
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Mortgage Lien-Stripping Cases
The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in the cases of Bank of America v. Caulkett and Bank of America v. Toledo-Cardona, and its decision later this year could have big implications for the U.S. housing market, the Financial Times reported today. The cases present the Supreme Court with the issue of whether, under Sect. 506(d) of the Bankruptcy Code (which provides that “[t]o the extent that a lien secures a claim against the debtor that is not an allowed secured claim, such lien is void”), a chapter 7 debtor may “strip off” a junior mortgage lien in its entirety…
America’s Servicing Company v. Schwartz-Tallard
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a rehearing en banc in America’s Servicing Company v. Schwartz-Tallard, 765 F.3d 1096 (9th cir. 2014). The question presented in Schwartz-Tallard is whether debtor’s counsel may obtain a fee award for defending creditor’s appeal in stay violation cases. The Ninth Circuit’s original opinion turned on the application of a wrongly decided Ninth Circuit opinion of Sternberg v. Johnston, 595 F.3d 937 (9th Cir. 2010). In Sternberg, the Court held that debtor’s counsel could be awarded fees for ending a stay violation, but not for pursuing actual damages that resulted from the violation.…
Supreme Court to Hear Oral Argument, on 1/14/15, in Wellness International LTD. v. Sharif
The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments, on 1/14/15, in the case of Wellness International Ltd. v. Sharif, in which the US Supreme Court granted certiorari. The Wellness case is the most recent opportunity for the Court to address the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court. Certiorari was granted on July 1, 2014, from a Seventh Circuit decision. The court will hear argument on the following issues: (1) Whether the presence of a subsidiary state property law issue in an 11 U.S.C. § 541 action brought against a debtor to determine whether property in the debtor’s possession is property of…
On 12/14/14, the US Supreme Court Granted Petitions for Certiorari (ie has agreed to review) in Two Different Bankruptcy Cases, Agreeing to Review Two Different Bankruptcy Issues
There is no right to appeal a bankruptcy issue from a US Court of Appeals, to the US Supreme Court. Instead, a party requests the US Supreme Court to review a bankruptcy decision (and most other kinds of decisions) of a US Court of Appeals, by filing a Petition for Certiorari with the US Supreme Court. Thousands of Petitions for Certiorari are filed each year, with the US Supreme Court, in various subject matters of cases. The US Supreme Court only grants certiorari (agrees to review the US Court of Appeals decision) in a tiny percent of those petitions for…