The Bankruptcy Law Firm, Prof. Corp.
Wigley v. Lariat Cos. (In re Wigley), ___F.4th___, 20-3132 (8th Cir. Ct. of Appeals, 10/18/21)
Wigley v. Lariat Cos. (In re Wigley), ___F.4th___, 20-3132 (8th Cir. Ct. of Appeals, 10/18/21): The cap on a so-called landlord claim under Section 502(a)(6) does not prevent the court from barring discharge of the claim under Section 523(a)(2)(A), even if the reduced claim was paid in an individual’s chapter 11 plan, according to this10/18/21 decision of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mass Evictions Didn’t Result After U.S. Ban Ended, Despite Fears
When the federal moratorium on evictions ended in August, many feared that hundreds of thousands of tenants would soon be out on the streets. More than six weeks later, that hasn’t happened, the Wall Street Journal reported. Instead, a more modest uptick in evictions reflects how renter protections at the city and state levels still remain in parts of the country, housing attorneys and advocates said. Landlords, meanwhile, say the risk of an eviction epidemic was always overstated and that most building owners have been willing to work with cash-strapped tenants. Both groups also think that federal rental assistance, slow…
Debt Collection Licensing Act
The New California Debt Collection Licensing Act (“DCLA”) may require some lawyers to get licensed as debt collectors: California had been one of 16 states that did not require licensing of debt collectors. That changed last year with the enactment of the Debt Collection Licensing Act (“DCLA”). 2020 Cal. Stats. ch. 163 (SB 908). The DCLA will go into effect at the beginning of next year and provides for the licensing and regulation of debt collectors. As defined by the DCLA, a debt collector is “any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly, on behalf of that person…
Margavitch v. Southlake Holdings LLC (In re Margavitch)
Margavitch v. Southlake Holdings LLC (In re Margavitch), ___BR___, case no. 20-00014 (Bankr. M.D. Pa. Oct. 6, 2021): Bky ct decision holding that, in light of the US Supreme Court Fulton decision, a creditor does not violate any of the 11 USC 362(a)(1)-(8) bankruptcy automatic stays, by refusing to release– after the debtor filed bankruptcy and demanded (several time) that the creditor release the judicial lien the creditor had obtained on debtor’s bank account, which lien the creditor had obtained before the debtor filed bankruptcy. ABI in its 10/14/21 e-mail reports on the Margavich decision as follows: Refusing to Release…
Argonaut Ins. Co. v. Falcon V LLC
Argonaut Ins. Co. v. Falcon V LLC, 20-00702 (US District Court, M.D. La. Sept. 30, 2021) holds Surety Bonds Aren’t Executory Contracts, Can’t Be Assumed, and Can’t “Ride Through” bankruptcy, unaffected. The US District Court affirmed a Bankruptcy Court decision, to hold that an irrevocable surety bond isn’t executory because it gives the bonding company no further obligations to the debtor. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has adopted the definition of executory contracts proposed by Prof. Vern Countryman of Harvard Law School. The professor called a contract executory if it is “a contract under which the…
One-Third Of American Families Weren’t Prepared For Financial Emergencies, Even Before The Pandemic
There’s a reason we’re supposed to load our savings accounts with cash for a rainy day. You never know when a catastrophic financial event might occur. And without money in the bank, you could wind up in a dire situation that sends you into debt or even bankruptcy. Now, when we think about financial catastrophes, it’s easy to point to the coronavirus outbreak as a recent example. The pandemic has been a major health crisis that many are still grappling with. But it also upended a lot of people’s finances. And unfortunately, a large number of Americans weren’t prepared to…
Student Loan Bankruptcy Citations and Resources
[1] 3 F.4th 595, 604–05 (2d Cir. 2021). 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) specifically excepts from discharge “an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend.” [2] Id. at 599. [3] Id. [4] Id. [5] Id. [6] Id. [7] Id. [8] Id. [9] Id. at 605. [10] See Crocker v. Navient Sols. LLC (In re Crocker), 941 F.3d 206 (5th Cir. 2019). [11] See McDaniel v. Navient Sols. LLC (In re McDaniel), 973 F.3d 1083 (10th Cir. 2020). [12] Bill Rochelle, “All Private Student Loans Are Not Excepted from Discharge, Second Circuit Holds,” American Bankruptcy Institute: Rochelle’s…
Update on Trying to Discharge Student Loan Debt
American Bankruptcy Institute 9/10/21 Update on Trying to Discharge Student Loan Debt: In July 2021, the Second Circuit issued an opinion favoring the dischargeability of certain private student loans in what appears to be a growing circuit trend. This trend correlates with the call for student loan reform, which has been at the forefront of the news in recent months. In Homaidan v. Sallie Mae Inc., the Second Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of lender Navient’s motion to dismiss on the basis that 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8)(A)(ii) does not except private student loans from discharge. [1] Debtor Homaidan filed…
American Bankruptcy Institute Reports that 44 Percent of U.S. Small Businesses Have Less than 3 Months’ Worth of Cash
[ABI e-newsletter of 9/9/21] More than 18 months into the pandemic, bakery owner Letha Pugh is so low on cash that she’s afraid to spend it on anything other than paying her employees. She’s hardly alone: 44% of U.S. small businesses have less than three months of cash reserves, leaving them vulnerable to another shutdown due to COVID-19 or other financial emergencies, according to a Goldman Sachs survey of more than 1,100 small businesses, CBSNews.com reported. An even greater share — 51% — of Black-owned small businesses have less than three months’ cash on hand, according to the same survey.…
Federal Jobless Aid, a Lifeline to Millions, Reaches an End on 9/4/21
Unemployment benefits have helped stave off financial ruin for millions of laid-off workers over the last year and a half. After this week, that lifeline will snap: An estimated 7.5 million people will lose their benefits when federally funded emergency unemployment programs end, the New York Times reported. Millions more will see their checks cut by $300 a week. The cutoff is the latest and arguably the largest of the benefit “cliffs” that jobless workers have faced during the pandemic. Last summer, the government ended a $600 weekly supplement that workers received early in the crisis, but other programs remained…