The Bankruptcy Law Firm, Prof. Corp.
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…
Nichols v. Marana Stockyard & Livestock Market Inc. et al (In re Nichols)
Nichols v. Marana Stockyard & Livestock Market Inc. et al (In re Nichols),___ F.4th___, 2021 WL 3891571 (9th Circ. 9/1/2021). Unanimous decision by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals holds that a Chapter 13 debtor has an absolute right to dismiss that debtor’s Chapter 13 case, even if the Chapter 13 debtor had engaged in bad faith or abuse of the bankruptcy process. Nicols decision rules that the Law v. Siegel US Supreme Court case effectively overrules refusing to let Chapter 13 debtors dismiss their Chapter 13 cases because the debtor had done bad thing. Nichols holds that a debtor who…
In re Lockhart-Johnson
In re Lockhart-Johnson, 2021 WL 3186115 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2021). Deciding a previously unresolved issue, the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that, to assert a nondischargeability claim against the non-filing spouse of a debtor, a plaintiff must affirmatively obtain a nondischargeability determination by commencing an adversary proceeding against the non-debtor spouse within 60 days after the meeting of creditors. The BAP acknowledged that neither the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure nor other courts had previously addressed how a creditor can assert its community claim when nondischargeable acts were committed by the non-filing spouse, or “expressly provide[d] the procedure for…
US Supreme Court Blocks CDC Eviction Moratorium
US Supreme Court Blocks CDC Eviction Moratorium, in decision issued 08/26/21 in Alabama Association of Realtors v. Department of Health and Human Services, ___ US ___ (08/26/21): Just one day after the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to enjoin the residential eviction moratorium of the City of Los Angeles, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a lower court order blocking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (“CDC”) latest eviction moratorium on Thursday evening, granting a request from a group of landlords and Realtor associations claiming the CDC had overstepped its authority. The CDC has repeatedly renewed the eviction…
Residential Eviction Moratorium
On 8/25/21, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its Opinion in the case: APARTMENT ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY, INC., DBA Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, Plaintiff-Appellant v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES; ERIC GARCETTI, in his official capacity as Mayor of Los Angeles; CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, in its official capacity; et al, Defendants-Appellees. The OPINION ruled against the landlords, refusing to enjoin the City of Los Angeles, residential eviction moratorium. The Opinion held the City of Los Angeles’ Residential Eviction Moratorium did NOT violate the Contract clause of the US Constitution. Even though…