OpinionsDebtors' claim of exemption of land contract payments as business property was disallowed. Debtors were allowed an exemption in 75% of the interest, but not principal due and owing under land contract as of the petition date; instead limited to interest due for one week and to extent reasonably necessary for support of debtors. Any claimed amount in excess was disallowed. In Re Perkins, 05-45816 (March 2006) -- Judge P. Pepper Section 1325(a) of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 does not abrogate the Supreme Court's holding in Till v. SCS Credit Corporation as it relates to vehicles purchased for the debtor's personal use within 910 days of the bankruptcy filing. The 'hanging paragraph' of section 1325(a) does away with the practice of bifurcating claims into secured and unsecured portions; it does not alter the Till rate on post-petition interest. In Re French, 06-20066 (March 2006) -- Judge P. Pepper The trustee withheld recommending confirmation until such time as the debtor could file her 2005 tax returns, relaying on section 1308 of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. That section requires debtors to file the tax returns for the four years preceding the filing of the petition before confirmation can be recommended. The debtor argued that, because her 2005 return was not yet due under applicable tax law, she was not required to file it, and therefore the trustee was unreasonably delaying its discharge recommendation. The Court held that the trustee correctly delayed recommending confirmation until the 2005 return could be filed--the statue envisions and allows for just such a delay in cases where a debtor files for bankruptcy in the first 3 1/2 months of the year, before the previous year's returns are due. In re Habiballa, 337 B.R. 911 (February 2006) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Claim Objections must be supported by evidence, even when claims lack supporting documentation and detail. In Re Farchmin, 05-45947 (February 2006) -- Judge P. Pepper In most cases, it is not necessary or appropriate to move the court to extend the time for filing tax returns under section 521 of BAPCPA. Section 521(e) requires certain tax returns to be provided to the trustee, and therefore the trustee is the person to whom requests to extend time should be addressed. Section 521(f) requires tax returns to be filed with the court only if the court, the U.S. Trustee, or a party in interests requests that they be filed. If such a request has been made by the U.S. Trustee or a party, debtors seeking an extension should confer with the party requesting the filing, and should indicate in the motion whether that party agrees to the extension of time. In Re Gray, No. 05-45793 (January 2006) -- Judge P. Pepper A debtor for whom the automatic stay terminates after 30 days under section 362(c)(3)(A) of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 because she had a previous filing dismissed within the year preceding the current petition may seek to have the stay re-imposed under section 362(c)(4)(B), if her request is filed within 30 days of the date of the current petition, she provides adequate notice to the appropriate creditors, and she rebuts the presumption that the current filing was made in bad faith. In Re Berntsen, 05-45950 (January 2006) -- Judge P. Pepper Section 362(j) of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 mandates that, upon the request of a party, the court shall issue a comfort order indicating that the 30-day stay has terminated in cases governed by section 362(c)(3) of the Act. In re Dennis Gerard Etzel, Case No. 05-24211, American Standard Ins. Co. v. Debtor, Adv. No. 05-2337 (December 2005) -- Judge M.D. McGarity Judgment for restitution was nondischargeable obligation pursuant to 11 U.S.C. s. 523(a)(7). In re Ronald & Deanne Schabel, Case No. 04-35733, Neil McKloskey, Trustee v. Henry & Diane Schabel, Adv. No. 05-2270 Published: In re Schabel, 338 B.R. 376 (December 2005) -- Judge M.D. McGarity Chapter 7 trustee brought an adversary proceeding to avoid, on a preference theory, loan payments that the debtors had made to their parents during the one-year preference period. The court granted summary judgment to the parents because the prepetition transfers met the requirements for the new value defense. In re Michael R. Luedtke, Case No. 05-45087 Published: In re Luedtke, 337 B.R. 918 (December 2005) -- Judge M.D. McGarity Chapter 7 debtor, an inmate at correctional facility that had filed his petition pro se, sought a determination that the petition was "filed" prior to the effective date of BAPCPA, so that he did not have to comply with the credit counseling requirement. The court found the "prison mailbox rule" applied to the filing of a bankruptcy petition; thus, the pro se prisoner's petition was deemed "filed" on that date he delivered the petition and related documents to prison authorities for forwarding to the bankruptcy clerk. |