The lack of good service in bankruptcy courts drove Judge Weissbrodt (ND CA) to post a practice tip for attorneys on getting good service by mail on corporations and financial institutions. It’s hard to improve on word from on high: FRBP 9014(b) provides that a motion in a contested matter must be served in accordance […]
Heavy Hitters Recommend
Include the terms of an agreed loan modification in the Chapter 13 plan, John Rao of NCLC suggested at last week’s NACBA convention. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Espinosa and the notorious record keeping practices of the servicers, inclusion in the plan may cement the benefits of the modification. Where the plan […]
“I Didn’t Know That” Gem From The Convention
A hardship discharge is available to debtors who are not current on their post petition support payments, even though such a delinquency would prevent a regular discharge. I gathered this hitherto unknown bit from Henry Sommer in the panel on Marital Issues in Bankruptcy Saturday at the NACBA convention. BAPCPA added to the prerequisites for […]
When A Form 1099 Is Fiction
The 1099 form is so well recognized and imbued with authority that it is used by scammers to authenticate their scheme. But it’s really dangerous when genuine 1099’s are just plain wrong. And according to Bill Purdy, my go-to resource on this issue, 1099’s are often wrong. When a non recourse loan is foreclosed, no […]
The Means Test: The Clunker Allowance
As if the means test wasn’t illogical and opaque enough, consider the unwritten provision for old cars. Where do you find the unwritten allowance? It’s not in the Bankruptcy Code but in the Internal Revenue Manual at 5.8.20.3. The IRS allows a delinquent taxpayer with a paid for car more than 6 years old or […]
Know The First Rule For Bankruptcy Forms
Now retired Judge Jaroslavsky popped this question on a room full of new bankruptcy lawyers: what’s the first rule for filling out a legal form? An answer from the floor suggested “make sure you have the most recent version”, which I thought was pretty good. But the judge had something else in mind: know the […]
The Means Test: Where The Blind Lead The Sighted
The people who sit in judgment on the adequacy of your b-22 and your means test calculation have never prepared one. What other endeavor can you name where the arbiters are utterly without experience? This first came up for me when counsel for a Chapter 13 trustee recounted something I’d told him months ago ( […]
