OpinionsChapter 13 Debtor's student loans did not qualify for "special circumstance" treatment, but could be separately classified without unfairly discriminating against other unsecured creditors because the student loans were long-term debts extending beyond the length of the plan. Patterson v. Homecomings Financial, LLC, 444 B.R. 564 (February 2011) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Chapter 13 Debtors' complaint alleging that mortgage servicer violated stay by charging and collecting post-petition, pre-confirmation attorneys' fees without disclosing those fees to the Court, survived motion to dismiss. In re Jerimiah Snyder, Case No. 10-32042 (February 2011) -- Judge M.D. McGarity Debtor's counsel was sanctioned $500 for filing chapter 7 petition for debtor who was ineligible for discharge, for sole purpose of delaying garnishment creditor until such time as debtor was eligible for discharge. In re Willems, 442 B.R. 918 (February 2011) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Supreme Court's decision in Ransom (preventing deduction of ownership expense to vehicles owned free and clear) applies retroactively to plans that have been filed, but not confirmed, when decision was issued on January 11, 2011. In re Jiter, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 446 (February 2011) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Chapter 13 debtors violated the disposable income requirement by including priority tax claims in the calculation of payments to unsecured creditors. In re Hilgendorf, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 429 (February 2011) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Chapter 13 debtors could not apply tax refunds to shorten length of plan, rather tax refunds had to be applied to unsecured creditors. In re George, 440 B.R. 164 (December 2010) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Debtor who moved from Illinois to Wisconsin within 730 days of her petition could claim federal exemptions even though Illinois has opted out of the federal exemptions. In re Kearney, 439 B.R. 694 (December 2010) -- Judge S.V. Kelley Post-confirmation plan modification is subject to the good faith test of § 1325, and debtor whose income increased and expenses appeared to have been manipulated to justify lower plan payments did not satisfy good faith requirement. In re Joshua and Amy Hingiss (December 2010) -- Judge J.E. Shapiro Debtors filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy case within 910 days of purchasing a vehicle. Their chapter 13 plan, which provided for full payment of the vehicle claim pursuant to the “hanging paragraph” contained in 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(9), was confirmed, but the case was dismissed nine days later for failure to make plan payments. Four days after the creditor took judgment in state court, the debtors refiled a second chapter 13 case which was now outside of the 910-day period. Accordingly, debtors plan proposed to “cram down” the vehicle claim. Creditor objected to confirmation based on bad faith and the theory of equitable tolling. The court rejected the bad faith argument finding that refiling outside of the 910-day period alone is not enough to establish bad faith. However, the court sustained the objection to confirmation based on the theory of equitable tolling and the U.S. Supreme Court case In re Young, 535 U.S. 43 which held that a “look-back period” is subject to equitable tolling in cases where a creditor is disabled from protecting its rights. **Reversed on appeal** In re May, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 4046 (November 2010) -- Judge S.V. Kelley After Hamilton v. Lanning, in computing projected disposable income on Form B22C, Chapter 13 debtor may not deduct mortgage payment on undersecured mortgage that has been stripped because it is virtually certain that debtor will not be making the mortgage payment after confirmation. |