Bankruptcy Filings Up Slightly in July 2018

By | August 26, 2018 | Bankruptcy Data | No comments

Total bankruptcy filings in July, 2018 was slightly higher than filings a year ago.  Only the third time in almost four years.

2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Jan 2,741 2,839 2,872 3,364 4,704
Feb 2,708 2,795 3,299 3,829 4,574
March 3,363 3,782 3,923 4,496 5,430
April 3,277 3,209 3,584 4,486 5,364
May 3,226 3,384 3,484 3,971 5,500
June 2,981 3,252 3,545 3,966 4,386
July 3,057 2,953 3,239 3,731 4,701
Aug 3,387 3,543 3,544 4,540
Sept 3,071 3,168 3,493 4,317
Oct 3,170 3,235 3,751 4,554
Nov 3,004 3,025 3,531 3,642
Dec 2,416 2,902 2,718 3,733
Total 21,353 37,262 39,819 44,880 55,445

Filings by chapter year to date in the Central District of California and percent of total.

Non-Commercial Commercial Chapter 7 Chapter 13 Chapter 11
19,631 1,728 16,446 4,654 256
92% 8% 77% 22% 1%

Client Purchased Rolex Before BK? How Courts View “Fraudulent Intent” For Credit Card Fraud

By | August 22, 2018 | Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7 | No comments

I was reading some case law on fraudulent purchases prior to bankruptcy.  At first I thought it was only “luxury” purchases (i.e. you purchase a Rolex on eve of bankruptcy) but it turns out that “luxury purchase” is just one of many factors.  If you go to McDonald’s everyday and rack up a debt there, that can be nondischargeable.

I read Dougherty and Hashemi.  Consider these factors when advising your client: Read more…

Self-Help Desk Reopening in Roybal Building Downtown

By | August 21, 2018 | Community, Pro Bono | No comments

Email from Maggie:  Sign Up Here.  

Self-Help Desk Volunteers Needed
We moved to the Roybal Building!
The Bankruptcy Self-Help Desk is reopening next Monday, Aug. 27, and we need your help.
We are expecting many more visitors because our new location is inside the Bankruptcy Court intake area (next to the cafeteria).
Please consider signing up for at least one Self-Help Desk session in the next month.

MCLE Program – Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: A Discussion of Cases Past, Present, and Future

By | August 15, 2018 | Programs | No comments

The SBCBA Debtor/Creditor Section Presents: Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: A Discussion of Cases Past, Present, and Future.

Tuesday, September 26, 2018, at 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. — Santa Barbara College of Law, 20 E. Victoria St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Lunchtime panel discussing bankruptcy-related decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States. The discussion will cover selected hidden treasures among the Supreme Court’s decisions from the 1800s, key practice pointers from cases decided between 2015-2018, and predictions about future issues that the Supreme Court will or should consider.

Moderator:
Meghann A. Triplett, Margulies Faith, LLP, San Luis Obispo, CA

Speakers:
Hon. Deborah J. Saltzman, United States Bankruptcy Judge (C.D. Cal.)
Jerry Namba, Law Office of Jerry Namba / Chapter 7 Trustee, Santa Maria, CA
Whitman L. Holt, Partner at Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP, Los Angeles, CA

Read more…

Happy Birthday Jim King

By | August 13, 2018 | Community | No comments

Jim’s oral history is at the Biddle Law Library, at Penn Law School.  You can read it here.

Employment Law & BK — “Will Filing BK Affect My Chances of Getting Hired?”

By | August 11, 2018 | Cases, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Employment Law and Litigation | No comments

Section 525 deals with protection of debtors against discrimination.  Section 525 is broken up into two main sections relating to two main standards:  one for governmental employers and one for private employers.   Let’s take a look…and note the big omission by Congress for private employers.

525(a) says a governmental unit may not:

  • Deny employment to…
  • Terminate the employment of…
  • Discriminate re: employment against a person on basis of their bankruptcy filing.

525(b) says a private employer may not:

  • Terminate the employment of…
  • Discriminate re: employment against a person on basis of their bankruptcy filing.

Government cannot deny your employment because you filed bk but a private employer can!  This is also how rental companies can ask you “did you file bk in past” and deny your rental application.

 

Prison Love Story + Bankruptcy — “Pay My Debt and I Promise To Love You Forever”

By | August 9, 2018 | Uncategorized | No comments

I came across a memorandum re: decision by one of my favorite judges, Peter Carroll, about a prison love story involving bankruptcy.  There should be a Lifetime channel movie made about this.  Debtor, a married prison correctional officer became romantically involved with an intern.  They moved in together and debtor continually told her he loved her and wrote love letters saying they would be together happily ever after.  She believed him and used $130,000 of her savings to pay his old debts.  The relationship soured and she sued him for fraud alleging he lied to her to induce her to use her funds to pay for his old debts.  Naturally, he files for bankruptcy and she commences an adversary proceeding to except that debt from discharge under 523(a)(2).

Judge Carroll, after hearing testimony and reviewing the love letters, wrote this riveting opinion.

Difference Between “False Pretense” and “False Representation” under 523(a)(2)

By | August 9, 2018 | Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Uncategorized | No comments

Section 523(a)(2)(A) excepts from discharge any debt for money obtained by false pretense, a false representation or actual fraud.   But how can you tell the difference?

False representation is an express representation.  “There are no leaks in the roof of my house.” 

False pretense is an implied representation or conduct intended to create a false impression.  “Whenever it rains, it is dry as a bone in this house, which is why I like it, I also got their decorated the right way with even an aquarium and glow in the dark fish ornaments I found online.”

 

Will the Retirement of Anthony Kennedy Change the Makeup of the Court?

By | August 4, 2018 | Courts, Supreme Court | No comments

I could sit for hours and listen to Prof.  Erwin Chemerinski talk about anything.  He did his Review of the Supreme Court last week for the 9th Circuit Judicial Conf.  Before he spoke, Judge Jay Bybee put a whole bunch of statistics about the last Supreme Court term on the screen.  One statistic that kind of jumped out is that on every 5-4 vote last term, Kennedy voted with the “conservatives.”  That suggests that replacing Kennedy with a “conservative” judge will not change, significantly for sure, the judicial makeup of the court.

When Chemerinski spoke then he commented on that fact and said that Kennedy typically joined the “liberals” of the court in five specific areas and in those areas, the new makeup will be significant.  The five areas are:

  • Abortion
  • Affirmative Axtion
  • Gay rights
  • Exclusionary rule
  • Limits on the death penalty

University of West Los Angeles School of Law Granted WASC Accreditation

By | July 20, 2018 | Community | No comments

Email from Robert W. Brown,

Dear Board of Managers, Faculty and Staff,

I am writing to inform you that UWLA has just received its formal action letter from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (“WASC”) granting accreditation to our institution.

This is an honor earned by you, from your efforts in this communal passion project; also a gift from you that you have now bestowed upon future generations of alums- some of whom have yet to even be born.

Our institutional mission is, “Through the strengths and virtues of education in the classroom, online or in life, UWLA provides opportunities that empower students of great diversity to live successfully inspired lives.”  As all of you know, this is not a slogan for marketing, but rather evidence of our credo dating back to 1966 when UWLA was founded to “democratize the practice of law” by our founders.

It is heartwarming and professionally gratifying that WASC witnessed the evidence of our mission, as noted in the following quotes from the WASC Site Visit Team’s commendations: Read more…

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