Lawyer Hit With Sanctions For Filing Frivolous Motion To Compel (In re Medina, Bankr. E.D. Cal.)

By | November 14, 2014 | Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7 | No comments
A California bankruptcy judge has imposed a $500 sanction on an attorney for filing a frivolous  motion to compel his clients’ Chapter 13 trustee to close their case.  The motion included inaccurate facts, no supporting legal authority, and forced the trustee to waste time by filing an opposition. The judge determined that a $500 sanction was a “reasonable deterrent to encourage Gillis to investigate the facts of his cases, and to familiarize himself with applicable law, before he files any future motions” in Chapter 13 cases.

U.S. Trustee Proposes Rulemaking on Ch. 11 MOR’s, Deadline for Public Comments Jan. 9, 2015

By | November 11, 2014 | Chapter 11, Legislation, U.S. Trustee | No comments

U.S. Trustee Program is authorized under §602 of the BAPCPA to issue rules that require DIP’s in non-small business cases under chapter 11 to file uniform period reports.  Now, the USTP is seeking public comment on the proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register (see link below). The proposed rule only applies to non-small businesses.  As you might know, small business debtors are currently required to use Form 25C for their MOR’s. Deadline for public comments Jan. 9th 2015

Link to PDF of Proposed Rule: www.justice.gov/ust/eo/rules_regulations/docs/MOR_NPRM.PDF

Link to USTP’s site at www.justice.gov/ust/eo/rules_regulations/index.htm#proposed.

Cert. Asks Supreme Court to Resolve Where Funds from Ch. 13 Should Go After Case Is Converted (Harris v. Vieglahn, No. 14-400)

By | November 8, 2014 | Appeals, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Courts, Supreme Court | No comments

The appellant argues, “…of 320,000 Chapter 13 cases filed each year, 60,000 are later converted to Chapter 7″. But where should the funds held by the Chapter 13 Trustee go when Debtor converts the case: back to the debtor or to the creditors?  Harris v. Viegelahn, No. 14-400, petition for cert. filed (U.S. Oct. 6, 2014).

Because of a circuit split, the appellant has asked the Supreme Court to resolve this issue.  The appellant reminds us that our 9th Circuit B.A.P. requires the return post-Chapter 7, undistributed funds to the debtor.

Please find the full article below from Westlaw Journal Bankruptcy at Debtor Wants Supreme Court to Resolve Where Post-Petition Funds Go After Conversion, 11 Westlaw Journal Bankruptcy 2 (2014).

Read more…

San Fernando Valley Bar Association Bankruptcy Section Chapter 13 Program; November 13, 2014 12 noon

By | November 7, 2014 | Programs | No comments

Email from Steve Fox:

Dear All:

First, thank you for putting up with and reading my emails each month announcing the programs. I appreciate it very much.

I am excited about our November program. It will be enjoyable not only for the subject matter -what do you do with a chapter 13 case which is nearing the discharge stage – it will be even more enjoyable for the high level of passion and enthusiasm I have seen in the panelists. They have prepared drafts and revised drafts, they have discussed by email and phone and they have argued (gently) too. They have put in months of thought, discussion and argument about the program.

The panelists are the Honorable Maureen Tighe, R. Grace Rodrigues, Stella Havkin and Michael Kwasigroch. All of them have a lot of experience in chapter 13 work. More importantly, they regularly deal with the back side of chapter 13 cases. What do you do six months before a case is up for discharge. Should you be objecting to any claims? Are there additional requirements for your client and for you? What do you do about the unpleasant surprises waiting for your client and for you?

Read more…

Arnold Quittner 1927-2014

By | November 7, 2014 | Community, Firm Announcements | No comments

Arnold Quittner passed away on November 4, 2014.  He was one of the bankruptcy giants of our time.  Info about the services can be accessed here.

There is a very nice interview of Arnold by Judge Randall Newsome for the National Bankruptcy Archives on October 28, 2011.  You can access that here.  I believe the tapes are kept at Penn, called the Oral History Collection.  My son Hunter and I went through the library at Penn a year or so ago and tried to find the collection.  No one at the library knew what we were talking about.

Gay Marriage Bans in Four States Upheld by the 6th Circuit – DeBoer v. Snyder

By | November 7, 2014 | Cases, Community | No comments

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in a 2-1 has reversed district court rulings in DeBoer v. Snyder that had struck down gay marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.  You can access a USA Today article with a nice summary of the issues here.  You can access the opinions here.    It looks like this may get to the Supreme Court since there is now a huge split among the circuits.

Judge Steven W. Rhodes Approves Detroit Chapter 9 Bankruptcy Plan

By | November 7, 2014 | Chapter 9, Programs | No comments

Judges Rhodes has approved the Chapter 9 Plan of Reorganization for the City of Detroit.  You can find the article here.

Judge Rhodes will be the guest speaker at the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum Joseph Bernfeld Distinguished Speaker on February 9, 2015. Be sure to save the date!

Does the Debtor Deduct Hypothetical Costs of Sale When Computing 522(f) – No, says Judge Ted Albert in a Tentative Ruling

By | November 5, 2014 | Cases, Judges Corner | No comments

United States Bankruptcy Court
Central District of California
Judge Theodor Albert, Presiding
Courtroom 5B Calendar
Santa Ana

Thursday, November 06, 2014 Hearing Room 5B
11:00 AM
8:14-13351 Donald R. Dahlgren Chapter 7
#18.00 Motion for Reconsideration of Debtors’ Motion to Avoid Lien Under 11 U.S.C. §
522(f) (Real Property)

Docket 48
This is the debtor’s motion for reconsideration of the court’s order entered Sept. 11, 2014 denying debtor’s §522(f) motion to avoid a judgment lien in favor of Newport Capital Recovery Group in the original amount of $30,085 as impairing his homestead. In the order denying the motion, the court indicated by its arithmetic there existed value of $31,192.97 above the sum of all senior liens and homestead of $175,000. In consequence, there was equity to which the senior lien could attach in full, and after deduction of the senior judgment lien, the most junior lien had a value of the remaining $1107 as well, and was likewise not avoidable for that amount. There may be interest issues as well that by now eclipse the junior lien, but the court is given no means to calculate these. In this motion debtor complains that actual costs of sale are now a known quantity, $68,339.93, and this amount of sale costs should have been recognized as ahead of the liens, leaving both judgment liens effectively unsecured. The court notes that debtor in his original motion in page 3 of Mr. Dahlgren’s declaration asked for deduction of sale costs, but the court implicitly did not grant this when calculating the result and denying the original motion.

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Attorney Stephen Siringoringo Disbarred

By | November 4, 2014 | Community | No comments

This is from the California Bar Journal.  You can access the article here.

Attorney who drew 800-plus complaints agrees to disbarment

By Amy Yarbrough
Staff Writer

A Garden Grove attorney who was the subject of hundreds of complaints from distressed homeowners agreed to be disbarred last month for his misconduct in 14 of those cases.
Stephen Lyster Siringoringo [#264161], 33, admitted to taking illegal advanced fees from homeowners in loan modification cases, failing to provide those homeowners with an accounting and aiding in the unauthorized practice of law by allowing non-lawyers to meet with those clients, according to a stipulation filed Oct. 15 in State Bar Court.

Although he stipulated to 29 counts of misconduct in the 14 cases, the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel said it has received 796 additional complaints about Siringoringo’s conduct.

Read more…

Nov. 1st: New Median Family Income for Means Test

By | October 30, 2014 | Chapter 13, Chapter 7, U.S. Trustee | No comments

The U.S. Trustee Program has updated the Census Bureau’s Median Family Income Data and will apply the updated data to cases filed on or after Nov. 1st.

For the latest data required for completing Form 22A and Form 22C, please see here:  http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/meanstesting.htm

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