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Debtors Dischargeable Debts Bankruptcy Court

Bowditch & Dewey

Broke and Broken Hearted – The Intersection of Bankruptcy and Divorce

Bowditch & Dewey on

Bankruptcy is the process where someone who is unable to pay their debts files a petition to discharge (eliminate) those debts or restructure the debt with a payment plan. But what happens if a bankruptcy petition is filed by...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Court Must Sign Off on Post-Petition Settlement to Survive Discharge

Todd Christenson filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in November 2010. In February 2011, a federal bankruptcy court in Minnesota discharged Christenson’s debts and, later the same year, closed the case. But almost 15 years...more

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP

Fourth Circuit Holds That Settlement of Nondischargeable Debt and Resulting Interest and Fees Owed Thereunder Are Both...

We have written in the past about exceptions to the general rule regarding a debtor’s ability to discharge debt in bankruptcy and achieve a “fresh start.” In a recent decision of interest, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Second Circuit Strikes Down Attempted Bankruptcy Contempt Proceedings In Class Context

McGuireWoods LLP on

In a recent decision, Bruce v. Citigroup, Inc., et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit clarified the limits of bankruptcy court jurisdiction over class actions. Specifically, the court rejected a...more

Mintz - Bankruptcy & Restructuring Viewpoints

SCOTUS Bankruptcy Decision Roundup

On average, the Supreme Court hears a single bankruptcy case each term. But during the October 2022 term, the Supreme Court issued a remarkable four decisions in bankruptcy cases. These decisions, which are summarized below,...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

High Court Bankruptcy Ruling Is a Warning to Joint Obligors

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Section 523(a)(2)(A) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code precludes a debtor from discharging a debt obtained by fraud, regardless of the debtor's own culpability. ...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

No Discharge for Bonnie, No Discharge for Clyde.

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

The Bankruptcy Code generally allows a debtor to wipe out all pre-bankruptcy debts and get a fresh start in life.  But not all debts are equal.  Some debts can't be discharged, meaning they survive bankruptcy, and the...more

Miller Nash LLP

Supreme Court Limits the Ability to Discharge Debts Obtained by Fraud

Miller Nash LLP on

The discharge provided in bankruptcy is fundamental, allowing the “honest but unfortunate” debtor a fresh start. There are various exceptions to the discharge found in Sections 523 and 727 of the Bankruptcy Code—designed to...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Supreme Court Confirms Nondischargeability of Debts Obtained by Fraud

In a unanimous decision handed down on Feb. 22, 2023, the Supreme Court reinforced one of the Bankruptcy Code’s important creditor protections. In Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, No. 21-908, 598 U.S. ___ (2023), the Court confirmed,...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Bankruptcy Court Sanctions Collections Firm for Attempting to Collect Discharged Debt

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On January 19, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia entered an order sanctioning a collections law firm for violating the bankruptcy discharge injunction. The court in Skaggs v. Gooch (In re...more

Kerr Russell

Third-Party Releases In Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Kerr Russell on

Historically, a business (known as a debtor) filed for chapter 11 to restructure its debts owed to creditors through a plan of reorganization. The debtor would receive a discharge of any debts not required to be repaid under...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

Corporate Bad Behavior Is Not Dischargeable Under Subchapter V

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

If a business engages in bad behavior like intentional interference with contract and tortious interference with business relations, then it may not use Subchapter V of Chapter 11 to discharge debts based on that bad...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Does the Bankruptcy Code Allow for Partial Discharge of Student Loans?

Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code excepts from discharge in bankruptcy certain student loans, “unless excepting such debt from discharge under this paragraph would impose an undue hardship.” By its terms, section...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Old Myths Die Hard: District Court Reverses Bankruptcy Court’s Discharge of Student Loan Debt Under Brunner

A district court judge recently reversed and remanded a well-known bankruptcy decision discharging a significant student loan debt. In the Southern District of New York, Judge Philip Halpern, reviewing the bankruptcy court’s...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Maryland Bankruptcy Court Rules Corporate Debtors May Discharge Nondischargeable Debts in Subchapter V Chapter 11 Case

The Small Business Restructuring Act of 2019, Pub. L. 116-54, 133 Stat. 1079 (Aug. 23, 2019) (“SBRA”) became effective February 19, 2020. SBRA, among other things, created a new Subchapter V under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Top 10 Bankruptcy Truths for Creditors to Know

Much of the bankruptcy chatter arising from the pandemic world in which we find ourselves is now focusing on the cascade of new bankruptcy cases that are predicted to arrive soon. We have already seen the effects of closed...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Appeal Filed From Bankruptcy Court’s Decision Granting Discharge of Student Loan Debt

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Education Credit Management Corporation (“ECMC”), the guarantor of the student loan debt ruled dischargeable last month by the Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, is...more

Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers,...

Fifth Circuit Pumps The Brakes On Arbitration

In a recent appeal directly to the Fifth Circuit from a Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, the court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration. In Henry v. Educational Financial...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

Will My Judgment Get Discharged in Bankruptcy?

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

Bankruptcy is meant to provide a fresh start for the honest but unfortunate debtor. A debtor who files Chapter 7 does so with the presumption that all his or her debts will be forgiven or "discharged." But what about the...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Bankruptcy and Labor Law: Decision by Appeals Court Permits Debtor to Discharge an NLRB Fine in Bankruptcy

If the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) fines an employer for unlawfully firing workers who tried to unionize, can the employer discharge the fine in bankruptcy, or will the exception to discharge found in Bankruptcy...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

IRS Pays $175,000 in Damages for Willfully Violating Bankruptcy Discharge By Making Collection Attempts Upon Discharged Debtor

In a battle of competing statutes, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the IRS’s good faith belief that it had a right to collect debts discharged in bankruptcy because the debtor had filed a fraudulent return or...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Bankruptcy court holds that state consumer fraud claims against corporations are dischargeable in bankruptcy

Section 1141(d)(6)(A) and section 523(a)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code together provide that debts owed by a corporation to a government entity are not dischargeable if such debts were obtained by false representations. Does this...more

Burr & Forman

Debtors Who Misuse Collateral Can Lose the Benefit of Discharging their Debt in Bankruptcy

Burr & Forman on

On November 21, 2016, in a case entitled In re Monson, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision, which held that a debtor’s conduct constituted a willful and malicious injury to a...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Eighth Circuit Opinions Highlight Need to Apply Appellate Lens at Trial Court

Robins Kaplan LLP on

We often quip that the best way to establish a winning record as an appellate lawyer is to represent the party that won below; that’s no joke. In nearly every appellate court— state or federal— appellants have an uphill...more

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