Bill on Bankruptcy: What's in the $83M ResCap Examiner's Report?
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
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued a decision that all business owners should be aware of. The Supreme Court resolved a Circuit split over whether a debtor can discharge a debt incurred by a fraud committed by the...more
The United States Supreme Court recently answered the question of whether a debtor in bankruptcy can discharge a debt resulting from another person’s fraud, even if the debtor is not aware of the fraud. On February 22, 2023,...more
State of the “Union” Did you watch the President’s state of the union address the other night? Was it as you expected? Were you hoping for something more? Were you disappointed? Did you find it informative? Maybe...more
As we reported, on June 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revisit the rigid Brunner standard for determining “undue hardship” capable of discharging student debt. The same day, United States Bankruptcy Judge...more
We recently reported on a Fifth Circuit decision that ruled some private, for-profit student loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy without a showing of undue hardship—something unusual and inconsistent with the widely-held...more
Does a creditor’s good-faith belief that a discharge injunction does not apply to its debt preclude a finding of civil contempt? Due to a circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to decide this issue. ...more
Seeing the bottom line awash with red ink yet again, Susie Sears reluctantly decided to shut down her family owned Widgets-R-Us. ...more
In Dahlin v. Lyondell Chemical Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 1956 (8th Cir. Jan. 26, 2018), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an argument that bankruptcy debtors were required by due process to provide more prominent...more
Last month, the IRS issued final regulations repealing its rule requiring that a Form 1099-C be filed whenever a financial institution (or certain other limited taxpayers) fails to receive payment on a debt for 36 consecutive...more
Approximately 50 cases have been filed recently in Nevada state and federal courts against furnishers of information and credit reporting agencies (CRAs) for alleged Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violations. It appears...more
On October 15, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of the Treasury proposed to remove the deemed 36-month non-payment testing period from the list of identifiable events that trigger the requirement to...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently proposed very well-received regulations under Section 6050P of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) that would eliminate the requirement for financial entities to treat debt as canceled...more
While a minority of circuits, such as the Ninth Circuit (see, e.g., In re Lowenschuss, 67 F.3d 1394 (9th Cir. 1995), have reasoned that bankruptcy courts lack the authority to approve non-debtor releases based on the language...more
Citing a conflict of interest between class representatives and a class, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently invalidated a $45 million class action settlement that had previously been approved by the district court....more