New Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act Implications and the 2023 Congressional Outlook - The Consumer Finance Podcast
Earlier this year, a district court for the Middle District of Florida upheld a jury award of $225,000 in punitive damages in a debt collection case finding the defendant’s conduct “reprehensible” based on the physical harm...more
In light of the banking failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic (as well as Credit Suisse), this summer, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC proposed guidance and rules for larger banks to (i) develop...more
Bankruptcy is primarily about “claims.” The debtor seeks to discharge personal liability on claims, while creditors seek payment on their claims. In basic terms, a bankruptcy “claim” is a right to payment. The claim does not...more
Somewhere in our rough memories of high school science, we should recall the general principle that a gas will always expand to fill a given void. Although the Bankruptcy Code diverges markedly from scientific principles,...more
“Can an unsecured creditor be better off when the debtor defaults rather than paying off the debt? Yes: Law can be stranger than fiction in the Preference Zone.”—Ninth Circuit Untimely payment by tenants and other obligors...more
Individuals have several options when filing bankruptcy. Chapter 13 is often preferred for individuals with regular income who wish to keep their homes and other secured assets. In a Chapter 13 filing, the court will approve...more
In Schoenmann v. Bank of the West (In re Tenderloin Health), 849 F.3d 1231 (9th Cir. 2017), a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently addressed as a matter of apparent first impression...more
In June, the US Supreme Court decided the case of debtors in bankruptcy desirous of stripping off a lender’s real estate lien that was fully in excess of the fair market value of the real estate. The Supreme Court unanimously...more
The Issue and Background - Debtors David Caulkett and Edelmiro Toledo-Cardona (“Debtors”) each filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief with “underwater” junior mortgages held by Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank”). In other...more
Three significant opinions issued by the US Supreme Court in the last few months will impact lenders and investors. Bank of America v. Caulkett - In a major win for the nation’s mortgage lenders and...more
On June 1, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Bank of America, N.A. v. Caulkett, in which all nine Justices joined in an opinion that reversed an Eleventh Circuit ruling that chapter 7 debtors may...more
On June 1, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided Bank of America v. Caulkett, No. 13-1421, together with Bank of America v. Toledo-Cardona, No. 14-163, holding that a debtor in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding may...more
Since its 1989 opinion in Folendore v. Small Business Admin., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed debtors to completely strip off and void wholly unsecured junior liens in Chapter 7 bankruptcies under Section...more
“Lien stripping” often takes two forms. A debtor’s attempt to void the unsecured portion of a lien when there is some but not enough equity in collateral to fully cover a lienholder’s entire debt is commonly referred to as a...more