When Byron David filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in July of 2018, Donald King was appointed Chapter 7 trustee. King filed an application to retain a law firm as his counsel. The bankruptcy court granted that application....more
Real property tax certificate sales provide a way for taxing authorities to collect delinquent taxes without having to foreclose on properties and take ownership. When the purchaser of the tax sale certificate obtains the...more
4/2/2024
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Auction ,
Breach of Duty ,
Foreclosure ,
Fraud ,
Interest Rates ,
Jurisdiction ,
Maryland ,
Property Tax ,
Quitclaim Deeds ,
Right of Redemption ,
Tax Sales
Nearly four years after the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, issues concerning the legal consequences of executive and legislative orders shutting down business operations are still working their way through appellate courts...more
12/28/2023
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Business Interruption ,
Commercial Leases ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Counterclaims ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Landlords ,
Maryland ,
Moratorium ,
Rent ,
Tenants
The scenario is fairly common. A bank makes a loan to a business. The owners of the business guarantee the loan. The business defaults. The owners blame each other for the failure of the business. When the bank demands...more
News accounts of instances of stolen identity in which identity thieves incur debts in the names of innocent consumers are common. Given the structure of the consumer credit industry, it is difficult for consumers to know...more
10/17/2023
/ Appeals ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
Duty to Investigate ,
Experian ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fraud ,
Identity Theft ,
Investigations ,
Motion for Summary Judgment
The scope of Bankruptcy Court jurisdiction has been the subject of numerous decisions, including multiple decisions by the United States Supreme Court since Bankruptcy Courts were created by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978....more
The “loss before foreclosure rule” provided for in the Restatement (Third) of Property (Mortgages) §4.8 specifies that when improvements on secured property are destroyed by fire and the loan is due and payable, where a...more
The June 27, 2023 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. demonstrates that the Justices of the Court, as currently constituted, have difficulty reaching consensus even on issues...more
By: William L. Hallam The American Law Institute, a group of prominent judges, lawyers, and professors, publishes the Restatements of the Law. According to Brooklyn Law School, “The drafting process of the Restatements is...more
In Barton v. Barbour, the United States Supreme Court held that before another court could obtain subject matter jurisdiction over a suit against a receiver for acts committed in the receiver’s official capacity, the...more
4/11/2023
/ Abstention ,
Attorney Malpractice ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bankruptcy Trustees ,
Barton Doctrine ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Court-Appointed Receivers ,
Legal Representatives ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
As originally enacted, the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) required most people to maintain health insurance. Those who did not maintain the required insurance were obligated to pay a “shared responsibility payment” (“SRP”),...more
1/25/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Injunction Act ,
Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 13 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Health Insurance ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Mandate ,
IRS ,
NFIB v. Sebelius ,
SCOTUS ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Tax Returns
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many jurisdictions put moratoria in place prohibiting foreclosure sales. However, most moratoria have expired and foreclosure sales, conducted at public auction, are ramping up as...more
10/21/2022
/ Auction ,
Bids ,
Binding Agreements ,
Buyers ,
Contract Formation ,
Foreclosure Sales ,
Purchase and Sale Agreements ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Reverse Auctions ,
Sales ,
Sellers ,
VA Supreme Court
Real property tax sales provide opportunities for investors to acquire properties for below market prices if the properties are not redeemed from sale or to earn interest on the taxes paid at the tax sale at generous rates if...more
The federal Truth In Lending Act (TILA) is a consumer protection statute designed to protect borrowers from unfair lending practices. When a consumer loan is secured by the borrower’s residence, the TILA gives the borrower...more
Clete Pavone bought property in West Virginia from Patrick Russell in October of 2018. Because he did not obtain a title search before buying the property, Mr. Pavone did not know that it was encumbered by a deed of trust...more
When the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, the foundation on which the current Bankruptcy Code is constructed, was enacted, bankruptcy cases customarily involved a debtor addressing claims only against it. Consistent with that...more
Most of us have heard the expression “Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit did not slaughter the officials of the lenders in its November 16, 2021 opinion in Hengle...more
11/23/2021
/ Arbitration ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Public Policy ,
RICO ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Tribal Corporations ,
Tribal Governments ,
Tribal Lands ,
Usury ,
VA Supreme Court
Filing a case under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code can be a powerful tool for a business facing crushing liabilities. Not only does the filing of a Chapter 11 invoke an automatic stay of all lawsuits pending...more
In a July 21, 2021 decision, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania examined whether Pennsylvania recognizes the doctrine variously referred to as the “single-entity,” “enterprise,” or “horizontal liability” theory. Under that...more
The outcome of litigation often depends on which party has the burden of presenting evidence to support its claim (the “Burden of Production”) and persuading the judge or jury that it has a viable claim (the “Burden of...more
In an April 30, 2021 opinion, Maryland highest court, the Court of Appeals, largely reversed a decision of the Court of Special Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that: (a) posting a notice under Section 7-113 of Maryland’s...more
By a two to one vote, in an April 29 opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a decision of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that a 2017 increase in...more
It is not unusual for a party to regret signing a contract. The terms “buyer’s remorse” and “seller’s remorse” would not be part of the lexicon if it was. However, with good reason, the law does not allow a party that...more
In a March 9, 2021 opinion, the Maryland Court of Appeals signaled the end of what it termed “an elaborate web of procedural history” by answering two questions certified to it by the United States District Court for the...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a patchwork quilt of statutes, regulations, executive orders, and court orders have imposed on again, off again, restrictions on the filing and prosecution of foreclosure cases. Few of these...more