Bankruptcy filings affect businesses across America. The Bankruptcy Code is complex and difficult to navigate. But used properly, it can helpcreditors to minimize losses when a customer files bankruptcy. ...more
A proof of claim is a written statement setting out a creditor's claim and asserting its right to receive a distribution from the bankruptcy estate. It must "conform substantially" to Official Bankruptcy Form B410 (Fed. R....more
One of the first things creditors ask after filing a proof of claim is, “when do I get paid?” As with so many other legal questions, the answer is, “it depends.” Although many different factors govern payment in a bankruptcy...more
Last March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) made several changes to the Bankruptcy Code, including those changes discussed in more detail here. As it...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
As we cross the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, we reflect on the multiple amendments to the Bankruptcy Code that have been implemented to help curb the effects of various economic shutdowns and financial...more
Chapter 13 bankruptcy provides relief only to individuals with regular income. This Chapter is most frequently used by debtors who have sufficient disposable monthly income to make some payments over time to their creditors....more
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
The Bankruptcy Code creates a rebuttable presumption that a proof of claim is prima facie evidence of the claim's validity and amount. Courts disagree, however, over whether that presumption also applies in a proceeding to...more
The intersection of Chapter 13 bankruptcy and escrow accounts is complicated and confusing. Since 2011, various bankruptcy rule and form changes have occurred in an effort to eliminate perceived problems with Chapter 13...more
We previously provided you with some of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy’s recommendations to improve the consumer bankruptcy system. As the commission noted, changes in bankruptcy law...more
In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, No. 16-348, 2017 BL 161314 (U.S. May 15, 2017), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a credit collection agency does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") when it files...more
The Supreme Court recently issued two rulings interpreting various sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in favor of creditors and certain debt buyers. The FDCPA protects debtors from unfair collection...more
In a 5-3 decision written by Justice Stephen G. Breyer last week, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Eleventh Circuit erred when it found that Midland Funding, one of the nation’s largest purchasers of...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the filing of a proof of claim in bankruptcy proceedings with respect to time-barred debt is not a “false, deceptive, misleading, unfair, or unconscionable” act within the meaning of the...more
Filing a proof of claim in a debtor's Chapter 13 bankruptcy case on a debt that is "obviously time barred" does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-3 decision....more
This week, the United States Supreme Court issued a key decision under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in a case litigated by Balch & Bingham lawyers, Jason Tompkins and Chase Espy. In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson,...more
The United States Supreme Court recently held in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. ___ (2017) that filing a proof of claim that is obviously time-barred in a Chapter 13 debtor’s bankruptcy case is not a violation of...more
On Monday, May 15, 2017, the Supreme Court put to rest a theory of liability under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA or Act) that had a major impact not only upon the credit and collection industry, but...more
The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling Monday resolving the question of whether filing a proof of claim for a debt that is time-barred by the statute of limitations is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection...more
On May 15, 2017, a divided U.S. Supreme Court held in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson that a debt collector’s filing of a facially time-barred claim in Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings was not a violation of the Fair Debt...more
In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a debt collector does not run afoul of the FDCPA by filing a proof of claim in bankruptcy on a stale debt. In its 5-3 decision, the Court sided with the...more
Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, (May 15, 2017). Yesterday, the Supreme Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit’s holding in Midland Funding v. Johnson in a 5-3 split. Their decision resolves a circuit split as to whether...more
On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. ___ (2017) in which it held that filing an “obviously time-barred” proof of claim in a bankruptcy proceeding...more
A debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by filing proofs of claim in bankruptcy cases on debts that were time-barred by Maryland’s statute of limitations (SOL), a divided U.S. Court of...more