The debtor objected to a lender's claim in her Chapter 13 case because she believed she was no longer liable on the debt, as the debt and the property securing it had been awarded to her former spouse in their divorce, and she also believed that whatever liability she might have had on the debt had been discharged in her previous Chapter 7 case. However, she was still named on the promissory note and mortgage, and neither the debt nor the creditor was listed in the Chapter 7, so the debt was not discharged. Under Eighth Circuit law, the Chapter 7 case does not need to be reopened, but the creditor is entitled to file an adversary proceeding to determine the dischargeability of the debt.
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An unsecured junior lien on the debtors' residential real estate may be avoided after the debtors complete Chapter 13 plan payments. The case law in the Eighth Circuit permits wholly unsecured liens to be stripped off.
The court denied the trustee's motion for summary judgment in a preference action because the evidence before the court did not establish the element of insolvency, nor was it clear that the property transferred was property of the debtor.
The debtor in this case is a feedlot set up as an LLC. The bankruptcy trustee filed a preference avoidance action against one of the LLC's members to recover payments made to him when his cattle were sold. This court initially granted summary judgment to the trustee, but on appeal the district court remanded the matter for the court to focus on the issue of whether the funds transferred were actually property of the debtor and to specifically consider the issues of bailment and constructive trust. After a trial, the bankruptcy court found that the proceeds transferred to the defendant were not held in bailment and were indeed property of the debtor. The defendant in his membership capacity had participated in granting the debtor's lender a security interest in the debtor's deposit accounts, which included the account into which the proceeds of his cattle sales were deposited and paid out to him, so his consent removed the bailment protection he might otherwise have had. The defendant did not establish an "ordinary course of business" defense, so judgment was entered in the trustee's favor.
An unsecured junior lien on the debtor's residential real estate may be avoided after the debtor completes Chapter 13 plan payments. The case law in the Eighth Circuit permits wholly unsecured liens to be stripped off.
After trial, the court granted the debtor's request to discharge her student loans. She has a stable job, although not in her field of study, but has been unable to find a better-paying job in the Lincoln area and is unlikely to earn significantly more in the future. Her monthly expenses are modest and reasonable. The stress of financial problems, including repayment of these student loans, has had an impact on the debtor's emotional health and caused difficulties in her personal relationships. The totality of the circumstances indicates that repayment of the student loans would be an undue hardship for the debtor.
After trial, the court granted the debtor's request to discharge her student loans. She has a stable job, although not in her field of study, but has been unable to find a better-paying job in the Lincoln area and is unlikely to earn significantly more in the future. Her monthly expenses are modest and reasonable. The stress of financial problems, including repayment of these student loans, has had an impact on the debtor's emotional health and caused difficulties in her personal relationships. The totality of the circumstances indicates that repayment of the student loans would be an undue hardship for the debtor.
An unsecured junior lien on the debtors' residential real estate may be avoided after the debtors complete Chapter 13 plan payments. The case law in the Eighth Circuit permits wholly unsecured liens to be stripped off.
An unsecured junior lien on the debtor's residential real estate may be avoided after the debtor completes Chapter 13 plan payments. The case law in the Eighth Circuit permits wholly unsecured liens to be stripped off.
The court denied the debtor's motion for sanctions for violation of the automatic stay by a creditor who sent billing statements for medical expenses incurred by the debtor's late wife. While the debtor argued that the bills were an attempt to collect the debt from him because a husband is liable for his wife's medical expenses under Nebraska law, the court found no evidence either that the creditor knew the husband had filed bankruptcy or was in fact attempting to collect from the husband because the bills were addressed only to the non-debtor wife. The court held there was no willful violation of the automatic stay and sanctions were not warranted.