The court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss an adversary proceeding resulting from a long-running family dispute. In doing so, the court recognized that the plaintiffs were attempting to relitigate previously discounted and disallowed causes of action under new theories of recovery and new legal articulations.

The court denied confirmation of the debtor's Chapter 12 plan and offered an opportunity to file an amended plan. The secured lender had objected to the reasonableness of the repayment terms proposed by the debtor for its three promissory notes. After performing a Till analysis, the court said that while the debtor's proposed repayment schedule for its land loan with an original term of 16 years was not unreasonable, the debtor should include periodic adjustments of the interest rate over the repayment term in order to provide the creditor with the present value of its claim.

The court granted the debtors' motion for contempt against a mortgage servicer who continued to contact the debtors about collecting on the loan for more than three years after a discharge was granted. The court awarded the debtors their attorneys' fees, $2,500 in actual damages, and $10,000 in punitive damages for these violations of the discharge injunction.

The debtor's managing member and guarantor of its debt objected to the manner in which the primary secured creditor disposed of the debtor's assets. The movant objected to the creditor's proof of claim, arguing that the disposition was not commercially reasonable because the assets were not offered to industry buyers and because the creditor ignored the movant's competing bid and the possibility of an even higher third-party bid.

The court granted summary judgment to the debtor in order to establish the amount of the pre-petition mortgage arrearage to be paid through the Chapter 13 plan. The lienholder did not file a proof of claim or participate in the litigation.

The bankruptcy court remanded a state-court lawsuit filed by debtors concerning the basis for the creditors' claim. The issues raised, including state-law causes of action and arguments regarding preclusion, are not unique to bankruptcy and can be decided in state court.

In an adversary proceeding to determine whether a debt owed to the State of Nebraska, acting through the Department of Health and Human Services, was discharged in the debtor's previous pre-BAPCPA Chapter 13 case, the State failed to meet its burden of proof by showing that the debt was one for support that had been assigned to the State. Accordingly, the debt did not fall within the discharge exception of § 523(a)(5) and it was discharged.

The court granted summary judgment to the debtors, ordering that a wholly unsecured junior lien on the debtors' residential real estate may be avoided after the debtors complete Chapter 13 plan payments.

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.

In this order denying the debtors' motion to avoid a judgment lien, the court reiterated the paramount importance of providing proper notice to a defendant whose rights may be altered, and set out some guidelines for ensuring the achievement of proper service under the procedural rules. First, the defendant must be properly identified. Then, the plaintiff must figure out which method of service is appropriate, e.g., on a registered agent, by first-class mail to an officer or agent at the defendant's street address, or on a named officer of an insured depository institution.