Contact: John Hartgen
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BANK’S REFUSAL TO RELEASE REPOSSESSED VEHICLE VIOLATES “STAY,” ACCORDING TO LATEST ABI POLL

June 4, 2007, Alexandria, Va. —A majority of respondents to ABI’s latest online poll agreed (64 percent) that a bank’s refusal to release a repossessed vehicle upon receiving notice of a debtor’s chapter 13 filing constitutes a willful stay violation. Forty-eight percent “agreed strongly,” while 16 percent “somewhat agreed” that a bank is willfully violating a chapter 13 debtor’s automatic stay for refusing to release a repossessed vehicle after receiving notice of the debtor’s bankruptcy filing.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents, however, thought that it is not a willful stay violation for a bank to refuse releasing a repossessed vehicle after it had received a debtor’s chapter 13 filing.  Eighteen percent “strongly disagreed” that a bank’s refusal to release a repossessed vehicle upon receiving notice of a debtor’s chapter 13 filing was a willful stay violation, while 9 percent “disagreed somewhat.” Seven percent of the respondents did not know or had no opinion on the issue.

ABI members and members of the public were welcome to submit their response to the statement: “A bank’s refusal to release a repossessed vehicle upon receiving notice of a debtor’s chapter 13 filing constitutes a willful stay violation. (Commercial Bank v. Hundley, D. Kan. No. 06-1038-WEB)” The latest ABI Quick Poll was open to the public for voting from May 25-31.

ABI’s weekly Quick Poll is posted on ABI’s home page, www.abiworld.org. ABI members and the public are invited to respond to a question on a timely bankruptcy or insolvency issue. Visit http://www.abiworld.net/quickpoll/ to access the results of previous ABI Quick Polls.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 11,500 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.