9th Circuit

Chapter 13 Debtor Can’t Keep Postpetition Appreciation in Value of Stock Options

Two recent decisions by the 9th Circuit BAP seem in conflict on a chapter 13 debtor’s ability to retain appreciation in the value of assets.
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Courts Must Rule on ‘Comfort Orders’ When Requested, BAP Says

ABI Consumer Commission recommended that ‘comfort orders’ be obtained through motion practice, not adversary proceedings.
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Claims Subject to Bona Fide Dispute Are Included in Deciding Eligibility for Chapter 13

If a creditor objects to chapter 13 eligibility in good faith, the court may look behind the debtor’s schedules to decide whether the debt exceeds the cap.
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Cramdown Must Not Put the Secured Creditor at Risk, Ninth Circuit BAP Says

Permanently reducing the claim by the appraised value without a backstop means the creditor isn’t receiving the ‘indubitable equivalent,’ BAP says.
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Ninth Circuit Creates a Legal Fiction to Uphold Recovery of an Unauthorized Transfer

Ninth Circuit assumed that transferred property must remain property of the estate after conversion from ‘13’ to ‘7’ before the chapter 7 trustee can avoid an unauthorized transfer under Section 549.
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Ninth Circuit BAP Applies Taggart to Violations of the Automatic Stay

Taggart left open the question of whether the ‘no objectively reasonable basis’ standard for discharge violations also applies to contempt of the automatic stay.
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Two Circuits Hold that a Debt Buyer Can Be a ‘Debt Collector’ Under the FDCPA

Even the dissenter in the Ninth Circuit would not let a debt buyer off the hook if the complaint were properly pleaded.
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Mortgage Servicer Hit with $300,000 in Actual and Punitive Damages for Stay Violation

The creditor was guilty of an automatic stay violation, but Taggart insulated the creditor from liability for a discharge violation for continuation of the same conduct.

Ninth Circuit Equivocates on ‘Collection Injunctions’ in Individual Chapter 11s

Dissenter in the Ninth Circuit says that utilizing provisions in the Bankruptcy Code is not bad faith barring confirmation.
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Ninth Circuit Takes a Hard Line Against Waiving Discharge Inadvertently

The Ninth Circuit may be backing off from Ybarra, a case that waives discharge for attorneys’ fees if the debtor ‘returns to the fray.’
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