Plaintiff-debtor Nancy E. Dickson filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition on July 16, 2007, seeking to reorganize her debts. As a part of this process, Dickson successfully sought to avoid a lien on her manufactured home held by defendant-appellant Countrywide Home Loans (“Countrywide”). Countrywide appeals the judgment of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the…Read more

This case concerns the bankruptcy estate of Qualia Clinical Service, Inc. (“Qualia”). The estate’s Chapter 7 Trustee (“Trustee”) seeks to avoid as a preferential transfer a security interest recorded by one of Qualia’s creditors shortly before the bankruptcy petition. The bankruptcy court and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of this court (“BAP”) held the security interest…Read more

The issue on appeal is whether the bankruptcy court may confirm the debtor’s plan which provides for the avoidance of two junior liens on the Debtor’s principal residence. In particular, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (the “BAP”) considered whether: (1) Bankruptcy Code Section 1322(b)(2) prevents a debtor from modifying the rights of junior lienholders of liens…Read more

The Chapter 7 trustee appeals the bankruptcy court’s order overruling his objection to a debtor’s claimed exemption of life insurance proceeds and denying his motion for turnover. Husband and wife Larry J. Erickson (“Erickson”) and Betty L. Moore (“Moore”) (collectively “Debtors”) filed a petition for Chapter 7 relief on March 30, 2010. At the time…Read more

The United States Trustee, Region 3 (“Trustee”), appeals the reversal by the District Court of sanctions originally imposed in the bankruptcy court on attorneys Mark J. Udren and Lorraine Doyle, the Udren Law Firm, and HSBC for violations of Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9011. The Taylors filed for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in September…Read more

Hardy Rawls Enterprises, LLC (“HRE”) appeals the district court’s order affirming the bankruptcy court’s denial of its proof of claim. The Trustee filed an objection to HRE’s claim, arguing: (1) that HRE had failed to provide documentation supporting the amounts due on its claim; (2) that HRE had failed to perfect its interest in the…Read more

The Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) appeals from the judgment of the bankruptcy court, later affirmed by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP), which discharged the student loan debt of Michele D. Walker (Walker) under the “undue hardship” provision of Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(8). Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that debts from educational loans…Read more

Appellant, Gary E. Jubber, Trustee (the “Trustee”), appeals the bankruptcy court’s decision denying his motion to require Appellees, Jose L. Ruiz and Carrie Ruiz (“Debtors”), to turn over estate assets. The bankruptcy court, while recognizing a split in authority on this issue, held that the Trustee could not recover from Debtors the amount that was…Read more

This case arises from a bankruptcy dispute about a house in Louisiana that Plaintiffs-Appellees Jerry and Sheila Hollander sold to Defendants-Appellants Robert and Rhonda Sigillito. The Sigillitos sued the Hollanders seeking rescission, damages, and attorneys’ fees under state law redhibition and fraud statutes. The bankruptcy court ruled in the Sigillitos’ favor on the redhibition theory…Read more

Former investors with Bernard L. Madoff appeal from an order entered by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in the liquidation proceedings of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC under the Securities Investor Protection Act (“SIPA”). The Trustee, Irving H. Picard, concluded that the investors’ “net equity,” which determines…Read more