Debtor issued three checks to his creditors prior to his filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, however, those checks had not cleared debtor’s bank at the time he filed bankruptcy. The Trustee in Bankruptcy sought an order compelling debtor to turn over the funds in his account at the time he filed for bankruptcy in the […]

Here, the court dismissed the debtor’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy even though the debts were entirely consumer in nature. Here, the court found that the debtor had the financial ability to repay most of his obligations and could have filed a Chapter 13 plan of reorganization. Although Congress did not define what “substantial abuse” meant when […]

In this case, the debtor included in his Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan a monthly payment of $140.00 for a camper.   The bankruptcy trustee objected to such a payment since it was not a “reasonably necessary expense” for the maintenance or support of the debtor as required by the Bankruptcy Code.   The court […]

Here, in the case of In re Krivohlavek, (8th Cir. BAP), Debtor, Terri Krivohlavek, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition with a Statement of Intentions to surrender one 2002 Ford Windstar that was pledged as collateral to Boys Town Federal Credit Union. Prior to the bankruptcy filing date, Debtor paid her secured loan at the Credit […]

Here, the Court considered whether a debtor may keep property secured by a mortgage to the credit union even if the debtor does not either reaffirm, surrender or redeem the obligation.   In this case, GNC Credit Union held a mortgage issued by the debtors and secured by their home. The balance on the loan was […]

Bankrupt Debtor may only redeem collateral in one payment. Redemption installment payments prohibited if debtor elects to retain vehicle.     Here, debtor sought to redeem Ford Motor Credit collateral by paying installment payments for the value of the vehicle, instead of one lump-sum redemption payment. Section 722 of the Bankruptcy Code provides, in pertinent part: An individual debtor may, whether or not the […]

In this case, the bankruptcy court denied debtors’ discharge after debtors transferred property, without consideration, to close friends and relatives with the intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors. Here, debtors filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and a creditor filed an adversary complaint with the court seeking to deny debtors’ discharge. The creditor’s complaint alleged […]

Offset upheld against Credit Union Member Shares pledged as collateral.   In this case, the bankruptcy court held that a credit union properly offset a member’s share deposits and applied them to the debtor’s loan balance. Here, the debtor borrowed funds from the Utica Community Federal Credit Union and signed a security agreement pledging all deposits at […]

In this case, a creditor obtained a state court judgment against Dodds and garnished her wages. The garnishment was issued by the state court prior to debtor’s filing bankruptcy. In addition, the garnishment was served and debtor’s employer withheld $214.78 from her wages. Eleven days after the funds were withheld from debtor’s paycheck, Dodds filed […]

Creditors must be aware that a bankruptcy filing by a principal debtor may not toll (delay) the Statute of Limitations to proceed against a non-bankruptcy co-debtor. The Credit Union in this case was prevented from collecting a deficiency amount owed and suffered a financial loss. This Court held that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing does not toll […]