In this case, Robert Schultz and his wife owed more than $15,000 to Hancock Bank on a loan secured by debtors’ Chevrolet Caprice. The amount owed was not in dispute. Debtors’ Chapter 13 Plan proposed to repay Hancock Bank the value of its security, which was listed at $8,175. The balance of the funds owed […]

This California Appellate Panel rendered an opinion favoring creditors who refinance a debt in reliance upon a fraudulent financing statement, even though no new money is advanced. In this case, debtors had an existing loan with the bank and were unable to make the agreed payments. Debtors requested an extension of time to repay the […]

Creditor retains garnishment funds received within two weeks before debtor filed bankruptcy. Court ruled in this case that date garnishment was “served” on garnishee defendant placed garnished funds outside of 90-day window for Trustee to set aside transfer to creditor. Here, the bankruptcy trustee sought to compel First of America Bank to return garnishment funds received […]

If collateral is not insured and the debtor files bankruptcy, proper procedure is to first lift the Bankruptcy Stay and then repossess collateral. Here, the court held that a creditor is entitled to lifting the Bankruptcy automatic stay if the secured collateral is not insured. An automobile in question in this case was not insured. […]

False loan application results in nondischargeable debt. Here, debtor submitted a loan application to the bank and represented that he and his wife were on the title of debtor’s residence. In fact, the residence was only found to be titled in debtor’s wife’s name. Thereafter, debtor filed an individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the bank filed […]

The trial court held that the credit union’s actions, as well as that of the credit union attorney, violated the bankruptcy code’s automatic stay. The trial court ordered the credit union and its attorney to pay $15,000 in punitive damages. Here, debtor purchased a kit to transform his 1970 Volkswagen chassis into a 1937 Jaguar […]

In this case,  debtor filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy attempting to liquidate some $67,000 of unsecured credit card debts. The Court denied the discharge as to Corestates Bank. Here, the debtor used his credit cards to obtain cash advances for daily living expenses. The debtor’s charge cards were nearly all charged to the maximum limit. […]

In this case, a creditor proceeded to collect on judgment against garnishee defendant even though principal defendant filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Court found no violation of automatic stay. Judgment against garnishee defendant was on debtor’s wages.   Here, the creditor held a judgment against debtor and sought to collect the judgment with a garnishment on debtor’s wages. […]

Preferential Transfer: “Time” of Transfer adopted. — On September 11th, a garnishment was filed on debtor’s savings account; — On September 17th, a garnishment order to pay was issued by the court; — On September 19th, garnishee defendant received the order to pay; — On September 27th, funds were paid to the court by the […]

 Here, debtors failed to keep adequate records of their finances, and consequently the court denied their discharge. The debtors’ Statement of Financial Affairs indicated that they were principals in nine corporations. Some of the corporations were inactive, however, debtor, Mr. Vetri testified that he was unable to locate any of the business records of the […]