Posted by NCBRC - September 2nd, 2014
Two cases out of the Western District of Louisiana found that attorney Glay H. Collier’s fee collection practices violated sections 526, 528, 362 and 524 of the Bankruptcy Code. Wheeler v. Collier (In re Wheeler), No 11-1670 (W.D. La. May 22, 2014) and (July 17, 2014), and Patrick v. Collier (In re Patrick), No. 14-11203 (Bankr. W.D. La. July 23, 2014). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - April 17th, 2014
The Ninth Circuit has cracked open a door that Sternberg seemed to have slammed shut by holding that a debtor is not precluded from recovering, as damages, attorneys’ fees for defending against a creditor’s appeal of a finding that the creditor violated the automatic stay. America’s Servicing Co. v. Schwartz-Tallard, No. 12-60052 (9th Cir. Apr. 16, 2014). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - February 25th, 2014
The Eleventh Circuit upheld the lower court’s denial of confirmation in the debtor’s fee-only chapter 13 plan finding that it did not satisfy the good faith requirements of section 1325(a)(3) and (7). Brown v. Gore (In re Brown), No. 13-10260 (11th Cir. Feb. 14, 2014). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - February 13th, 2014
Language in a proposed order for attorney fees that, in the event of dismissal or conversion, the fees were to be paid out of undistributed funds held by the trustee was rejected by the bankruptcy court as unsupported by the Code. In re Weatherspoon, No. 11-46755 (Bankr. W.D. Wash. Jan. 3, 2014). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - December 20th, 2013
A bankruptcy court in Texas ruled that the legal fees incurred by a mortgage company in filing a Notice of Fees, Expenses, and Charges, could not be passed along to the debtor. In re Roife, No. 10-34070 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Nov. 26, 2013). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - March 20th, 2013
The Ninth Circuit decision in Sternberg v. Johnston, reared its ugly head to limit recovery of attorney fees in a stay violation action in the recent case of Check Into Cash v. Snowden (In re Snowden), No. 12-1095 (W.D. Wash. March 11, 2013). Snowden came to the district court on appeal and cross-appeal of the Bankruptcy Court’s award of damages for emotional distress and punitive damages resulting from Check Into Cash (CIC)’s violation of the automatic stay.
After affirming both the emotional distress and punitive damage awards the court rejected the debtor’s invitation to revisit its earlier decision in a previous appeal that the award of attorney fees was properly limited, under Sternberg v. Johnston, 595 F.3d 937 (9th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 102 (2010), to those fees pre-dating the adversary proceeding. Read More
Posted by NCBRC - October 8th, 2012
Declining to “dim the light that shines at the end of the long 60-month tunnel for compliant debtors,” the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas held that Wells Fargo waived its right to collect post-petition shortfalls in escrow payments due to its failure to comply with notice requirements. In re Garza, No. 08-60088 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Oct. 1, 2012). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - August 21st, 2012
In good news for bankruptcy debtors who cannot afford to file chapter 7 or for whom chapter 7 is otherwise impracticable, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court’s confirmation of the debtor’s “fee-only” chapter 13 plan finding that such plan are not per se bad faith. Sikes v. Crager (In re Crager), No. 11-30982 (5th Cir. August 16, 2012), rev’g, W.D. La. 10-1863 (Sept. 30, 2011). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - July 10th, 2012
The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court’s reduction of the mortgage creditor’s attorney fee “penalty” against the debtor where the penalty, ten percent of the original loan, was provided for in the mortgage document. RNPM, LLC v. Alvarez, No. 11-80 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. June 28, 2012). Read More
Posted by NCBRC - July 5th, 2012
When a debtor is forced to defend both the ruling that the creditor violated the automatic stay and the award of sanctions for that violation, the debtor may recover her appellate attorney fees under section 362(k). Schwartz-Tallard v. America’s Servicing Co., No. 11-1429 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. June 28, 2012). Read More