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Carl Zeiss Meditec AG v. Anstine (In re U.S. Med. Inc.)

Ruling
Avoidance of transfers reversed where creditor had close, but not insider, relationship with debtor.
Procedural posture

Appellant, a creditor, sought review of a decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, entered in favor of appellee, the chapter 7 trustee, after ruling that the creditor was a non-statutory insider to the debtor. The trustee was allowed to avoid certain transfers from the debtor to the creditor, which were found to be preferential pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 547(b)(4)(B) and 550(a)(1).

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Court :
Judge or Jurisdiction information not available
Commercial opinion summary, case decided on June 12, 2007 , LexisNexis #1007-068

Busch v. Hancock (In re Busch)

Ruling
Debtor's obligation to pay second mortgage for former spouse was in the nature of support and nondischargeable.
Procedural posture

Appellant chapter 7 debtor challenged a decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah, which denied the debtor's motion for relief from judgment under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7052 and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9024 after the bankruptcy court held that an obligation owed to appellee, the debtor's ex-wife, was nondischargeable and awarded attorney's fees to the ex-wife's attorney in connection with state and federal litigation.

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Court :
Judge or Jurisdiction information not available
opinion summary, case decided on June 04, 2007 , LexisNexis #0707-028

Lawrence Athletic Club v. Scroggin (In re Scroggin)

Ruling
Bankruptcy court properly held that creditor's failure to take affirmative action to stop wage garnishment violated stay.
Procedural posture

Appellant creditor sought review of a judgment of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, which awarded appellee debtor damages, attorney fees, and sanctions resulting from the creditor's willful violation of the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(h). The debtor filed a motion to dismiss the appeal as moot.

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Court :
Judge or Jurisdiction information not available
opinion summary, case decided on March 16, 2007 , LexisNexis #0407-093

Smith v. Bridgman

Ruling
Attorneys' fees awarded in action finding no common-law marriage existed between debtor and creditor was dischargeable.
Procedural posture

Creditor filed an adversary proceeding against chapter 7 debtor, seeking a determination that debt owed to her was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5), (6) and (15).

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opinion summary, case decided on November 14, 2006 , LexisNexis #0107-128

In re Davis

Ruling
New requirements of BAPCPA justified raising of local presumptive attorneys'fee.
Procedural posture

A chapter 7 trustee filed a motion pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 329(b) seeking to disgorge the attorney's fee paid, prepetition, by a chapter 7 debtor to her attorney. The debtor objected to the motion. The $1,500 fee amount was in excess of the presumptive fee amount adopted by the court in 1999 for chapter 7 cases. The court held a hearing and thereafter issued a decision on the motion.

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opinion summary, case decided on August 17, 2006 , LexisNexis #1106-004

Morris v. St. John Natl Bank (In re Haberman)

Ruling
Trustee's recovery on avoided liens limited to value of collateral on petition date.
Procedural posture

Appellant chapter 7 trustee brought a lien avoidance action against appellee creditor and debtors pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 544(a) and 551. The Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas limited the trustee's recovery of postpetition payments to the value of the vehicle on the date of bankruptcy and denied his motion to recover postpetition payments made in excess of the value of that vehicle. The trustee appealed.

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Court :
Judge or Jurisdiction information not available
opinion summary, case decided on August 09, 2006 , LexisNexis #1106-012

In re Johns

Ruling
Case was dismissed since potential zero distribution in hypothetical conversion to chapter 13 case did not rebut presumption of abuse of chapter 7.
Procedural posture

A means test calculation submitted by bankruptcy debtors indicated that the debtors'monthly disposable income exceeded a statutory amount and thus created a presumption of bankruptcy abuse under 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(A)(i). The trustee moved to dismiss the debtors'petition based on the presumption of abuse.

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opinion summary, case decided on May 26, 2006 , LexisNexis #0606-111

In re Lawson

Ruling
University's lien impaired debtor's homestead exemption and was thus avoidable.
Procedural posture

A bankruptcy debtor defaulted on an educational loan and the lending university obtained a state-court judgment against the debtor for the loan debt. The university recorded its judgment and the debtor moved to avoid the university's judgment lien pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 522(f) on the ground that the lien impaired the debtor's homestead exemption.

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opinion summary, case decided on April 17, 2006 , LexisNexis #0606-052

Anstine v. Centex Home Equity Co. LLC (In re Pepper)

Ruling
Creditor was denied an appeal of a transfer avoidance judgment since the parties may have intended to make a contemporaneous exchange but in fact delayed recording a deed for seven months.
Procedural posture

Defendant creditor appealed a judgment entered by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado in favor of plaintiff chapter 7 trustee avoiding a transfer made by the debtors to the creditor pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 547(b). The transfer at issue was the creditor's recording of a deed of trust seven months and 18 days after the loan transaction. The creditor argued that the transaction was exempt under 11 U.S.C. § 547(c).

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Court :
Judge or Jurisdiction information not available
opinion summary, case decided on March 28, 2006 , LexisNexis #0406-096

In re Phillips

Ruling
Automatic stay was extended for second chapter 13 case because the debtor demonstrated good faith in making second filing despite failing to make payments in the first case, and changed circumstances showed an ability to pay.
Procedural posture

Debtor filed a motion to extend the automatic stay in her chapter 13 bankruptcy case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3) under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Neither the Trustee nor any creditors filed an objection to the motion.

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opinion summary, case decided on January 06, 2006 , LexisNexis #0206-089