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Hersh v. United States

The district court for the Northern District of Texas held that 11 U.S.C.S. § 526(a)(4) was facially unconstitutional. Defendant, the United States, appealed this ruling. The district court also held that attorneys qualified a debt relief agencies under 11 U.S.C.S. § 101(12A), and that 11 U.S.C.S. § 527(b) did not violate the First Amendment. Plaintiff, a bankruptcy attorney, cross-appealed these rulings.
Ruling: 
Section 526(a)(4) prohibits only counseling that would lead to abuse of bankruptcy system and is not facially unconstitutional.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on December 18,2008, LexisNexis #0209-011

Goldberg v. Clay (In re Smith)

Plaintiff chapter 7 trustee sought the disgorgement of a referral fee received in the post-petition period by defendant, chapter 7 debtor's bankruptcy attorney, on the grounds that the fee was received in violation of 11 U.S.C.S. § 504(a).
Ruling: 
Referral fee paid to debtor's attorney upon settlement of debtor's civil action ordered disgorged.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on December 09,2008, LexisNexis #0109-067

Neary v. Guillet (In re Guillet)

Plaintiff United States trustee filed a complaint against defendant chapter 7 debtors, a husband and wife, seeking to deny the entry of a chapter 7 discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C.S. § 727(a)(2), § 727(a)(3), or § 727(a)(5).
Ruling: 
Debtor's questionable transfers of funds to Nigeria were not grounds for denial of discharge absent evidence of intent to defraud creditors.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on December 09,2008, LexisNexis #0109-069

Tex-Link Communs. Inc. v. Lopez (In re Lopez)

Debtor filed a motion to set aside a default judgment taken against him by plaintiff pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7055(c), on the grounds that service was improper under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7004(b)(9).
Ruling: 
Electronic service of adversary complaint upon debtor's attorney was improper where attorney did not consent in writing.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 26,2008, LexisNexis #0109-097

Washington Mutual Bank v. Heard (In re Heard)

Defendant debtor filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Plaintiff creditor filed an adversary proceeding against the debtor, contending that the debtor should have been denied a chapter 7 discharge under 11 U.S.C.S. § 727(a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B), (a)(3), and (a)(4)(A). The creditor alleged that the debtor transferred stock and failed to disclose the existence of and transfers to and from a family trust with the intent to defraud creditors.
Ruling: 
Discharge denied due to failure to disclose transfer to undisclosed family trust.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 25,2008, LexisNexis #0909-017

Morris v. Allen (In re Morris)

Plaintiff debtor filed for relief under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, and the matter was converted to a chapter 13 proceeding. The debtor filed an adversary proceeding alleging violations of the automatic stay and violations of a relief from stay order made by an attorney while she represented the debtor's husband in a state court divorce proceeding.
Ruling: 
Actions by debtor's former spouse and lawyer beyond scope of relief granted from stay entitled debtor to damages.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 19,2008, LexisNexis #0109-005

In re Mitchell

A debtor filed for relief under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. A county agency filed an amended proof of claim asserting that its claim was a priority tax claim under 11 U.S.C.S. § 507(a)(8), and the debtor filed an objection to the amended proof of claim.
Ruling: 
County fee that was not designated as a tax was not entitled to priority treatment.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 17,2008, LexisNexis #0109-010

In re Holland

A chapter 7 trustee objected to a debtor's claimed exemptions of her shares of stock in a life insurance company and of the cash surrender value of a life insurance policy.
Ruling: 
Life insurance proceeds received more than 180 days postpetition were not property of the estate and failure to schedule justified by debtor's belief she was not a beneficiary.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 17,2008, LexisNexis #0209-136

In re Powell

A bankruptcy debtor claimed exemptions of specific amounts in real properties, and there were no objections to the exemptions. The debtor moved to avoid a judicial lien pursuant to 11 U.S.C.S. § 522(f)(1) as impairing the debtor's exemptions, but the lienholders claimed that their lien did not impair the exemptions to the extent of the debtor's unexempted equity in the properties.
Ruling: 
Judicial lien avoided as totally impairing debtor's possible exemption.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 06,2008, LexisNexis #0409-045

T.D. Farrell Constr. Inc. v. Schreiber

Plaintiff creditor brought an adversary proceeding against defendant bankruptcy debtor alleging that the debtor's misapplication of construction funds warranted nondischargeability of a debt to the creditor under 11 U.S.C.S. § 523(a)(4), (6). The creditor appealed the orders of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas which granted the debtor's motion for summary judgment and denied the creditor's cross-motion.
Ruling: 
Determination of nondischargeability reversed due to misapplication of collateral estoppel based on case in which debtor was not a party and factual questions regarding debtor's fiduciary status.
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Consumer case opionion summary, case decided on November 03,2008, LexisNexis #1108-119

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