Behrmann v. National Heritage Foundation Although debtor foundation says this appeal is equitably moot as debtor has consummated its confirmed reorganization plan by distributing $20 million in estate assets, the 4th Circuit vacates the lower court order confirming the Chapter 11 plan that approved nondebtor release, injunction and exculpation provisions and remands the case for further proceedings.
We consider in this case the circumstances under which a bankruptcy court may approve nondebtor release, injunction and exculpation provisions as part of a final plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
McDow v. Dudley A bankruptcy court order denying the U.S. Trustee’s motion to dismiss a debtor’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case as abusive under 11 U.S.C. § 707(b) is a final order appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a), and the 4th Circuit reverses the district court decision dismissing the appeal as interlocutory.
Because of the particular effect an order denying a motion to dismiss a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case as abusive has on the bankruptcy proceedings, we conclude a bankruptcy court’s order denying such a motion is appealable to the district court.
D&B Swine Farms, Inc. v. Murphy-Brown, L.L.C. In accordance with Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. ___, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011), the debtor’s adversary proceeding — based on state common law claims — is a non-core proceeding. Since two of the three contracts at issue include arbitration clauses, the claims for breach of those two contracts must be submitted to arbitration.
All further proceedings in this case are stayed pending the conclusion of arbitration.
In re Robinson Where the debtor’s promissory note has been indorsed in blank, and where Residential Credit Solutions (RCS) entered the original promissory note with the blank indorsement into the evidence, RCS is the holder of the note because it is in possession of the original note indorsed in blank.
Since RCS has agreed to accept the debtor’s proposed payment plan, RCS’s motion for relief from the automatic stay is denied.
Buchi Corp. v. Martin There are factual disputes regarding (1) whether the debtor acted in a fiduciary capacity with regard to funds that his former employer deposited into his account and (2) whether the debtor knew the amount of commissions that the employer believed was due under the parties’ severance agreement. Without resolving these factual disputes, the court cannot grant summary judgment as to whether the debtor’s actions constituted fraud or defalcation under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4) or willful and malicious injury under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6).
In re Smithville Crossing, LLC Where the debtor’s agreement with its lender allowed the lender to collect rents from the debtor’s tenants if the debtor defaulted on its loan payments, the debtor was entitled to continue collecting rents between its default and the lender’s notice to the debtor and its tenants that rents were thereafter to be paid to the lender. The rents collected post-default and pre-notice could be used by the debtor as it saw fit, including as payment of a retainer to its attorney.
The creditor’s motion to disgorge the retainer is denied. The creditor’s motions to dismiss and for relief from the automatic stay are also denied. The debtor’s motion for turnover of post-petition rents held by the creditor is denied as well.
In re Foster Where the beneficiary of the debtors’ life insurance policies is a trust, and where the trust authorizes payments to the unsecured creditors of the debtor-decedent - creditors who would otherwise have been barred from accessing such funds by the protection offered under N.C. Const. art. X, § 5 - such a trust is not for the “sole use and benefit” of the debtor’s spouse and children, as contemplated by art. X, § 5.
The court sustains the trustee’s objection to exemptions claimed in the debtors’ life insurance policies.
In re Green Even though the creditor-university has now changed its procedures so that it will not attempt to collect a student’s debts when the university is subject to an automatic bankruptcy stay, the university should not have waited until 2010 to do so.
The debtor’s motion for sanctions for violation of the automatic stay is granted in the amount of $2,000. However, the university is not in contempt of court for its post-discharge attempts to collect certain student loan and overpayment amounts.
In re Croatan Surf Club, LLC Although two creditors entered into a subordination agreement, the junior creditor nevertheless retains its voting rights in the debtor’s bankruptcy.
The court denies creditor Royal Bank America’s (RBA’s) motion to vote the claim of creditor Edwards Family Partnership, L.P. (EFP).
Boston v. Educational Credit Management Corp. Where the debtor’s educational loans are her only remaining debt, she expects continued significant increases in her income, and her reason for seeking discharge of her own student loans is so she can save money for her son’s college education, the debtor has not shown that she is entitled to a discharge of her student loans.
Judgment for the defendant-creditor.
