As reported by the ABI: Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr laid out plans yesterday for changes to the city’s two retirement systems even as bankruptcy proceedings continue, Reuters reported yesterday. Orr, who was tapped by Michigan’s governor in March 2013 to run Detroit, said all current and new city workers will be subject to the changes effective…
Archives for June 2014
What are the Elements of a Discharge Violation Injunction?
Robin Miller of CBAR reports: A debtor who alleges a violation of § 524(a)(2) must establish by clear and convincing evidence that the creditor (1) violated the discharge injunction and (2) did so with actual knowledge of the injunction. The standard does not require proof that the creditor deliberately violated the injunction. In re Campbell,…
Ohio Court Adopts “Economic Unit” Approach to “Household Size”
Robin Miller of CBAR reports on a case that could have a dramatic impact on means testing: Rejecting the “heads on bed” and “IRS dependency” approaches, the court adopted the “economic unit” approach to determining a debtor’s “household size.” In applying this approach, the court adopted rebuttable presumptions that an individual listed as a dependent…
STUDENT LOAN ADMINISTRATIVE GARNISHMENTS ARE ON THE RISE!
As reported by the American Bankruptcy Institute, the federal government is stepping up wage garnishments of student-loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loan. Administrative wage garnishments are just another lingering effect of the nation’s ballooning college debt, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. 175,000 defaulting borrowers saw the US Department of Education Department…
The Majority View: Lien Strips are Valid in “Chapter 20” Proceedings!
As reported by Robin Miller of CBAR: Agreeing with the one other Court of Appeals decision on the issue, In re Davis, 716 F.3d 331 (4th Cir. 2013), and with what it called the majority view on the issue, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals today held that a Chapter 13 debtor may strip a…
Senator Warren’s Student Loan Bill Gets Slammed! What’s Up Congress? We the People? Or – You the Aristocrats???
As report in the Huffinton Post on June 13, 2014 – The Senate on Wednesday declined to approve a measure that would have enabled millions of Americans with expensive student loans to refinance into cheaper debt. The 56-38 vote on the refinancing proposal, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), failed to garner the 60 votes…
Can You Exempt Inherited IRA’s Under the Federal Bankruptcy Exemption in Michigan?
Today the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision in Clark v. Rameker, 2014 WL 2608860 (U.S., June 12, 2014) (case no. 13-299), held that an inherited IRA is not exempt under Code § 522(b)(3)(C) or § 522(d)(12) because the funds in an inherited IRA are not “retirement funds” within the meaning of those provisions, each of…