What constitutes “Attorney Work Product” when a creditor is attempting to discover matters relating to Schedule F – the Schedule setting forth the General Unsecured Creditors?

In McDowell, the Court required debtors’ attorney to turn over debtors’ original Schedule F, but not other documents. Ruling on the U.S. Trustee’s motion to require the Chapter 7 debtors’ attorney to turn over various documents created during the debtors’ case, the court held that: A questionnaire created by the attorney, to which one or…

Are post-petition condominium assessments “non-dischargeable” debts?

In a highly contentious issue, the Texas based Zamora Court Post-Petition condominium assessments are postpetition debts – and therefore non-disharageable. Homeowners association fees assessed after the filing of a voluntary petition in bankruptcy are postpetition debts. See In re Beeter, 173 B.R. 108 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1994) (under the debtor’s condominium declaration, and under Arizona law,…

Can a Mortgage Creditor’s post-petition payment claim be disallowed in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

Yes. In a recent Texas decision, the Creggett court disallowed the mortgage creditor’s claimed payment change from $1,246 monthly to $2,608 monthly, based on an asserted change in the Chapter 13 debtors’ monthly escrow account payment from $0.01 to $1,652. The court apparently believed that the creditor had not properly documented the analysis of the debtors’ escrow…

Is a Creditor’s right to enforce a Covenant Not to Compete a “claim” that is dischargeable in a Bankruptcy proceeding?

In Texas, a Bankruptcy Court held that a creditor’s right to equitable relief to enforce a covenant not to compete against the debtor was a “claim” under Code § 101(5) because, under § 101(5)(B), the term “claim” includes the “right to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if such breach gives rise to a…

Mortgage Creditors must comply with RESPA requirements or be subject to waiver of shortages and other sanctions

In a Texas decsision, the Bankruptcy Court held that a Mortgage Creditor waived right to recover escrow shortages by failing to provide escrow analyses required by RESPA. The Garza Court recognized that the  proper remedy for a failure to comply with RESPA’s annual escrow analysis requirement has been the topic of significant debate. The majority of…

Does a Proof of Claim file by a Mortgage creditor in a prior Chapter 13 Bankruptcy “judicially estop” the same creditor from amending their claim in the same Debtor’s current Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

In a recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, a proof of claim filed by mortgage creditor in the Homeowner’s prior Chapter 13 case did not judicially estop the same mortgage creditor from amending their claim in the Homeowner’s  current case: The 5th Court of Appeals held that a mortgage company’s failure to include the…

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