Month: August 2016

Attend the Creditors Practice Annual Forum 2016, Learn Foreclosure in an Hour!

On September 28, 2016, some of the greatest creditor minds in Nashville will gather for the Creditors Practice Annual Forum 2016. Yes, I’m talking about foreclosures again.

Topics to be covered include:

  • Perfection and Enforcement of Liens for Prime and Remote Contractors
  • Non-Judicial Foreclosures in Tennessee
  • Ethical Issues Related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • TBA Special Committee on the Evolving Legal Market Report

I’ll be presenting the Foreclosures portion of the seminar, which will give a one-hour overview all the laws, defenses, and issues facing lenders conducting foreclosures in Tennessee.

This should be a good seminar, so be sure to sign up to attend the live presentation, or use some of your free CLE credits from your Tennessee Bar Association membership to watch it online.

 

Multiple Bankruptcy Filings: Debtors are Ineligible for New Discharges for 8 Years Between Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases

How quickly can an individual who has received a Chapter 7 discharge obtain a new Chapter 7 discharge?

The answer is in 11 U.S.C.A. § 727(a)(8), which provides that the Bankruptcy Court shall grant a discharge, unless:

(8) the debtor has been granted a discharge under this section, under section 1141 of this title, or under section 14, 371, or 476 of the Bankruptcy Act, in a case commenced within 8 years before the date of the filing of the petition;

So, the quick answer is that you count out 8 years from the date that the individual filed the first case in which he or she received a Discharge. Note: You don’t count the 8 years from the last discharge, but, instead, from the date that the earlier case was filed.

This is why you see what some people refer to as “Chapter 20” bankruptcy cases, in which a debtor receives a discharge in Chapter 7 and then immediately (or soon thereafter) files a subsequent Chapter 13 case. The debtor doesn’t get a discharge in the Chapter 13, but can get the other benefits of Chapter 13, like stretching out the amortization of a debt that was reaffirmed in Chapter 7 or obtaining a stay from collection on liens or reaffirmed debts.

This is a change from earlier law, which set the time period between discharges using a 6 year period.

 

Another side issue to consider: under 11 U.S.C.A. § 1328(f)(1), the debtor in a subsequent Chapter 13 will not receive a discharge in that Chapter 13 if he or she received a discharge under 7 or 11 in a case filed under 7 or 11 during the 4 year period preceding the Chapter 13 filing.