vol 18, num 2 | April 2020
 
 
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Consumer Bankruptcy
 
AN ABI COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER
 
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Committee Webinar: “The Consumer Provisions of the CARES ACT and Local Court Responses to the Pandemic”
abiLIVE webinar series
 

In light of current events, on April 7, 2020, the Consumer Committee held one of the most successful webinars in its history: “The Consumer Provisions of the CARES Act and Local Court Responses to the Pandemic.” The webinar drew over 1,200 attendees and was held within days of the passage of the far-reaching coronavirus pandemic legislation.

Featuring University of Illinois Prof. Robert Lawless (who was the Reporter for ABI’s Consumer Commission), Judge Tracey Wise of the Eastern District of Kentucky, Chapter 7 Trustee and Debtor Counsel Eric Goering of Cincinnati, Creditor Counsel Michael McCormick of Atlanta, and Moderator David Leibowitz of Chicago, the panel discussed the consumer bankruptcy provisions of the CARES Act. In addition, the panelists discussed how bankruptcy courts have reacted on a local basis to the need for debtors to suspend their chapter 13 plan payments for extended periods of time due to the COVID-19 federal emergency.

Specifically, the panelists discussed the CARES Act amendments, the stimulus payment exclusion from CMI, seven-year plan modifications, the “Sunset” provision, new chapter 13 cases (post-3/27/2020), suspension of payments/modification of plans confirmed prior to 3/27/2020, plans confirmed prior to 3/27/2020, suspension of plan payments for conduit mortgage plans, suspension of plan payments for cure-and-maintain plans, no-look fees, student loans and the CARES Act, stimulus payments in chapters 7 and 13, mortgages in the wake of COVID-19, and the Paycheck Protection Plan.

For a recording of this webinar, please click here

The committee’s next webinar, “Understanding the Nuts and Bolts of the ‘New’ Subchapter V Small Business Chapter 11,” will be held on May 7, 2020. For more information and to register for the webinar, please click here.
 
 
 
 
Consumer Filings and COVID-19: How Policy Changes May Affect Timing
Karlene A. Archer
 
Karlene A. Archer
Karlene A. Archer Law, P.L.L.C.
Manlius, N.Y.
 
 
March 2020 came in like a lion and has left us as something unrecognizable. The month saw a chaotic stock market marked by record drops and rises and closed with staggering unemployment numbers. Concerns about the effect of COVID-19 plague not only those who are immunocompromised but also those who were in tenuous financial positions even before the pandemic took hold. As many kinds of experts attempt to predict what our world as a whole will look like at the end of April, into the next quarter, and through the end of the year, we can only speculate as to what may happen with consumer bankruptcy filings in the months to come. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act specifically (and temporarily) amended the Bankruptcy Code to address issues with current and future filings. However, other actions taken outside of the CARES Act also will impact current and future consumer bankruptcy cases.
 
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Don’t Snooze or You’ll Lose: Denial of Relief from Stay Is Final and Appealable Within 14 Days
Shirley Palumbo
 
Shirley Palumbo
Greenspoon Marder LLP
West Palm Beach, Fla.
 
 
The automatic stay is one of the most extraordinary features of the Bankruptcy Code, and the scope of the prohibition against the initiation or continuation “of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor” is extremely broad. While the stay may be terminated by order of the bankruptcy court pursuant to § 362(d) of the Bankruptcy Code, the Supreme Court recently held that a bankruptcy court’s denial of relief from stay is a final, appealable order.

Ritzen Group Inc. v. Jackson Masonry LLC involved a state court breach-of-contract litigation. Ritzen had filed a lawsuit for breach of contract in state court against Jackson Masonry. Prior to the state court trial, Jackson Masonry, LLC filed for bankruptcy relief, triggering the automatic stay. The bankruptcy court denied Ritzen’s motion for relief from stay with prejudice.

 
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