Means Test: Are The Official Forms Flawed?
by: Thomas J. Yerbich
Anchorage, Alaska
The Judicial Conference has approved Official Forms 22A and 22C for use in making the means test calculation in chapter 7 (OF 22A) and determining disposable income in chapter 13 (OF 22C). Both forms utilize the same methodology in applying the transportation standards and the housing and utilities standards. In the transportation standards, the debtor is allowed the greater of the maximum ownership costs standard or the debtor's secured vehicle payments determined under §707(b)(2)(A)(iii). For housing and utilities expenses, the debtor is allowed the greater of the maximum standard for mortgage/rent or the debtor's house payment determined under §707(b)(2)(A)(iii). This begs the question: Is this the correct interpretation of §707(b)(2)(A)(ii)(I)? For the following reasons, it is this author's opinion it is not.
DRAs: Has The Bull Really Been Thrown?
by: Thomas J. Yerbich
Anchorage, Alaska
With his decision in In re Attorneys at Law and Draft Relief Agencies, 332 B.R. 66, (Bank. S.D. Ga. 2005), on the applicability of the Debt Relief Agency provisions to attorneys, Judge Lamar W. Davis Jr. not only takes the bull by the horns, but literally throws it to the ground. Unfortunately, this particular bull is not likely to stay thrown and will doubtlessly rise to gore lawyers who provide bankruptcy advice to assisted persons. The group of lawyers gored by the DRA sections, as many commentators have already noted, is not limited to those representing consumer debtors. Attorneys that represent creditors who themselves fall within the definition of an assisted person may also acquire the DRA taint.
Agenda for the 2005 Winter Leadership Conference
The Consumer Bankruptcy and Ethics Committees will present a joint program, “My Practice Will Go On…or Will It?—Ethical and Other Challenges for Consumer Bankruptcy Case Practice Under the BAPCPA of 2005,” at the 2005 Winter Leadership Conference in Indian Wells, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 2, at 3:45 p.m. This timely program will address the various ethical issues that arise in consumer bankruptcy cases and the new challenges posed by the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code. The panel, which will include debtor and creditor counsel as well as a representative of the Office of the U.S Trustee, will discuss various present practices of counsel, new approaches to old issues and questions raised by the new consumer provisions.