by: Karen Cordry
National Association of Attorneys General; Washington D.C.
In 2008, Congress enacted the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act of 2008 which allowed servicemembers, who have served on active duty for at least 90 days to be exempt from completing and satisfying the means test requirements set out in Section 707(b)(2)(A) in a Chapter 7 case filed between December 19, 2008 and December 19, 2011. The exemption must be claimed while the servicemember is on active duty or with 540 days after they have completed a minimum 90-day period of service to claim the means test exemption. Servicemembers who completed their service periods dating as far back as June 28, 2007, may thus be eligible for the exemption if they filed for bankruptcy relief on December 19, 2008. In June 2011, a bipartisan group of six house members, ranging from Steven Cohen (D-TN) and John Conyers (D-MI) to Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), introduced legislation (H.R. 2192) to extend the expiration date for another four years.
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The appropriate venue for chapter 11 cases has long been the subject of debate, especially over the past decade. The debate’s most recent development is the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act of 2011 (“H.R. 2533”), introduced on July 14, 2011, by Representatives Lamar Smith of Texas, John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, Howard Coble of North Carolina, and Steve Cohen of Tennessee ( “Sponsors”). [1] H.R. 2533 proposes changes to the current venue rules to limit “forum-shopping” by potential debtors; [2] however, H.R. 2533 may have unintended consequences that negatively affect all parties-in-interest in a chapter 11 case.
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