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THE CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY LETTER
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In This Issue:
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Dec. 1, 2003
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BOOKS - SOFTWARE - PERIODICALS - SEMINARS
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BANKRUPTCY THIS WEEK . . .
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LEGISLATION & REFORM NEWS . . .
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The One-Stop site for Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyers
Books / Software / Periodicals
FEATURED -
King's DISCHARGING TAXES IN BANKRUPTCY ed. 2000
5th ed. • 915 pages • 75 exhibits and checklists • over 1,000 cases cited • indexed $95 - 2002 Supplement available
This book has been called "the bible" for discharging taxes in consumer bankruptcy cases. Used by thousands of lawyers, trustees, judges and other tax professionals across the country, it explains in simple yet comprehensive terms what kinds of taxes can be erased, when they can be erased, and how they can be erased in chapter 7, 13, or 11. It covers all the issues and traps for the unwary. This book is even used by revenue officers!
Says Ike Shulman, former President of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, "Every serious bankruptcy practitioner should have this book!"
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OTHER POPULAR TITLES -
King, Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy with 2002 supplement $135
King, Marketing A Consumer Bankruptcy Practice $89
King, Chapter 7 Law & Practice $129.50
King, Chaper 13 Law & Practice $129.50
King, Fees & Ethics in Consumer Bankruptcy Cases $79.95
NCLC, Consumer Bankruptcy Law & Practice $140
James Pub, Bankruptcy Courts & Procedures $110
Aspen, Basic Bankruptcy Law For Paralegals $79.95
Aspen, Automatic Stay Litigation $195
Juris, Fundamentals of Bankruptcy & Corporate Reorganization $80.75
CD TimeValue, TValue5 Interest Calculator $149.00
CD Gold, Tax Discharge Chronometer $139.00
CD Collier TopForm Bankruptcy System $700
OVER 100 SELECTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
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NO ACTION ON REFORM ACT EXPECTED UNTIL BEGINNNG OF NEXT YEAR
Despite speculation that reform proponents in the Senate would attempt to pass the reform legislation before the end of 2003, possibly by attaching it to the omnibus budget appropriations bill, no such action took place. Informed sources now tell Bankruptcy Media that further action on the bill, if any, will have to wait until the first quarter of 2004 when Congress reconvenes after the holiday break.
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BILL INTRODUCED TO INCREASE PRIORITY OF SOME CLAIMS
On November 25th, as lawmakers ran for airports, Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced S.1970, a bill to amend Title 11 to increase the amount of unsecured claims for salaries and wages given priority in bankruptcy and to provide cash payments to retirees to compensate for lost health insurance benefits resulting from the bankruptcy of their former employer. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
SOURCE: David P. Goch
Commercial Law League of America
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CHAPTER 12 EXTENDED TO JUNE, 2004
The Senate, on November 25th, passed S. 1920, extending chapter 12 until June 20, 2004. It has been sent to the House of Representatives, which will have the opportunity to consider when they return to Washington on December 8th-9th to vote on the omnibus appropriations bill. If the House fails to pass S. 1920, chapter 12 will lapse while Congress is out on holiday recess. The next opportunity to extend chapter 12 will be when Congress comes back to town in late January 2004.
SOURCE: NACBA listserve / CLLA news
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U.S. SUPREME COURT ADOPTS "COERCED LOAN" FORMULA FOR FIXING INTEREST IN CHAPTER 13 CASES
The issue in this case is the appropriate method to be employed when determining the cramdown interest rate for confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan over a secured creditor‚s objection. The Tills filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 13. SCS Credit Corporation (SCS), a sub-prime lender and secured creditor, objected to confirmation of the Tills' Chapter 13 plan on the ground that the interest rate SCS would be paid under the Chapter 13 "cramdown" provision in 11 U.S.C section 1325(a)(5)(B)(ii) was insufficient to adequately protect SCS. The bankruptcy court confirmed the plan over SCS's objection, setting the interest rate at prime rate plus a risk adjustment of 1.5 percent SCS appealed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The District Court reversed, concluding that the "coerced loan" theory applied, and that the interest rate should be based on what SCS would receive for a loan of similar risk and duration. The Tills appealed.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, after analyzing the calculation methods employed by different Circuits, vacated the judgment of the district court and remanded with instructions that the bankruptcy court use the contract rate of 21 percent [Summarized by Misty Willits.]
Held, the district court properly determined that ... the correct approach in ascertaining the appropriate interest rate in a cramdown situation is the coerced loan approach. Nevertheless, because our decision today sufficiently elaborates on that methodology and gives further guidance to the bankruptcy courts on this matter, we believe that the best course is to remand the case to the district court with instructions that the judgment of the bankruptcy court be vacated and that further proceedings consistent with this opinion be held in the bankruptcy court. We believe that fairness requires that both parties be afforded an opportunity to address the factors that we have identified in this opinion and that the bankruptcy court be given the opportunity to employ the methodology that we have set forth today. The bankruptcy courts are vested with significant discretion in the application of the method described in this opinion.
Till v. SCS Credit Corp., __ S.Ct. __ (2003)
Court below: 301 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2002)
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WHY DUMB JUNIOR WILL GET RICH
There's a little fellow named Junior who hangs out at Tim Alley's
Grocery Store. The owner Tim doesn't know what Junior's problem is, but the boys like to tease him. They say he is two bricks shy of a load, or two pickles shy of a barrel. To prove it, sometimes they offer Junior his choice between a nickel and a dime. He always takes the nickel, they say, because it's bigger.
One day after Junior grabbed the nickel, Tim got him off to one side and said, "Junior, those boys are making fun of you. They think you don't know the dime is worth more than the nickel. Are you grabbing the nickel because it's bigger, or what?"
Junior said, "Well, if I took the dime, they'd quit doing it!"
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