A debtor that was told it could recover reasonable fees for work related to Rule 3001 violations but not for an unsuccessful Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim, sought over $152,000 in attorneys’ fees. The amount was reduced by 25% ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where the facts necessary to resolve the defendant’s affirmative defense based on release were not clearly pleaded in the complaint, its motion to dismiss was denied as premature. Background Before the court is a motion to dismiss filed by UPS ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where a construction company was entitled to recover prejudgment interest on invoices unpaid by its customer but delayed in submitting its first invoice and delayed again in pursuing collection, the interest ran from the date of the last invoice, not ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court U.S. Bankruptcy Court Richmond

Where the debtor argued that a claim must list all interest and fees from the inception of the account, the court rejected that argument and held that the claim is complete if it includes a breakdown of principal, interest, fees ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where an order of sale approved a purchase agreement for debtors to sell certain property, and the agreement provided that the lease for the property would be transferred to the buyer pursuant to assumption and assignment and the debtors would ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Where a debtor filed a class action complaint alleging that a creditor violated Rule 3001 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure by filing a proof of claim and falsely reporting that no interest or fees were included in the ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The commercial property landlord failed to persuade the bankruptcy court that assigning the debtor’s lease to a new tenant was prohibited by the Bankruptcy Code, provisions in the debtor’s lease or provisions in other tenant’s leases. Background Before the court ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Trustees who alleged fraudulent transfer of assets were found to lack standing because the Bankruptcy Code does not give trustees the authority to avoid the transfer of property interests of non-debtor entities. Background Leah McCurnin filed a voluntary petition for ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A bankruptcy judge has refused to allow a lawyer to discharge debts to a bonding company because the debts were caused by the lawyer’s defalcation in handling fiduciary accounts. In 2013, Manassas attorney Timothy A. Ward was suspended from law ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Struggling con­sumers in­creasingly are seeking finan­cial help from online lenders, but consumer lawyers warn the relief may be only temporary. High interest rates and fees, levied through relentless bank with­drawals, sometimes bring consumers to the bankruptcy they hoped to avoid, ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court