In a concise but significant jurisdictional ruling, the District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina vacated a bankruptcy court judgment awarding $28,600 in quantum meruit against a non-debtor homeowner, holding that the bankruptcy court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the claim.
In Mouselli v. Equifax, the Eastern District of North Carolina denied a motion to disqualify plaintiff’s out-of-state counsel who had entered a special appearance under Local Civil Rule 83.1(e), rejecting the argument that the attorney’s North Carolina residence and a stray Chamber of Commerce listing amounted to the unauthorized practice of law.
In re Bryant (I) — Strategic Disqualification Motions in § 523 Litigation
Summary
In the first January 2026 order, Judge Benjamin Kahn denied the pro se Chapter 7 debtors’ motion to disqualify the plaintiff’s counsel and stay proceedings in a nondischargeability action under § 523(a)(6).
Below is a practitioner-focused review of what can be gleaned from the Custer v. Dovenmuehle record you provided — not as a case summary, but as a toolbox for attacking mortgage Proofs of Claim in Chapter 13, both against Dovenmuehle and other servicers who use similar practices. I focus on what Custer alleged, what DMI admitted (or couldn’t), and how those themes translate into objections, discovery, and plan practice in consumer cases.
Abstract:
For decades low-income families have relied on the filing of individual income tax returns to claim critical social welfare benefits in the form of refundable tax credits, most notably the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. But what happens to those families when the social safety net is not enough to meet their financial obligations, and they must seek a fresh start by filing for bankruptcy?
