Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • NC Bankruptcy Cases
    • Eastern District
    • Middle District
    • Western District
  • NC Courts
    • 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
    • NC Court of Appeals
    • NC Business Court
    • NC Supreme Court Cases
  • Federal Cases
  • Law Reviews & Studies
    • Book Reviews
  • NC Legislative History
  • Student Loan Debt
User account menu
  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Blogs

4th Cir.: Gold v. Robbins- Commission for Chapter 7 Trustee

Profile picture for user Ed Boltz
By Ed Boltz, 28 April, 2014
Summary: Trustee Gold requested a trustee commission, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 330(a)(7), based on the percentages set forth in § 326(a), of $17,254.61. The bankruptcy court, finding that Gold had failed to timely complete his duties, reduced the fee to $8,020.00, based on his reasonable hourly services. The Court of Appeals started from finding that BAPCPA added § 330(a)(7) and instructs that, “[i]n determining the amount of reasonable compensation to be awarded to a trustee, the court shall treat such compensation as a commission, based on section 326.” (Emphasis added.) It contrasted the “shall” of § 330(a)(7) with the “may” used elsewhere in § 330(a). Accordingly, absent extraordinary circumstances, a Chapter 7 Trustee’s commission must be based on the calculated commission. The 4th Circuit found that extraordinary circumstances justified a departure from the calculated commission by “synthesizing” the permissive reduction in § 330(a)(2) with the mandatory § 330(a)(7). In determining whether to depart from the calculated commission, the bankruptcy court is required to first calculate such commission and only then determine, with detailed findings of fact, if extraordinary circumstances rendered such unreasonable. Commentary: This is in some sense a counterpoint to Law v. Segel, in that it found that the trustee’s commission was, if not quite as sacrosanct as an exemption from surcharge, still protected against all but the most extraordinary failures by a trustee. Unmentioned here, but directly raised in Law, is that the bankruptcy courts and the United States Trustee (or in North Carolina, the Bankruptcy Administrator) have other options for dealing with trustee failings, including removal of the negligent trustee from the panel or using § 105 to sanction a trustee for failures under § 704. Such options may be harsher and could cause a trustee to regret the loss of this monetary penalty. For a copy of the opinion, please see: Gold v. Robbins- Commission for Chapter 7 Trustee

Blog comments

Blog tags
Trustee
Category
4th Circuit Court of Appeals

About Us

Mountain View The purpose of the NC Bankruptcy Expert blog is to provide legal professionals with a consolidated resource for updates and case summaries about issues and decisions affecting bankruptcy, foreclosures, mortgages, and debt collection.

 
Lawyer Edward Boltz | Top Attorney Chapter 7

NC Bankruptcy Expert FREE Consultation

We Offer A Free Bankruptcy Consultation which has helped over 70,000 North Carolina families. We serve the entire state of North Carolina.

Proud Member of:












Categories

  • 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Book Reviews
  • District Courts
  • Eastern District
  • Ed Boltz: Bankruptcy Attorney
  • Federal Cases
  • Forms
  • Home
  • Law Reviews & Studies
  • Middle District
  • Mortgage Modification Mediation Documents
  • NC Business Court
  • NC Court of Appeals
  • NC Courts
  • NC Supreme Court Cases
  • News
  • North Carolina Bankruptcy Cases
  • North Carolina District Court Cases
  • North Carolina Exemptions Legislative History
  • Student Loan Debt
  • Student Loan Options and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
  • Western District
RSS feed
v. 1.2.2, © 2013-2025 ncbankruptcyexpert.com, all rights reserved. Follow @edboltz