Summary: Knox obtained payday loans from loan servicers for Community State Bank (CSB), an out of state-chartered bank, and subsequently brought suit in state court alleging various violations of North Carolina lending and usury laws, as well as unfair and deceptive trade practices. In response, the loan servicers advanced on two fronts- first, the loan servicers sought to have the matters removed to federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, arguing that the National Bank Act (NBA) and Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) completely pre-empted state-law usury

Summary: Plaintiffs had brought suit against Howard A. Jacobson (“Jacobson”), Envision Sales & Marketing Group LLC (“Envision”), CILPS Acquisition LLC (“CILPS”), and the debtor (collectively “business court defendants”) and it was designated a mandatory complex business case and assigned to the North Carolina Business Court pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A–45.4(b).

Abstract: In The Price of Inequality, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz explores the growing problem of wealth inequality in the United States.1 Stiglitz, riding the momentum of the Occupy Wall Street protests and “the 99 percent” political slogan, argues that economic and political factors have worked in concert to increasingly help shift wealth from the middle and lower classes to those at the top of the American socioeconomic ladder.

Summary: The Debtor sought to have the bankruptcy judge recuse herself, based on an alleged financial interest held by the judge in JP Morgan Chase, a party in an adversary proceeding.

Summary: As an initial matter, the 4th Circuit affirmed, in a published opinion, that pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 506(a) and 1322(b)(2), a junior lien against real estate that serves as the debtor’s principal residence can be stripped-off if there is no equity above the senior lien(s). The Court of Appeals next proceeded to the question of whether a Debtor, who had recently obtained and Chapter 7 discharge and was thus ineligible for a Chapter 13 discharge, could similarly strip-off a junior lien.

Summary: The Supreme Court ruled that “defalcation” as used in 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4) requires a culpable state of mind, involving knowledge of, or gross recklessness in respect to, the improper nature of the fiduciary behavior. For a copy of the opinion, please see: Bullock v. Bank Champagne- Defalcation.pdf

Summary: Clean Burn Fuels (CBF) operated a pant that converted corn supplied by Purdue Bionery (Purdue) into ethanol. The agreement between the parties provided that Purdue would retain ownership of the corn until it was delivered to CBF, defined as the when it passed over a weigh belt, the final stage before the conversion of the corn into ethanol began.

Summary: The McFaddens obtained a mortgage from Flagstar in July 2007 for $116,500.00, secured by their real property located in Virginia. The note provided that it could be freely transfered by Flagstar and that the agreements in the Deed of Trust would bind and benefit successors and assignees of the note. Before August 2009, the note was transferred to Fannie Mae and around the same time the McFaddens fell delinquent on their payments.