Summary:

Two recent North Carolina bankruptcy decisions demonstrate that recovering unclaimed bankruptcy funds is no longer simply an administrative matter. Instead, disputes over court registry funds are increasingly involving competing claims, questions regarding exempt property, concerns over fraud, and heightened judicial scrutiny of third-party companies that specialize in recovering unclaimed funds.

Available at: What Start-Up Lawyers Should Know About Bankruptcy

Summary:

Ashley Deady, "Bankruptcy's Blind Spot: An Examination of How the System Turns its Back on Mentally Ill Debtors," argues that while the Bankruptcy Code promises a fresh start for the "honest but unfortunate debtor," it frequently fails those whose financial distress is intertwined with mental illness.

In Hollis v. Lakeview Loan Care, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina dismissed a pro se homeowner's federal lawsuit without prejudice, finding that although the borrower had raised legitimate concerns about her mortgage servicer, she failed to properly identify the defendants, accomplish valid service of process, or plead a recognizable legal claim.

Congress Says Board Certification Matters. Bankruptcy Courts Should Too

Available at (ABI membership may be required):

ABC Update: Statutory Fee Enhancements with Board Certification

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Summary:

The Fourth Circuit's published decision in J. Robert van Faassen, LLM v. Greg Lindberg addresses an important question involving international arbitration: is the three-year deadline in the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") for confirming a foreign arbitration award merely permissive, or is it a true statute of limitations?

The answer, according to the Fourth Circuit, is that the deadline means exactly what it says.

Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6532660 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6532660
Pang, Belisa; Bruckner, Matthew A.; and Jiménez, Dalié. The Missing Cases: Student Loan Discharge in Bankruptcy After Reform (March 1, 2026).

Abstract:

Available at (ABI membership may be required):

Show Me the Money: The Chapter 13 Trustee Audit Process
https://www.abi.org/abi-journal/show-me-the-money-the-chapter-13-audit-process

Effective Chapter 13 Trustee Audits
https://www.abi.org/abi-journal/effective-chapter-13-trustee-audits
 

Summary:

The debtor filed a Chapter 13 case after the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) amended an existing state court environmental enforcement action to add him personally as a defendant. The State alleged that wastewater from a soil remediation facility operated by Carolina Composting Solutions, LLC had repeatedly polluted nearby waters and sought only injunctive relief requiring the defendants to stop the discharges, remediate the environmental damage, and comply with applicable environmental laws and permits.