Blog posts | Your North Carolina Bankruptcy Expert

By Ed Boltz, 22 October, 2025

W.D.N.C.: Shaf International v. Mohammed – Only the Receiver Can Ride This Motorcycle

Summary:

In Shaf International, Inc. v. Mohammed (W.D.N.C. Sept. 22, 2025), Judge Reidinger affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s grant of summary judgment to the debtor, holding that a single creditor lacks standing to assert fiduciary duty claims against the officer of an insolvent corporation where the injury alleged is common to all creditors.

Background:

By Ed Boltz, 21 October, 2025

E.D.N.C.: Saffold v. First Citizens Bank – Failure to Accurately Report Balance following Settlement can constitute Breach of Settlement, but Compliance with Notice Procedures Required

Summary:

By Ed Boltz, 20 October, 2025

M.D.N.C.: Joyce v. First American Mortgage Solutions – Stream of Consciousness Meets the FCRA and Mortgage Reports

Summary:

Judge Schroeder’s September 30, 2025 portrait of the property report as a CRA in Joyce v. First American Mortgage Solutions, LLC (No. 1:23-cv-1069) denied the defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, allowing a Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) claim to proceed where a “Property Report” combined another consumer’s judgments with the plaintiff’s file and was then used by a lender to deny him a loan.

By Ed Boltz, 17 October, 2025

M.D.N.C.: Keller v. Experian II – No Standing to Sue, Even for a “Suspicious Mail Policy” Delay

Summary:

In this sequel to Keller v. Experian I, 2024 WL 1349607 (M.D.N.C. Mar. 30, 2024), Judge Thomas Schroeder once again dismissed Eric Keller’s Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit against Experian—this time for lack of Article III standing rather than for failure to state a claim.

Background

By Ed Boltz, 16 October, 2025

M.D.N.C.: Atkinson v. Coats II – “Breach of the Peace” in Repossession Requires More Than a Deputy’s Quiet Presence

Summary:

When a repossession turns into a shouting match—or worse, when the debtor is still inside the car—any lawyer who’s ever seen the phrase “without breach of the peace” in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 25-9-609 should immediately start thinking “state-court claim and delivery,” not “self-help.”

By Ed Boltz, 15 October, 2025

N.C. Ct. App.: Pelc v. Pham – Contempt Vacated; Execution, Not Incarceration, Required for Enforcement of Money Judgment

Summary:

In Pelc v. Pham (No. COA25-27, filed Oct. 15, 2025), the North Carolina Court of Appeals (Tyson, J.) vacated a Mecklenburg County contempt order imprisoning a former spouse for failure to pay a contractual debt arising from a Form I-864 “Affidavit of Support” and related loan. The appellate court held that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to use contempt powers to enforce a money judgment grounded in breach of contract.

By Ed Boltz, 15 October, 2025

M.D.N.C.: Scott v. Full House Marketing — No “Bad Faith” in FCRA Claim, Even After Jury Loss

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By Ed Boltz, 14 October, 2025

N.C. Ct. App.: TOM, LLC v. South River Land Co. — “Time Is of the Essence” Clause Ends $2.7M Flip Deal, All Claims Dismissed

Summary:

In this unpublished but instructive decision, Judge Wood (joined by Judges Stroud and Carpenter) affirmed the dismissal of an attempted “flip” real-estate buyer’s sprawling complaint after the collapse of a $2.7 million contract to buy the Seawatch at Sunset Harbor subdivision in Brunswick County.

By Ed Boltz, 14 October, 2025

Bankr. W.D.N.C.: In re Ford (II) — Court Rejects “Tribal Sovereignty” Claims, Denies Recusal, and Increases Sanctions Against Debtor for Pseudo-Legal Defenses

Summary:

In In re Ryan Lashon Ford, Judge Edwards issued two companion opinions chronicling the court’s escalating efforts to bring order to what she aptly described as an “atypical” pro se Chapter 7 case that had metastasized into a performative exercise in pseudo-law.

By Ed Boltz, 14 October, 2025