Summary:

In , Judge Pamela McAfee denied confirmation of the Clarks’ Chapter 13 plan after concluding that continuing to spend $1,715 per month on private Christian school tuition while proposing to discharge roughly 90% of more than $300,000 in unsecured debt was inconsistent with the good faith requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3).

Summary:

In Frew v. EMortgage Funding LLC, the Eastern District of North Carolina dismissed a pro se homeowner’s broad challenge to a residential foreclosure proceeding, rejecting claims under TILA, RESPA, FDCPA, RICO, and North Carolina consumer protection law.

Summary:

In JSmith v.  Clancy & Theys, Judge Joseph Callaway addressed a familiar temptation in bankruptcy litigation: trying to convert an ordinary contract dispute into a turnover action under 11 U.S.C. § 542. The court allowed most of the debtor’s claims to proceed—but drew a clear line around turnover.

Summary:

In Terrance v. Coastal Federal Credit Union, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina affirmed a bankruptcy court decision imposing $5,000 in sanctions for a willful violation of the automatic stay, while rejecting several broader arguments raised by the pro se debtors on appeal.

The decision provides a useful reminder of two points frequently litigated in stay-violation cases:

1. Who is entitled to damages under §362(k), and

Summary:

Bankruptcy exemption planning often walks a fine line between legitimate preparation and avoidable transfer. In In re Albrecht, Judge Pamela W. McAfee of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina addressed where that line falls when a debtor converts jointly owned real property into a tenancy by the entirety shortly before filing bankruptcy.

Summary:

Bankruptcy exemption planning often walks a fine line between legitimate preparation and avoidable transfer. In In re Albrecht, Judge Pamela W. McAfee of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina addressed where that line falls when a debtor converts jointly owned real property into a tenancy by the entirety shortly before filing bankruptcy.

Summary:

Summary:

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.