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In Reid v. Rodriguez , the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina dismissed, without prejudice, a pro se Chapter 7 debtor’s adversary proceeding against her landlord, holding that mandatory abstention under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(c)(2) applied—and that even if it did not, permissive abstention clearly would.

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In yet another chapter of what is becoming a running series on pay-to-pay mortgage fees, Chief Judge Catherine Eagles has issued a significant opinion certifying a statewide class of North Carolina homeowners against Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc. (DMI). The ruling allows claims under both the North Carolina Debt Collection Act (NCDCA) and the Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA) to proceed on a class-wide basis.

This case ties directly back to earlier discussions here:

In Williams v. PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, the Middle District of North Carolina once again refused to let a mortgage servicer wriggle out of Pay-to-Pay fee litigation at the pleading stage. The Court denied PennyMac’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion in a detailed opinion that should feel very familiar to anyone who has been watching this line of cases develop since Alexander v. Carrington and, closer to home, Custer v. Dovenmuehle.

The Chapter 7 case of James and Sharon Bryant and the related adversary proceeding brought by Eastwood Construction Partners, LLC is not notable because it breaks new doctrinal ground. It is notable because it shows—almost clinically—how civil litigation spillover, aggressive creditor strategy, and pro se overconfidence (amplified by generative AI) can collide inside a consumer bankruptcy case.

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In a detailed but pragmatic opinion, Chief Judge Catherine Eagles offers a tidy roadmap for mortgage-servicing litigation in the Middle District — clarifying what sticks at the pleading stage (loss-mitigation fee violations, RESPA damages, UDTPA claims) and what gets tossed to the curb (negligence, joint venture fantasies, and the perennial “they threatened foreclosure!” count that courts treat like the boy who cried wolf).

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In In re Lombrano, Judge Kahn confronted the all-too-common BAPCPA problem of repeat filings colliding head-on with the automatic stay provisions. Ms. Lombrano—pro se—had filed three bankruptcy cases in under five months, two Chapter 7s (one dismissed for filing defects and jurisdictional issues, the next for nonpayment of the fee) followed by this Chapter 13.

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In In re Peters, Judge Kahn addressed a  recurring question: when Chapter 13 debtors propose to pay unsecured claims in full under §1325(b)(1)(A), must those creditors also receive post-petition interest?

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