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Topeka Debtors Allowed Means Test Deduction for Cars With No Liens

Posted on September 1, 2008 Written by

EDITOR UPDATE:  This post is out of date.  Judge Karlin reverted to her original ruling in In re Law after the Pearson decision was vacated.  This issue is currently pending the the U.S. Court for the Tenth Circuit  so we should have a binding ruling soon.  December 13, 2009.

Topeka Bankruptcy Judge Janice Miller Karlin announced last week that she is reversing course and will follow the Pearson decision to allow debtors a means test deduction for ownership of a car without a debt against it.

Judge Karlin had earlier disallowed the car ownership deduction in In re Law, 2008 WL 1867971 (Bankr. D. Kan. 2008), following the decision by Kansas District Court Judge John W. Lungstrum in Wieland v. Thomas, 382 B.R. 793 (D. Kan. March 4, 2008), reversing Judge Robert D. Berger of Kansas City, KS, in In re Thomas, 2007 WL 2903201 (Bankr. D. Kan. Oct. 02, 2007). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Legislation, Bankruptcy Trivia, Chapter 13, Exemptions & What You Get to Keep, Kansas Bankruptcy News, Means Test Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kansas Bankruptcy Judges End Secret Mortgage Fees in Chapter 13

Posted on February 22, 2008 Written by

The bankruptcy judges in Kansas have approved new language for all chapter 13 confirmation orders that will put an end to the abusive practice of secretly adding fees to a debtor’s mortgage loan balance.

No real estate creditor shall ever assess, charge or collect, from either the debtor or the real estate collateral, any assessments, fees, costs, expenses or any other monetary amounts, exclusive of principal, interest, taxes and insurance, that arose from the date of the filing of the bankruptcy petition to the entry of the Order of Discharge except as may be allowed by court order or an allowed proof of claim.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Kansas Bankruptcy News, Mortgages Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More Kansans Can Qualify for Bankruptcy Help with Increased Income Allowances

Posted on January 27, 2008 Written by

The Kansas income guidelines for the bankruptcy means test go up February 1, 2008.

Kansas Median Family Income by Family Size for Bankruptcy Cases Filed on or After February 1, 2008,

  • 1 earner……….$38,594
  • 2 persons……..$52,989
  • 3 persons …….$58,075
  • 4 persons …….$69, 831
  • 5 persons …….$76,731
  • 6 persons …….$83,631
  • Add $6,900 for each additional individual
Filed Under: Kansas Bankruptcy News, Means Test Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wieland Named U.S. Trustee for Kansas

Posted on January 26, 2008 Written by
Richard Wieland

Richard Wieland

Richard A. Wieland has been named U.S. Trustee for Region 20, which covers Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Wieland has been serving as acting Region 20 U.S. Trustee since September 1, 2007. He is familiar to the Kansas bankruptcy bar, having been a trial lawyer in the Wichita office since 1988. When the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 2005, he played a pivotal role in implementing the consumer credit counseling and debtor financial management education requirements for the Executive Office of the U.S. Trustee in Washington, D.C

The U.S. Trustee program is charged with overseeing bankruptcy case administration. Region 20 offices are headquartered in Wichita with additional offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Albuquerque.

Here is a link to the official EOUST press release.

Filed Under: Kansas Bankruptcy News Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1923 Disney Bankruptcy in Kansas City

Posted on January 20, 2008 Written by

Did you know Walt Disney’s Missouri company, Laugh O Gram Films, Inc., was forced into bankruptcy in Kansas City on October 4, 1923? Fellow blogger, Rachel Foley of www.kcbankruptcy.com, and lover of all things Disney, proudly displays the bankruptcy documents in her office.

As Rachel says, “Walt went into bankruptcy with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and came out the other side with Mickey Mouse.”

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Trivia Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Debtor Audits Stopped (for Now)

Posted on January 20, 2008 Written by

The U.S. Trustee has stopped auditing debtors in bankruptcy cases. The Executive Office of the U.S. Trustee says Congress did not fund the budget for the audits in the 2008 appropriations bill. Alternate funding is being sought so the audits can resume, the EOUST reports.

This is good news for debtors whose advocates testified at a Congressional hearing in October 2007 that the audits were abusive to debtors because of overbearing auditors and erroneous reports of material misstatements in the bankruptcy papers.

See my post on the Bankruptcy Law Network for more details and the official statement by the U.S. Trustee.

Filed Under: Kansas Bankruptcy News Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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