A BANKRUPTCY petition filed under one chapter of the bankruptcy code may be converted into a petition under a different chapter of the code. The debtor himself can request the conversion, or the court itself by its own motion or the US Trustee or the trustee administering the bankruptcy estate, or any interested party may move to have a case converted to a different chapter of the code. § 706 states that the debtor may convert a case under chapter 7 to a case under chapter 11, 12, or 13 at any time, if the case has not been previously converted under § 1112, 1208, or 1307. Debtor’s right to convert case is almost absolute if there has been no prior conversion. However, there have been cases where the court has denied debtor the right to convert where debtor has been found to be in bad faith. Hence, the right to convert is not 100% bulletproof. But a debtor who has filed his original case in good faith should not see any obstacle to converting case if he so chooses as long as no prior conversions have occurred.
Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper
General Interest Atty. Larry Yang
Atty. Larry Yang
Converting bankruptcy cases
A BANKRUPTCY petition filed under one chapter of the bankruptcy code may be converted into a petition under a different chapter of the code. The debtor himself can request the conversion, or the court itself by its own motion or the US Trustee or the trustee administering the bankruptcy estate, or any interested party may move to have a case converted to a different chapter of the code. § 706 states that the debtor may convert a case under chapter 7 to a case under chapter 11, 12, or 13 at any time, if the case has not been previously converted under § 1112, 1208, or 1307. Debtor’s right to convert case is almost absolute if there has been no prior conversion. However, there have been cases where the court has denied debtor the right to convert where debtor has been found to be in bad faith. Hence, the right to convert is not 100% bulletproof. But a debtor who has filed his original case in good faith should not see any obstacle to converting case if he so chooses as long as no prior conversions have occurred.
Delaware catholic diocese files for bankruptcy relief
THE Catholic diocese of Wilmington, Delaware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week on the eve of a civil trial involving clergy sex abuse. With this bankruptcy filing, the first Catholic diocese to file in the East Coast, the Wilmington diocese joins six other dioceses, which have sought bankruptcy court protection under the weight of clergy sex abuse lawsuits leveled against the Catholic Church. Other Catholic dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past are dioceses in San Diego, Portland, Oregon, Spokane, Washington, Tucson, Arizona, Davenport, Iowa and Fairbanks, Alaska.
Certainly, clergy sexual molestation is the work of the devil to discredit and damage the Catholic Church. The church now has a zero tolerance of sexual predators masquerading as priests. Hopefully, it will eventually rid itself of the very small minority of errant priests who have no business being men of the cloth and give the majority of holy men who are truly ministers of Christ in this world a bad name.
Can retirement contributions be deducted from disposable income?
MANY clients complain that their net income is small even though their gross income is big because they have large retirement contributions. Therefore, they need bankruptcy relief. For instance, client’s gross income is $10,000 monthly. But his net income is only $6,000 because his retirement contribution is 20% or $2,000 monthly. His deductions are $2,000 for FICA, social security & Medicare, and $2,000 for retirement, or total deductions of $4,000, leaving him a monthly take home pay of $6,000 from his gross monthly income of $10,000. It is understandable that client feels that he financially strapped because 40% of his gross income has been deducted from salary. But matters are not that simple when client seeks bankruptcy relief. Bankruptcy law distinguishes between ‘mandatory’ and ‘voluntary’ retirement contributions. Mandatory retirement contributions are done by force. Employee has no choice but to submit to the deduction. Employee has no choice but to agree with the deduction even if he does not want to make the contribution. However, voluntary retirement contributions are deducted because employee has asked the employer to make the deduction by employee’s own choice.
Is a gift card dischargeable in BK?
THE 74-year-old debtor applied for a Lowe’s credit card on March 15, 2008. She said she had an annual income of $48,000. But her true income was only $667 in monthly Social Security payments. GE Money Bank approved her credit application and gave her a credit line of $12,500. Sometime in May, debtor used the card to buy $5,000 worth of gift cards. She filed for Chapter 7 relief in August 2008 with an outstanding balance of $6,039 on her Lowe’s account. Before she filed for bankruptcy, debtor made three payments on the account for a total of $160. Creditor filed an adversarial case to object to the discharge of the card. Is this card dischargeable?
There are several points that support the contention of creditor that the card is not dischargeable:
Vacant house cannot be exempted as homestead
IN California, depending on the system of exemption used and the qualifications of debtor filing for bankruptcy, the equity of the residence or homestead that may be claimed as exempt is $50,000 to $150,000. A single person without any dependents may claim a $50,000 equity exemption for his homestead while a person at least 65 years old at the time the bankruptcy is filed may claim a $150,000 equity exemption pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure 704.730. Note that it is the equity of the house that is claimed exempt. Equity is current fair market value on the day the bankruptcy is filed minus the outstanding balance of all mortgages on the property. Hence, if the fair market value of the house is $300,000 while the outstanding mortgages is $250,000, a single person with no dependents can claim the house as exempt in his bankruptcy and be able to keep the house despite the bankruptcy. In this example, if the outstanding mortgage balance was $150,000, a single person who is at least 65 years old on the date of his bankruptcy filing may be able to claim the house as exempt because his exemption qualification is up to $150,000. But the younger single person can exempt only $50,000 of equity. Thus, the younger single person may lose the house to the bankruptcy trustee if his mortgage balance was only $150,000. In that instance, the Chapter 7 trustee may sell the house and give the single person his exemption of $50,000 in cash and use the rest of the sale proceeds to pay creditors. If there is money left after creditors and administrative expenses are paid, including trustee and trustee counsel fees that money is given to the debtor.
Vacant house cannot be exempted as homestead
IN California, depending on the system of exemption used and the qualifications of debtor filing for bankruptcy, the equity of the residence or homestead that may be claimed as exempt is $50,000 to $150,000. A single person without any dependents may claim a $50,000 equity exemption for his homestead while a person at least 65 years old at the time the bankruptcy is filed may claim a $150,000 equity exemption pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure 704.730. Note that it is the equity of the house that is claimed exempt. Equity is current fair market value on the day the bankruptcy is filed minus the outstanding balance of all mortgages on the property. Hence, if the fair market value of the house is $300,000 while the outstanding mortgages is $250,000, a single person with no dependents can claim the house as exempt in his bankruptcy and be able to keep the house despite the bankruptcy. In this example, if the outstanding mortgage balance was $150,000, a single person who is at least 65 years old on the date of his bankruptcy filing may be able to claim the house as exempt because his exemption qualification is up to $150,000. But the younger single person can exempt only $50,000 of equity. Thus, the younger single person may lose the house to the bankruptcy trustee if his mortgage balance was only $150,000. In that instance, the Chapter 7 trustee may sell the house and give the single person his exemption of $50,000 in cash and use the rest of the sale proceeds to pay creditors. If there is money left after creditors and administrative expenses are paid, including trustee and trustee counsel fees that money is given to the debtor.
Downey Regional Medical Center files bankruptcy
DOWNEY Regional Medical Center (DRMC) announced last week that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 14, 2009. The hospital said that bankruptcy was in the best long-term interests of the hospital, the community, it’s employees, physicians, patients, vendors, and other stakeholders. But wait. Isn’t bankruptcy the end of life for a business or an individual? On the contrary, bankruptcy reorganization ensures that a business or individual survives as a financially viable entity in the future by allowing it to get rid of unwanted debt, unprofitable contracts, lawsuits and other legal claims while allowing the business or individual to continue operating and keeping assets that it needs to reorganize. Thus, GM and Chrysler are still doing business now after declaring bankruptcy earlier this year.
Dole Foods overleveraged by debt
WE all eat Dole pineapple and bananas. Dole is the largest fresh produce business in the United States. One of the tourist attractions in Oahu is the Dole plantation. The business was started by a young man who was able to buy large tracts of plantation land at the turn of the 20th century right after the queen of Hawaii was overthrown by our military at the instigation of local businessmen.
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