The Court overruled the chapter 13 trustee's objection to confirmation and held that the debtor could use the Local Standard expense amounts applicable to Florida residents on his means test because the debtor resided in Florida on the date of filing the bankruptcy petition.
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Judge Ben T. Barry
Chapter 13 trustee's objections to confirmation of plans were sustained. The court held that above median income chapter 13 debtors are required to pay into their respective plans the monthly disposable income as determined by Form B22C, even though their current monthly income (as defined by the code) exceeded present income.
Under pre BAPCPA preference law, trustee may avoid two of four payments made during preference period determined by the Court not to have been paid in the ordinary course of business of the debtor and the creditor.
Court overruled creditor's objection to chapter 7 trustee's application for settlement. Creditor argued that a trust the debtors created pre-petition to hold real property was fraudulent and claimed a lien on the proceeds resulting from the sale of the property by the chapter 7 trustee. The Court held that even if trust was invalid, chapter 7 trustee could avoid creditor's lien pursuant to § 544(a)(3).
Motion to extend time for UST to file motion under s. 704(b)(2) is denied as a matter of law. A definitive 10-day statement of whether a debtor's chapter 7 case would be presumed to be an abuse, as required under s. 704(b)(1), is a prerequisite to filing the motion required by s. 704(b)(2). Because the UST did not file a definitive 10-day statement, the threshold requirement to filing the s. 704(b)(2) motion has not been met and the UST is precluded from filing a motion to dismiss or convert under s. 704(b)(2). Therefore, the motion to extend the time to file a s. 704(b)(2) motion is moot.
The Court determined that certain funds were non-dischargeable in the debtor's bankruptcy as a result of embezzlement in accordance with s. 523(a)(4).
The Court denied creditor's motion for relief from stay to setoff funds deposited post-petition into a debtor's savings account against a negative balance incurred pre-petition in the debtors' joint checking account because the creditor failed to meet the requirements of 11 U.S.C. 553(a).
Even though the UST did not file a definitive statement indicating whether the debtor's case was a presumption of abuse, as required by § 704(b)(1), she was not precluded from filing motion to dismiss under § 707(b)(3) based on debtor's declaration on Form B22A (means test) that there was no presumption of abuse.
Using a totality of the circumstances standard, the Court found that this chapter 7 debtor, whose income was below 150% of the income official poverty line, was unable to pay the filing fee in installments and, therefore, eligible to have the filing fee waived, even though she had paid her attorney $300 prior to filing the petition.
Debtors who moved from Arizona to Arkansas within 730 days required to use Arizona exemption statute, if available, under 522(b)(2) and (3); however, even though Arizona is an “opt-out” state, non-residents are not precluded from using federal exemptions.