CASES IN REVIEW
debtors ' discharge . In re Cripps , --- B . R . ---- , 2017 WL 1190554 ( W . D . Mich . March 31 , 2017 ) ( case no . 1:16-cv-744 ).
Chapter 13 — Confirmation of plan — Treatment of secured claims — Modification of claim : Where the Chapter 13 debtor co-owned a 910-day vehicle with a nondebtor , the debtor ' s plan could modify the creditor ' s claim by paying interest at the Till rate rather than the contract rate . The debtor ' s plan could also provide for the elimination of the creditor ' s lien from the debtor ' s interest in the vehicle upon her discharge . However , the plan could not provide for the elimination of the creditor ' s lien on the nondebtor ' s one-half interest in the vehicle , which would continue to secure the creditor ' s right to collect the unpaid contractual interest . In re Flournoy , 2017 WL 1207511 ( Bankr . E . D . Wis . March 31 , 2017 ) ( case no . 2:16-bk- 21984 ).
Chapter 13 — Confirmation of plan — Treatment of secured claims — Permissibility of modification : A claim for unpaid prepetition assessments held by the Chapter 13 debtors ' homeowners ' association was secured by two separate liens , a consensual lien and a statutory lien , so that the claim was not protected by the antimodification provision in Code § 1322 ( b )( 2 ). In re Keise , 564 B . R . 255 ( Bankr . D . N . J ., March 2 , 2017 ) ( case no . 3:16-bk-22678 ), appeal filed , Shark River Island Homeowners Association , Inc . v . Keise , Case No . 3:17-cv-1832 ( D . N . J . filed March 17 , 2017 ).
Chapter 13 — Effect of plan confirmation : The confirmation of the Chapter 13 debtors ' plans did not preclude , under the doctrine of res judicata , the debtors ' subsequent objections to claims for admittedly time-barred debts filed by an unsecured creditor prior to confirmation of the plans . The specific statutory structure for the adjudication of objections to claims in the Bankruptcy Code led to the conclusion that Congress had made Chapter 13 plan confirmation and allowance of contested unsecured claims to be separate and distinct actions within a debtor ' s bankruptcy proceeding . When the bankruptcy court confirmed the debtors ' Chapter 13 plans , it only considered treatment of unsecured creditors as a single class . There was no adjudication of the claim of any individual unsecured creditor as part of plan confirmation . LVNV Funding , LLC v . Harling , 852 F . 3d 367 ( 4th Cir . March 30 , 2017 ), amended ( April 6 , 2017 ) ( case nos . 16-1346 , 16-1347 ).
Chapter 13 — Stripping unsecured lien — Necessity of discharge : In a decision written entirely in verse , the court stated that " Can a debtor not entitled to discharge in a Chapter 13 use 1322 ( b )( 2 ) to strip a home mortgage lien ? Now you no longer have to guess . The answer for this court is decidedly YES ." In re Melendy , 2017 WL 1169560 ( Bankr . N . D . Ind . March 20 , 2017 ) ( case no . 2:16-bk-20107 ).
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National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Summer 2017 CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL 35