GeorgiaBankruptcyBlog

On February 18, 2013, the Georgia Supreme Court issued its opinion in Wells Fargo Bank. N.A. v. Gordon, No. S12Q2067, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 158 (Feb 18, 2013).  The case was certified to the Georgia Supreme Court by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Codrington, 691 F3d 1336 (11th Cir.

In an interesting opinion, Chief Judge Laney of the Middle District of Georgia held that a tort claim that "arose" well before a Chapter 7 filing but was not discovered by the debtor until well after discharge was property of the Chapter 7 case.

According to a new study by Robert Lawless and Jennifer Robbennolt (summarized in the Wall Street Journal), Judges are more likely to approve a Chapter 13 plan that includes an apology.  From the Wall Street Journal article:

In In re Stanley, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6031 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. Nov. 8, 2012), the debtors certified that they tried to obtain credit counseling but were unable to complete it because they needed to file their Chapter 13 petition to stop a foreclosure the same day.  Debtors requested a waiver and deferment of the counseling requirement under Section 109(h)(3)(A), which provides the following:

It is fairly well settled and well known that public and private student loans are nondischargeable pursuant to Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code, unless the debtor meets the high bar of showing "undue hardship."  This section states the following:

A discharge under section 727, 1141, 1228 (a), 1228 (b), or 1328 (b) of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—