Publication Date
Winter 2024
Journal
American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review
Abstract
In Mortgage Corp. of the South v. Bozeman (2023), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a confirmed chapter 13 plan was unworthy of res judicata respect. In so ruling, it held itself not bound by the Supreme Court’s super-finality opinion in United Student Aid Funds v. Espinosa. The Eleventh Circuit thought that it was preventing the chapter 13 plan from “murdering” the home mortgage. In reality, the plan was lawful and upheld payment in full of the mortgage. The debtor was actually trying to end the plan early before the mortgage was paid. The Bozeman court should have insisted that the debtor complete the plan before getting a discharge, and for this it could have cited Espinosa. Its renunciation of Espinosa is the opposite of what it should have done. Because the Bozeman court misread the plan, it needlessly rebelled against Supreme Court governance.
Volume
32
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
30
Publisher
American Bankruptcy Institute
Disciplines
Bankruptcy Law | Law
Recommended Citation
David G. Carlson,
Murder on the Chapter 13 Express,
32
Am. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev.
1
(2024).
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/faculty-articles/919
