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Chambers' Bulletins
03/2018

Sat, 3/17/2018 - 10:00 am

The judges and staff of the United States Bankruptcy Court extend congratulations and best wishes to Judge John E. Waites on his induction as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy in a ceremony held today. Judge Waites is the first Bankruptcy Judge in South Carolina to be awarded this honor.  The American College of Bankruptcy is an honorary association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals whose fellows include bankruptcy judges, attorneys, and other practitioners in the bankruptcy and insolvency community.  Those selected as Fellows demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, character, integrity, professional expertise, leadership, and scholarship contributing to the enhancement of the insolvency field.  


Mon, 3/05/2018 - 2:42 pm

362 Settlement Orders – Conduit

Effective today, at the request of the Chapter 13 Trustees, chambers will be eliminating the 362 settlement orders that result in the Debtor participating in the Conduit Procedure after previously making regular payments directly to the mortgage creditor. These settlement orders include Exhibit K, Exhibit L and Exhibit M. For cases pending that are assigned to Judge Waites, a 362 settlement order that provides for the maintenance of regular mortgage payments shall be by direct payments from the debtor to the mortgage creditor. 

Use of New Certification of Facts Form

As part of the changes to the local rules in December of last year, the form Certification of Facts was modified to provide a more detailed breakdown of the liens on the property that is subject to a motion for relief. The new form is available in the Local Forms section on the Court’s website. Chambers has observed that many of the recently filed motions for relief are not utilizing the updated form certification of facts. 

Please note that for purposes of motions filed under 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(1) (for cause including lack of adequate protection), equity refers to the amount of equity above the movant’s lien, which is not always the net equity amount regarding all of the liens on the property.

Delegation of Service of LM/MM Orders

Starting today, the service of any Order Requiring Loss Mitigation/Mortgage Modification is delegated to Debtor’s counsel, and the Clerk of Court’s office will cease service of this order.

As a reminder, the service of the Order Appointing LM/MM Mediator and Order Regarding LM/MM Procedures (early case order) is also delegated to Debtor’s counsel by the terms of those orders.

LM/MM Reports, Emails and Correspondence

Chambers has recently received several emails and correspondence regarding LM/MM. Please note that any requests for a status hearing on a pending LM/MM review, including a hearing on the debtor’s timeliness to submit an application in the Portal, should be requested through a filed correspondence on CM/ECF. Chambers will not act upon email requests for a status hearing.

Also, any request for relief based on a party’s alleged wrongful conduct or lack of good faith in the LM/MM process should be sought through the filing of a Motion to Enforce LM/MM. Chambers will not act upon such requests for relief if included in a LM/MM Report, a filed correspondence or an email to chambers.

 


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