Harris v. Viegelahn

Summarized by:

  • Court: U.S. Supreme Court Certiorari Granted
  • Area(s) of Law: Bankruptcy Law
  • Date Filed: December 12, 2014
  • Case #: 14-400
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Court Below: 757 F.3d 468 (5th Cir. 2014)
  • Full Text Opinion

Whether undistributed funds held by a Chapter 13 trustee after conversion to Chapter 7 should be returned to the debtor or given to creditors.

Petitioner filed a bankruptcy petition under Chapter 13 to save his home. after failing to save his home from forclosure, Petitioner eventually converted his case to Chapter 7. The district court held that payment funds possessed by the Chapter 13 trustee that had not been distributed to creditors at the time of conversion must be returned to Petitioner. The Fifth Circuit held that a trustee should distribute any funds it possesses to creditors, regardless of good-faith in the conversion.

The Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari. Petitioner argues that the instant case is not interlocutory, not distinguishable from In re Michael, is fully developed, and that the holding of the Fifth Circuit conflicts with the legislative regarding bankruptcy law.

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