Tag Archives: Coronavirus

CARES Act: Bankruptcy Cases and Coronavirus COVID-19

By Ryan C. Wood

The CARES Act does provide some relief or changes for bankruptcy filers and potential bankruptcy filers due to the Coronavirus COVID-19. I will modify this article when official changes to the Bankruptcy Code are published by the authorities that regulate these changes. That said I know the information below will be helpful to provide you with some insight and peace of mind.  Section 1329 of the Bankruptcy Code already provides the terms of your confirmed and approved chapter 13 plan can be changed based upon a change in circumstances.  Depending upon your circumstances that exist already, your confirmed chapter 13 plan, how your potential modification will actually help will vary widely.  Just know there are procedures that exist to help you if you are unfortunately financially negatively affected by the Coronavirus COVID-19.  Now keep reading for information that should apply to you.

You may also watch my YouTube Video about Bankruptcy and Changes From CARES Act Due To The Coronavirus COVID-19

First If You Can Continue Your Chapter 13 Plan Payments Do So

If you are in an active chapter 13 bankruptcy case you are supposed to continue to make your chapter 13 plan payments even with the shelter in place orders and the coronavirus and COVID-19.   If your chapter 13 plan is not confirmed or approved yet you still need to continue to pay the monthly chapter 13 plan payment even though it is not yet confirmed or approved.  If you cannot continue to pay the monthly chapter 13 plan payment read about the options that are available to help.  If and when your chapter 13 plan is amended or modified will be when you can pay the new chapter 13 plan payments each month based upon those changes.  This may not be possible given your current financial situation and of course you must pay for food and other necessary expenses to just live. 

If You Do Not Pay the Chapter 13 Plan Payment

If you just cannot pay the monthly chapter 13 plan payment you are in default as to the confirmed chapter 13 and the case is subject to dismissal. Normally the chapter 13 trustee will file a motion to dismiss the case for nonpayment. Once the motion to dismiss the case is filed you will have time and options to save the case such as modifying the terms of the confirmed plan. Hopefully chapter 13 trustee’s will be more lenient with missed plan payments given the current circumstances and significant financial turmoil outside of everyone’s control. We shall see. 

If Your Chapter 13 Plan is not Yet Confirmed or Approved

You will need to amend your chapter 13 plan based upon your change in financial circumstances due to the Coronavirus COVID-19.  The CARES Act does not provide for an extension of the term of how many years a plan can exist for cases that do not yet have a confirmed approved chapter 13 plan. The plan filed in the chapter 13 case may no longer be feasible given the your change in financial circumstances. You will need to amend the plan or explore other options.     

Chapter 13 Plan Modification Pursuant to Section 1329 of the Bankruptcy Code

If your chapter 13 plan is confirmed or approved Section 1329 of the Bankruptcy Code allows for the modification or change of the terms of your confirmed chapter 13 plan.  The CARES Act provides changes to modification under Section 1329 of the Bankruptcy Code.  It is early so what is provided here may change or be different depending upon the procedures put in place in your jurisdiction.  Normally a chapter 13 plan can only be a maxiumum 60 months or five years.  The CARES provides a confirmed chapter 13 plan may not provide for payments over a period that expires more than 7 years after the time that the first payment under the original confirmed plan was due.  I read this as confirmed chapter 13 plans can now be extended past the 60 month or 5 year limitation that previously existed.  The means that your plan payments can be spread out over an additional 2 years therefore resulting in a reduction of the monthly plan payment that existed before.  This will be applicable to cases filed before, on, or after the date of enactment of the CARES Act.  This is good news and we shall see have this goes in the real world. See the end of this article for the actual language of the CARES Act.

A motion must be filed and a hearing held before the Court and in most jurisdictions a new plan will be proposed based upon your changed circumstances.  An amended Schedule I and J regarding your income and expenses will most likely have to be filed too.  Plan modification is normally an additional cost to pay your bankruptcy attorney for the additional time and money they must expend on your behalf.  You will need to review the rules in your local jurisdiction regarding this and costs will vary.  What relief or changes are available to you will depend upon why you filed the chapter 13 case to begin with.  Was the case filed to pay back missed mortgage payments?  Did you have to file a chapter 13 based upon your income and expenses and not the value of your assets?  Did you file a chapter 13 case to protect assets that could not be exempted or protected in a chapter 7 liquidation case?  Your obligations to creditors based upon the Bankruptcy Code will continue to be the same while your ability to meet those obligations has changed due to the Coronavirus COVID-19.  You must contact your bankruptcy attorney for more information about how your specific change in circumstances will modify your confirmed chapter 13 plan or chapter 13 bankruptcy case.   

Chapter 13 Hardship Discharge

The Bankruptcy Code also provides for an early entry of an order of discharge in your existing chapter 13 case. Depending upon your circumstances you may be eligible to seek this relief. Section of 1328(b) the Bankruptcy Code provides you may request a hardship discharge if: (1) the debtor’s failure to complete plan payments is due to circumstances beyond the debtor’s control and through no fault of the debtor; (2) creditors have received at least as much as they would have received in a chapter 7 liquidation case; and (3) modification of the plan is not possible. Again a motion must be filed with the Court and a hearing held. Other information by declaration will need to be provided evidencing the hardship, how it was outside your control and that modification of the existing chapter 13 plan is not possible. For many chapter 13 cases this will not be possible given the reason the chapter 13 case was filed to begin with such as paying back missed mortgage payments or not dischargeable taxes. Just know this is another potential procedure that currently exists to help you given these challenging times. I will be filing motions for request for entry of a hardship discharge for a few clients as it stands given they have been irreparably financially harmed directly due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 response.

Income Received From Coronavirus COVID-19

The CARES Act also excludes any income derived from Coronavirus COVID relief from your monthly income or income calculation.  Relief will vary widely depending upon your income and circumstances but the idea is these one-time increases or payments should not be included in your income calculation to negatively affect or artificially increase your income given the relief will most likely not continue for the entire life of your bankruptcy case. 

Small Business Reform Act of 2019 Debtor Changes and CARES Act

The debt limitation to be a debtor under the Small Business Reform Act of 2019 have been increased from the original limit of $ The small business chapter 11 debtor new laws just took effect and the CARES Act provides a significant change.  These are new laws for specifically a person engaged in commercial or business activities that has aggregate noncontingent liquidated secured and unsecured debts as of the date of the filing of petition or the date of the order for relief (date case is filed) in an amount not more than $7,500,000 (excluding debts owed to 1 or more affiliates or insiders) not less than 50 percent of which arose from the commercial or business activities of the debtor (bankruptcy filer).

Section 1113 Bankruptcy

(b) Bankruptcy Relief

(b)(1)(C) Confirmation of Plan

A plan confirmed prior to the date of enactment of this subsection, the plan may be modified upon the request of the debtor if – (A) the debtor is experiencing or has experienced a material financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; and (B) the modification is approved after notice and a hearing (2) a plan modified under paragraph (1) may not provide for payments over a period that expires more than 7 years after the first payment under the original confirmed plan was due.

How is Material Defined or What Is Material?

Section 101 of the Bankruptcy Code does not defined the term material. We will have to look to cases for some guidance. “A fact is material if it bears a relationship to the debtor’s business transactions or estate, or concerns the discovery of assets, business dealings, or the existence and disposition of the debtor’s property.” Retz, 606 F.3d at 1198 (quoting Khalil, 379 B.R. at 173). Roberts v. Erhard (In re Roberts),331 B.R. 876, 882 (9th Cir. BAP 2005) (citing In re Wills, 243 B.R. at 62) Somewhat helpful.

More helpful. “A fact is ‘material’ only if it might affect the outcome of the case, and a dispute is ‘genuine’ only if a reasonable trier of fact could resolve the issue in the non-movant’s favor.” Fresno Motors, LLC, 771 F.3d at 1125 (citing Cty. of Tuolumne v. Sonora Cmty. Hosp., 236 F.3d 1148, 1154 (9th Cir. 2001) and Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986))

#TrickleUPBailOut

Leave a reply


By Ryan C. Wood

As I sit here pondering my future and the shutdown of San Mateo County, California because of 80 total known coronavirus infections I have some thoughts about how the inevitable bailout should look like. I am sure there are more criteria then what is listed below that are a good idea. The point is no more handouts to multi-billion corporations with the false expectation that the money somehow trickles down to lowest person on the ladder. Do not tease us with a mere $1,000 one-time payment and then give corporations $770 billion or more. Give us the people ALL of the money and let us spend it in support of the economy.

Keep the $1,000 payment proposed for people given that will only pay for my clients’ phone bill, cable bill and maybe there will be some left over for a car payment.  Instead give actual people, you know, the humans living in the United States the money being proposed to be given to corporations.  We all have freedom of choice in a free market right?  Us working people are supposed to choose how to spend our money creating winners and losers in the free market, right?  Trickle down is a joke. CEO takes millions along with upper management then whatever is left goes to page wages that are not even good? 

Do you want to drink water from melted snow thousands of feet high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or drink water that is left over from trickling down thousands of miles picking up every single harmful thing possible?    

Clearly we need a #TrickleUPBailOut based upon the following criteria: 

  1. #TrickleUpBailout – MONEY TO THE PEOPLE

What I am saying is that hard working tax paying Americans should get the bailout money period.  Then those hard working tax paying Americans can choose what to do with that money.  Keep the proposed $1,000 given I know the amount proposed to be given to corporations spread out over those humans that need it will be far more money. How those in need who receive the billions spend the money in our free market will determine the winners and losers. Not the government choosing which corporations to prop up on the tax payer dime regarding the free market.   There will be winners and loser.  Let our free market and freedom of choice be how we move forward after the coronavirus catastrophe.  That is how it is supposed to work.  Not the other way around.  Please do not give billions of tax payer dollars to a handful of corporations under the guise of too big to fail yet again.  The government is not supposed to create winners and losers.  We have a free market right?  Tax paying hard working voters are supposed to make these decisions right?  Give the bailout money to real people that have hearts, breathe and live, vote, pay taxes and need help given the coronavirus catastrophe.  Do you not trust us to exercise our rights and freedom of choice?   

2. #TrickleUPBailOut – ALL PEOPLE GET THE BAILOUT FUNDS IF THEY QUALIFY

All people that meet the following criteria get the bailout funds regardless of legal status, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ever convicted of a crime or any other way to treat a human different from another human.  Let us start a new normal from the ashes of the coronavirus catastrophe that truly is equal to humans that qualify just because they are simply a human that live and works in the United States.  Disease and natural disasters that hurt humans do not care about any of these things.  Disease and natural disasters do not discriminate; only humans do.   

The application for #TrickleUPBailOut funds will not include a single question about legal status, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ever been convicted of a crime type questions period.

You live here in the United States.  You lived it you get it.         

3. #TrickleUPBailOut – NO BAILOUT FOR TRUST FUND BABIES

Sorry, but it must be said.  Good for you, not hating, but trust fund babies should not get a dime of tax payer money as a result of the coronavirus catastrophe.  Your good already given someone else in your life was able and nice enough to take care of you and provide for your every financial need.  If you are a trust fund baby that has to work to get by in life then that is different of course.      

4. #TrickleUpBailOut – NO BAILOUT MONEY FOR CERTAIN HIGH INCOME EARNERS

I am not going to say a number but we can all agree that someone who has a gross income of $300,000 a year or more does not need any bailout money, period.  I will let other people elected to make such decisions and set a number.  The point is if you make that much money you do not need a bailout.  Bailout money should be reserved for those in need of it most.  There are exceptions of course.  If you lose your job and all income then ……..

5. #TrickleUPBailOut – IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOBE YOU QUALIFY

If you lose your job during the coronavirus catastrophe you automatically qualify, period.  No questions asked.  Lose job = #TrickleUPBailOut money. 

I am sure there are plenty of other criteria that make sense to make sure all bailout tax payer dollars actually go to benefit tax payers that actually need it; period.  These five things are probably just a good start.  The point is why trust some CEO getting paid $30 million a year to decide what to do with tax payer bailout money?  As a bankruptcy attorney I am already fielding calls and the coronavirus has already caused bankruptcy filings.   I am sure there will be more to come, but giving bailout money directly to humans in need may reduce the number of future bankruptcy cases.  Even if bailout funds do not prevent bankruptcy filings who cares?  Taxing paying hard working people are the ones that deserve every penny of any bailout money from the government.      

COVID – 19 Coronavirus Economic Consequences Are Worse Than Medical Consequences

By Ryan C. Wood

Hopefully factually information about the leading causes of death will provide some light and sanity regarding the response to the Coronavirus. In the United States the most dangerous things to you during the Coronavirus hype and hysteria to your health and life are your own eating, exercise habits and then just living life.  Forgive me if I argue the current reaction to COVID-19 is disingenuous. I am also not advocating doing nothing about the Coronavirus. The fact is if 500 people die worldwide each day from the Coronavirus that is still nothing compared to what are the leading causes of death. It is about priorities and the greater good.  If the world and world governments actually cared about your health declarations of emergency should have been issued long ago for the list of leading causes of death that already exist.  Instead billions of dollars are made and the world profits from things that are the leading causes of your death.   Heart disease, then cancer and then accidental death kill about 119,000 people in the United States each month (CDC).  These are the top three things you need to be concerned about yesterday, today and tomorrow. What is the point of quarantine, travel restrictions and hysteria when much more serious and widespread causes of death exist?

How many economic casualties resulting from the Coronavirus hype and hysteria will I as a bankruptcy attorney have to treat by filing bankruptcy for them?

Diarrhea, the 5th worldwide leading cause of death will kill more people worldwide then the Coronavirus ever will.  Google it and read for yourself.  The Center for Disease Control provides 2,195 children, just children, die each day worldwide due to diarrhea.  EACH DAY!!!     

Worldwide preterm birth complications are the 8th leading cause of death. 

I understand much is not known about the Coronavirus. What I have no doubt about is there will be far too many bankruptcy filings due to the Coronavirus hype and hysteria.  The truth is they were probably financially at the teetering point already and then this happened.  Hype and hysteria they had no control over will devastate their financial life.  The same thing is ironically true for those that the Coronavirus is medically harmful to.  The truth is they were probably medically at the teetering point already and then the Coronavirus happened and it killed them.  Their immune system was already compromised.  I hope that I do not have an uptick in business given the hype and hysteria about the Coronavirus.  Nothing at this point leads me to believe there will NOT be far more serious economic devastation than medical devastation resulting from COVID-19.    

Top Ten Causes of Death in the United States

  1. Heart disease: 647,457 a year or 53,955 a month
  2. Cancer: 599,108 or 49,926 a month
  3. Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936 or 14,161 a month
  4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201 or 13,351 a month
  5. Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383 or 12,198 a month
  6. Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404 or 10,117 a month
  7. Diabetes: 83,564 or 6,694 a month
  8. Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672 or 4,639 a month
  9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,633
  10. Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173

Heart Disease – Leading Cause of Death in the United States

Guess what?  You are your own worst enemy.  Not the Coronavirus or anything you can catch from another human being.  The Center for Disease Control provides the leading causes of heart disease are: diabetes, overweight and obesity, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and excessive alcohol.  There should be a declared national emergency about the pandemic of food abuse given the number of people dying.  The food killing 54,000 people in the United States a month that leads to heart disease should be quarantined until people eat healthier food.  Imagine that.  That would be tax dollars well spent to ensure more people in the United States live each year.  People should be quarantined and forced to exercise.  Obviously the government and people are very concerned about your medical wellbeing, right? 

What are the leading causes of diabetes?  Eating habits and lack of exercise; just sayin.

Cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States.  The leading causes of cancer are smoking/tobacco, diet and physical activity, sun and other types of radiation and viruses and other infections.  49,926 people in the United States die each month and there is no state of emergency declared.  When will a state of emergency be declared? 

Accidental Death                            

This is the third leading cause of death in the United States.  Wrong place at the wrong time and POW you are dead.  Please think about how you are driving to hoard that toilet paper or other items at the store.  So hey, yeah, do not go to work because of the hype and hysteria but continue to drive like a maniac contributing to the 14,166 accidental deaths in the United States a month.  Or take every crazy precaution possible then get crushed to death by a falling rock in Yosemite National Park.  That is 427 people every day dying.     

Did you known the Center for Disease Control estimates there are 38,000 new HIV/AIDS infection each year in the United States?  That is 3,167 a month.  Why is there no state of emergency?  Why was there no state of emergency declared years ago about HIV/AIDS?

So part of the issue here is how the limited resources we have are used.  Why is the world so concerned about the Coronavirus when millions of people suffer from known leading causes of death each year without such fanfare?  This is nothing new but for some reason a new virus is stealing the headlines.  Is this the new normal?  Who cares about the actual and devastating leading causes of deaths and instead declare states of emergency, initiate quarantines for any new virus?