"The Bassel Wilcox Report"
  • PRO-RATA PAYMENTS
    9/12/2011 12:00:00 AM by Pam Bassel

        The term "pro-rata" is used in a Chapter 13 Plan to describe how a creditor will be paid. What it means is delay in getting paid as a secured creditor.  All priority claims, administrative claims and claims listed as being paid in a specific amount will be paid ahead of the pro-rata secured creditor. This could mean the debtor’s attorney’s fees, the I.R.S. and domestic support obligations, among others, could be paid in full before the secured creditor gets any disbursement post-confirmation. Except in the Southern District of Texas (see below), if you are listed to be paid pro-rata, it generally means that the debtor’s attorney will be paid, in full, before you get any disbursement at all as a secured creditor. In these difficult economic times, many debtor’s attorneys are getting little or no down payment on their fees and most of those fees are paid through the Plan, creating a lengthy delay before payments to creditors begin. You are entitled to equal payments beginning month one after the Plan is confirmed which you ...  see more at The Bassel Wilcox Report
  • COLLATERAL SURRENDERED, BUT NOT TURNED OVER
    12/2/2011 12:00:00 AM by Pam Bassel

    This is a frustrating problem for you. You get a Plan or a Plan modification that states that the debtor is going to surrender your collateral. After the Plan is confirmed or the modification is approved, you find out the vehicle was wrecked or impounded and is now worthless or that there are repair or storage charges against your vehicle and it is not cost effective to take possession of it because you won’t recoup your costs in a sale or that the debtor gave/sold your collateral to someone else and will not tell you where the vehicle is located. What do you do in this situation?

    We recommend filing an objection to the Plan or the Modification when you do not know who has your vehicle and it has not been turned over to you. The objection, pre-confirmation, is that the Plan should not be confirmed unless the vehicle is delivered to you, the creditor. Post-confirmation, object to the modification on the grounds that it should not be approved unless the debtor delivers the vehicle to you and, also, that the debtor pays you the remaining balance owed on your allowed sec...  see more at The Bassel Wilcox Report

  • The New Requirement for Proof of Claim
    12/9/2011 12:00:00 AM by Stephen Wilcox

    Generally, in order to be paid in a bankruptcy case, you have to file a proof of claim. Bankruptcy Rule 3001 sets out the specific requirements for a proof of claim. This Rule was amended effective December 1, 2011. Not only did the requirements for what must be included in a proof of claim change, but the rule also provides for bad things to happen if you don’t do it right. The new requirements apply in cases where the debtor is an individual, even in a Chapter 11 proceeding.

    First, a proof of claim "shall conform substantially to the appropriate Official Form." The official form is available at www.uscourts.gov and the official proof of claim form is form B-10. If the claim is based on a writing, then a copy of the writing (such as the note and deed of trust or certificate of title) must be attached to the proof of claim.

    If you are claiming amounts other than the principal amount of the debt, like interest or attorney...  see more at The Bassel Wilcox Report

    

Dabney D. Bassel

B.A. from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas in 1979
Doctor of Jurisprudence from Baylor University in 1982
Briefing attorney for the Honorable Ted Akin, Justice, Dallas Court of Appeals, 1983-1984
Board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 2000
  and recertified in 2005 and 2010.
Tarrant County Bar Association:
  • Chairperson, Appellate Section (2002-2003)
  • Member, Planning Committee, Appellate Section (2003-2011)
  • Chairperson Continuing Legal Education Committee (2010-2011)
  • Member of Continuing Legal Education Committee (2005-2011)
Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court
  • Master (2007-2011)
  • Treasurer (2008-2010)
  • Counselor (2010-2011)
  • President (2011-2012)
Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
Tarrant County Bar Foundation, Sustaining Life Fellow

Speaker, Tarrant County Bar Association - Appellate Road Show (2004)
Speaker and co-author of paper on preservation of error in discovery issues, Tarrant
   County Bar Association - Appellate Seminar (2005)
Co-author of "The Texas Supreme Court Holds that Potential Jurors May Check Their Biases
   at the Courthouse Door", Tarrant County Bar Association Bulletin (July 2005)
Speaker and co-author of paper on jury selection, Tarrant County Bar Association
   Litigation Seminar (2006)
Co-author of "Threading the Needle in Voir Dire, the Texas Supreme Court Wrestles With
   Questioning Potential Jurors about Bad Facts" Tarrant County Bar Association
   Bulletin (July 2006)
Co-author of "Section 1325(a)(5) - How confusing can Congress be?" State Bar of Texas
   Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar (2006)
Author of "Requesting Additional or Amended Findings - Obscure Rules that Can Bite You"
   Tarrant County Bar Association Bulletin (April and May 2007)
Co-author of paper on reaffirmation agreements, Farm, Ranch, & Agri-Business Bankruptcy
   Institute (August 2007)
Speaker and author of paper on summary judgement evidence, Tarrant County Bar
   Association - Appellate Seminar (2008)
Speaker and author of paper on special appearance practice, Tarrant County Bar
   Association - Appellate Seminar (2009)
Speaker and co-author of paper on summary judgement practice, Tarrant County Bar
   Association - Appellate Seminar (2010)
Co-author of paper on reaffirmation agreements, Southern District of Texas
   Bench Bar (2010)
Speaker and author of "As Time Goes By - Fascinating Appellate Timetables" Texas
  Advanced Paralegal Seminar (2011)
Licensed to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States, the
  Supreme Court of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the
  Fifth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern
  District of Texas (which includes all bankruptcy courts in this district).


dbassel@basselwilcox.com (817) 870-1159