  |
  |
  |
    
  
   |
 | |||
|
|
|
|
| |||
in Taggart, we cannot say with sufficient confidence that the Ninth Circuit would regard 'new' S 6086.10 as leading to a conclusion different than its conclusion under 'old' S 6086.10.").
I. 11 U.S.C. S 523(a)(8)
Cassim v. Educational Credit Management Corp. (In re Cassim), 395 B.R. 907 (B.A.P. 6th Cir. 2008) (Agreeing with Fourth and Ninth Circuits, determination of undue hardship in a Chapter 13 case is prudentially and constitutionally ripe prior to completion of plan payments and discharge.).
Educational Credit Management Corp. v. Mosko (In re Mosko), 515 F.3d 319 (4th Cir. 2008) (That debtors made 24 regular payments on their student loans (totaling over $120,000), made sporadic payments when they could and requested loan deferments and forbearances when available did not satisfy "good faith" prong of three-part Brunner test. "Good faith consists of the debtor's 'efforts to obtain employment, maximize income, and minimize expenses.' . . . [A] debtor may not 'willfully or negligently cause his own default, but rather his condition must result from factors beyond his reasonable control.' . . . [T]he debtor must seriously pursue loan consolidation options. . . . [Debtors] have not demonstrated a good-faith effort to obtain employment and maximize income. [She] does not work during the summer months because she wishes to spend time with her son and care for her mother. . . . [I]t is not undue hardship for her to endure the sacrifice most parents experience in working a full calendar year. . . . The record does not show that [husband's] medical condition precludes him from all part-time employment, self-employment, or other work from home. . . . [He] refused a job offer because he would have been paid his regular hourly wage for the overtime hours he worked. This refusal does not constitute good faith because many in [his] financial situation must work two jobs, . . ., without receiving overtime pay for the second job. . . . [Debtors have] not minimized their expenses. Each month, . . . [debtors] spend $75 for internet, $80 for cell phones, $60 for satellite television, $68 for a YMCA membership, and an undisclosed amount for cigarettes. Expenditures on such items are generallyunnecessaryto maintain a minimum standard of living and, under the facts of this case, the failure to minimize or eliminate these expenditures does not demonstrate a good-faith effort to minimize expenses. . . . [Debtors'] failure to minimize expenses during a period when [husband] was unemployed indicates that their own negligence contributed to their current financial situation. . . . [T]he payments the [debtors] made on their student loans are insufficient to demonstrate good faith because they failed to make payments on their student loans during a time period when their income substantially exceeded their necessary expenses. . . . [Debtors] failed to adequately pursue loan consolidation options. . . . [W]ithout reasonable efforts to make subsequent payments, requesting deferments and forbearances alone does not establish good faith.").
©2009 Keith M. Lundin
