United States Seventh Circuit

Bankruptcy court order rejecting bankruptcy trustee's objection to Chapter 13 petitioner's deduction of monthly mortgage payments from his disposable income is reversed where the deduction of mortgage expenses from the Chapter 13 debtor's disposable income is not intended to enrich the debtor at the expense of his unsecured creditors but is intended to adjust the respective rights of the mortgagee and the unsecured creditors, and petitioner cannot use a phantom deduction to reduce the recovery by his unsecured creditors without benefiting any other creditor.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/12/2009
• Decided 07/20/2009
• Published 07/20/2009

Judges

• POSNER, Circuit Judge., Before POSNER and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and VAN BOKKELEN, District Judge.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• David J. Jurkiewicz, Attorney (argued), Bose McKinney & Evans, LLP, Indianapolis, IN, for Appellant., William A. McNeal, Becket & Lee, LLP, Malvern, PA, for Amicus Curiae, Ecast Settlement Corporation., David I. Gold, P. Matthew Sutko (argued), Department of Justice, Executive Office for U.S. Trustees, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae, United States of America.


• For Appellees:
  
• James J. Haller, Attorney (argued), Mueller & Haller, Belleville, IL, for Appellee.