| Volume 144 Number 45 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Some phone calls and emails are important, some can be annoying, and others are just plain illegal. Learn how to reduce the number of unwanted messages you get by phone and online. Click here for more.
Help for Landlords
If you’re a landlord and the income you get from tenants paying rent payments is the way you pay your own mortgage, taxes, insurance, and other costs, then when the rent comes in short—or not at all—you might find yourself struggling to make ends meet.
Help is available. State and local governments are distributing billions of dollars in federal emergency rental assistance, and you may have a right to apply for it.
Rental assistance isn’t just for tenants. Rental assistance can help you recoup lost rent. If you’re a landlord, you may think of rental assistance as help for renters. But at the moment, most programs require landlords to apply for assistance first.
Payments are usually made to you directly. State and local programs are delivering money straight to landlords, utility companies, and other providers.
You have a role to play. You may be able to apply for your tenants. Where tenants can apply, they may need your help to complete the application process. They usually also need your information in order to pay you. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you are drawing up your will and want to leave money to a minor child, using a testamentary trust is one way to do so. This legal document can also be beneficial in other situations, such as if you want to leave an inheritance to someone but aren’t sure they will use the gift wisely. Keep reading to learn all about testamentary trusts, how to set one up and why some experts say they have fallen out of favor. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
The Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland resolved a conflict between the strong presumption in favor of enforcing arbitration agreements and the Bankruptcy Code’s emphasis on centralization of claims. Based on an analysis of the two statutory schemes and their underlying policies and concerns, the court decided to lift the automatic stay to allow the prepetition arbitration proceeding to go forward with respect to non-core claims In the context of bankruptcy proceedings, a cause of action is constitutionally core when it stems from the bankruptcy itself or would necessarily be resolved in the claims allowance process. The court found that with respect to constitutionally core proceedings, the bankruptcy court has the discretion to retain the proceeding and refuse to enforce the parties’ arbitration agreement, but its discretion is far more limited with respect to non-core proceedings. The court held that the Bankruptcy claims were non-arbitrable because they would not exist absent the bankruptcy case and thus extended from the bankruptcy itself. The court recognized that a debtor may be able to plead an action in a way that transforms certain pure state law claims into claims under the Bankruptcy Code but found that those concerns were not warranted in this case. Because the FDCPA non-bankruptcy claims and the contract claims were claims that existed prior to and independently of the bankruptcy proceedings, the court held that these categories of claims were non-core and lifted the stay to allow the arbitration proceedings to continue. John McDonnell McPherson, U.S. bankruptcy Court, E. Dist. Maryland (2021) Click here for more.