Dont Be Late!  Sixth Circuit reverses allowance of late-filed claim in Chapter 13 Case

In In re Tench, a decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel out of the Sixth Circuit, the panel reversed the decision of the bankruptcy court to allow an unsecured claim filed 8 days after the bar date.  In Chapter 13 cases, the late filing of a claim is itself grounds for disallowance of the claim.  Although there are certain exceptions, the creditor did not fit into any of them.  The Sixth Circuit court held that the court’s equitable powers under Section 105 of the bankruptcy code did not allow it to relieve a creditor of the express provisions of the code.

© Steve Sowell 2022