Collections & Creditor Rights

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights, Criminal Law

People v. Bankers Insurance Co. — Bail exoneration could remain conditioned on later-calculated extradition costs

automatic / September 18, 2026

A court may exonerate a bail bond subject to later-calculated extradition costs, and the expiration of the appearance period does not erase that reimbursement condition.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights

Velocity Investments v. Nguyen — Debt buyer could not cure missing complaint documents by amending later

automatic / August 28, 2026

A debt buyer's amended complaint cannot erase liability for failing to attach consumer-specific debt documents to the original complaint.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights, Labor & Employment Law

Cabardo v. Patacsil — Bankruptcy Appeal Must Await Final Dischargeability Decision

automatic / August 27, 2026

The Ninth Circuit dismissed a creditors’ bankruptcy appeal because a remand for trial left the overall dischargeability proceeding unfinished.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Lakeshore Investment v. Now Solutions — tripled settlement default is an unenforceable penalty

automatic / August 24, 2026

A $1.5 million stipulated judgment triggered by default on a $450,000 settlement was an unenforceable penalty without evidence supporting the estimate.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Banking & Finance, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Turrey v. Vervent — Student Borrowers’ Civil RICO Verdict Was Timely

automatic / August 12, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the roughly $12 million judgment. Trial evidence permitted the jury to find that the borrowers lacked actual or constructive knowledge of their RICO injuries more than four years before filing in April 2020.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation, Real Estate Law

8451 Melrose Property, LLC v. Akhtarzad — Undisclosed Partners Added to an Eight-Figure Lease Judgment

automatic / July 23, 2026

A Court of Appeal upheld adding members of an undisclosed family partnership and its leasing corporation to a commercial landlord's eight-figure judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 187.

4th District Court of Appeal, Collections & Creditor Rights, Family Law, Litigation

Greely v. Greely — Void Bigamous Marriage Defeats Spousal Exception for Bank Account Levies

automatic / May 20, 2026

The Fourth District held that a judgment creditor cannot use the spousal exception to levy a third party’s bank accounts without a court order when the marriage supporting the levy was bigamous and void from its inception.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Dawadi v. Adhikari — Check Annotations Do Not Revive a Time-Barred Debt

automatic / May 12, 2026

California’s Fourth District holds that check memo-line annotations labeling payments as “loan payment” are not sufficient written acknowledgments to revive a debt already barred by the statute of limitations.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Phillips v. Goldman — Ninth Circuit En Banc Clarifies Limits of Bankruptcy Trustee Immunity

automatic / May 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee who fails to preserve estate assets is not shielded by quasi-judicial immunity because property-management duties are administrative, not adjudicative.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Bagby v. Davis — California Law Governs Collection in California Courts; Surrendered Life Insurance Policy Not Necessarily Exempt

automatic / February 17, 2026

Second District holds California exemption law applies to collection actions in California courts regardless of where the judgment debtor lives, and that funds rolled over from a surrendered life insurance policy into IRAs are not categorically exempt from levy.

Appellate Division (Superior Court), Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Spring Oaks Capital SPV v. Fowler — Debt Buyer Cannot Win Trial Without Disclosed Witness Address and Properly Authenticated Business Records

automatic / February 3, 2026

Santa Clara Appellate Division reverses a debt-buyer's trial judgment, holding the trial court erred in admitting testimony from an undisclosed witness and account records that were not properly authenticated under the business-records hearsay exception.