Behind the Bench: Chapter 13 – No Place Like Home
June 9, 2026, 1:00PM EST. The program will focus on issues that arise in Chapter 13 relating to the rental and the ownership of residential property. The program will include a discussion of (a) exceptions to the automatic stay concerning residential property (sections 362(b)(22) and 362(l)), (b) assumption of a lease of residential property in a plan under section 1322(b)(7) or under section 365 (d)(2), (c) the failure to pay post-petition rent as grounds for relief from the automatic stay and/or case dismissal and (d) the treatment of appreciation in the value of owned residential property.
Jeremy Harn, a Chapter 13 practitioner, will moderate this panel featuring Hon. Bess Creswell (M.D. Ala.), Hon. Patricia Mayer (E.D. Pa.), Hon. Mary Lopinot (S.D. Ill.) and Robert Drummond, a Chapter 13 Trustee.
Bios:
Hon. Bess M. Parrish Creswell was appointed to serve as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Alabama on April 16, 2018 and became Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Alabama on October 17, 2020. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she represented debtors, creditors, and committees in workouts, debt restructuring, and bankruptcy cases at a national and regional law firm. She earned her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law, her M.B.A. from the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, and her B.A. from Campbell University. After law school, she served as law clerk to the Honorable Ray C. Mullins in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Hon. Patricia Mayer was appointed on March 11, 2020, to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Reading Division. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Mayer focused her practice on representing individuals and small business owners in consumer bankruptcy cases, IRS Collection matters and mortgage foreclosure defense.
Judge Mayer was a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) where she served as the 3rd Circuit Community Leader. She was also a member of the Board of Directors for the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project (CBAP) and served as Chair of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference. Judge Mayer is a frequent lecturer and course planner for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference. Judge Mayer graduated, magna cum laude, from De Sales University with a B.A. in Politics and earned her J.D. degree from Temple University School of Law.
Since joining the bench, Judge Mayer has reinstituted the ED PA Local Rules Committee and organized it as a standing committee. Judge Mayer is the judicial liaison to the committee and shepherds the yearly recommendations through the rule making process for the District. Judge Mayer also currently serves on the Educational Advisory Committee for the Federal Judicial Center and the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules for the Judicial Conference.
Hon. Mary E. Lopinot was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Illinois in 2024. Prior to her appointment, Judge Lopinot practiced bankruptcy, tax and business law, practicing primarily in consumer and small business law. Judge Lopinot attended St. Louis University School of Law (J.D. 1998).
Robert Drummond has been the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the District of Montana since 1991. He was President of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees from 2012 – 2013 and was the Editor of the NACTT Quarterly from 2015 – 2021. He has published numerous articles about bankruptcy that have been published in Nortons Bankruptcy Law Advisor, the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, the NACTT Quarterly and the Montana Law Review. He is currently on the Editorial Advisory Board of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal. He is the publisher of the Montana Bankruptcy Reporter.