My clients often ask if there is an alternative to bankruptcy.? David Leibowitz, my colleague at Bankruptcy Law Network, outlined what it takes to get out of debt without bankruptcy.? The simple answer is make more money; spend less on today’s expenses; use all your savings to pay off debt. I want to pose the…
A debt collector including the creditor itself must not contact a California debtor who it knows is represented by an attorney. Yet the collector violation de jour seems to be the refrain, “I don’t care if you have a bankruptcy lawyer, I’ll call you every day until you can provide a bankruptcy case number”. If…
The time between a notice of default on a mortgage loan and foreclosure now averages 176 days. California law requires only 112 days. So, while the number of defaults is increasing, the interval between the statutory notice of default and actual sale is also increasing. Before the recent crisis, lenders typically issued a notice of…
Quick: how is a small Tennessee town like a California family facing foreclosure? The New York Times suggests it’s because they were both sold risky financial products to meet their borrowing needs. The unemployment-wracked town of 11,000 was not told about the interest rate risk in the bond derivatives that financial advisors promoted and sold…
Stand by: I’m going to say something nice about BAPCPA, the bankruptcy “reform” law of 2005. The debtor education requirement that is a condition of getting a discharge is a good idea. Just this week, two clients have reported that they learned useful stuff from the required program. Filing bankruptcy is a teachable moment for…
The culture you grow up in shapes your views of truth telling, business ethics and privacy. I see that day to day as I counsel clients who are immigrants from other parts of the world. It’s sometimes an uphill battle to convince them that the “price” of bankruptcy relief is full disclosure, and that it…
