California foreclosure law now permits a sale date to be set before the reinstatement period has run, under a new provision to the Civil Code. An amendment effective January 1, 2011 allows the trustee under the deed of trust to record the notice of sale up to five days before the 90 day cure period…
Individuals with matters before the state courts of California have an updated resource in the Self Help Center. The information here can be either good background if you have a legal problem or a treasure-trove if you expect to represent yourself in court. It even includes a section on bankruptcy, as part of the materials…
Cathy Moran was again named a Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy for Northern California in 2011 for the fifth year in a row. This is pretty heady stuff, Cathy was heard to admit. Image courtesy of Xurble
Ruling against the California Franchise Tax Board, the 9th Circuit upheld Oakland bankruptcy judge Edward Jellen’s decision in the Chapter 13 case of Brenda Marie Jones. At issue was whether Jones could discharge a state tax debt in her Chapter 7 case;? the question turned on an arcane question of what the Bankruptcy Code means…
Junior lenders who consent to a short sale of underwater homes are barred from seeking to collect anything further from sellers under a newly enacted California statute. The law, signed on July 15, 2011, becomes effective immediately.? It applies to properties, held by individuals, comprising 1-4 residential units.? Senate Bill 458 accords the same restrictions…
Other professionals should know better than to? advise people about the workings of bankruptcy.? And if they don’t know better, they should be made to pay, in? some exquisitely painful way, for the harm they inflict. The terrified client in my office was told by her accountant that if she filed Chapter 13 to save…
Gerri Detweiler kicks off a six part series on dealing with a home worth less than you owe at Credit.com.? Check her out this week for another point of view on this oh-too-common problem. I’m fond of her piece especially since she includes my lament that I spend my days talking people out of houses….
One of the thorniest problems I’m confronting in the Great Recession is what advice to offer to those who are self employed only because there is no option. In the past year, I’ve seen half a dozen folks whose small business isn’t really making it, and in better times, I would have urged them to…
In the tug o war of which creditor to pay, why is it that credit cards win over taxes and child support? I’m accustomed to clients who pay creditors rather than provide for their own health care, emergency fund, or retirement.? That’s taking care of commitments to others before self. But I haven’t figured out…
Californians may enjoy an increase in the exemption for a principal residence and compensating increases in the exemptions available under CCP 703 to Californians filing bankruptcy.? The bill under consideration , AB 929, will not, however, increase the wildcard, or grubstake, exemption in the CCP 703 scheme. A bill to again revise California Exemptions, introduced…
