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Search Results for: dismiss or discharge

Bankruptcy Discharge vs. Dismissal

By Cathy Moran

dismissed or discharged

Dismissed and discharged. In a bankruptcy case, these two terms are at the opposite ends of the scale of results in bankruptcy. Yet they are often confused. A discharge is a win!  The bankruptcy discharge order wipes out your personal legal liability to pay a debt. A dismissal is usually a loss.  It means the […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

No House, No Discharge When Chapter 13 Goes Off Script

By Cathy Moran

Chapter 13 alarm

Sound the alarm. Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are getting dismissed right and left when debtors fail to make mortgage payments. What began as a trickle of Chapter 13 cases ending badly has become a torrent. More and more, bankruptcy judges are strictly enforcing the direct pay term of Chapter 13 plans. If your plan says […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2017

Bankruptcy Without A Discharge: Why Chapter 20 Works

By Cathy Moran

13 without discharge

What does a Chapter 13 bankruptcy get you if it doesn’t get you a discharge? Lots, actually. It’s complicated.  Powerful, but complicated. Let’s see how all the parts interact when your Chapter 13 is filed before you’re eligible for a discharge. Law limits discharge The bankruptcy code doesn’t limit when you can file bankruptcy;  it […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2018

Chapter 13 Dismissed After All Payments Are Made: Self Inflicted Wounds

By Cathy Moran

Debtors shoot themselves

There’s been a rash of bullet-ridden feet lately in Chapter 13 cases. Debtors seem to whip out their pistols and shoot themselves in the foot with increasing regularity. Just when their goal of keeping the house was within reach, had they paid attention, they lose it all. It happens when debtors don’t hold up their […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Featured Tagged With: california bankruptcy, chapter 13

Got Tax Trouble? Don’t File Bankruptcy In December

By Cathy Moran

wait to file bankruptcy

Bankruptcy can provide tax relief,  if your timing is right. Tax troubles are at the heart of so many bankruptcy filings.  It makes sense:  bankruptcy is a powerful and predictable tool to get out of tax debt. But filing bankruptcy before the end of the year may fix only a part of your tax problems.  […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2016, discharge taxes

Who Gets To Skip Bankruptcy’s Means Test Entirely?

By Cathy Moran

skip means test

The couple in my office was despondent when another bankruptcy attorney told them that, despite $100,000 in old taxes, they couldn’t file Chapter 7. This fine fellow told them that the means test showed they had $3000 of disposable income per month.  A Chapter 7 would be an abuse of  bankruptcy under the law. Only […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works, Means test Tagged With: 2019, means test

7 Keys To Keeping Your House: Chapter 13 After You File

By Cathy Moran

keep the house

You filed filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep your house and stop the foreclosure.  You’ve protected your home, for the moment. Bankruptcy gets you a sheltered legal environment to address the problems with your mortgage. You heave a sigh of relief. But the fight to keep your house isn’t over, just because there’s a stay.  […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2019, chapter 13, keep the house

Bankruptcy Schedules Are More Than Just Paperwork

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy papers

Bankruptcy paperwork can make you feel like you are drowning in paper. There’s your paper; there’s the paper your lawyer needs.  And there’s the paper the court insists on. Why bankruptcy schedules worth the work It’s easy to try to skate. To cut corners.  To shut down. But that paper is critical. Nearly every question, […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2017, paperwork, schedules

Who To Pay After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

bills after bankruptcy

You’ve filed bankruptcy. Your creditors are stayed. A bankruptcy discharge is ahead. You’re out from under unrelenting pressure to pay creditors. But don’t let your sense of relief keep you from planning:  who should you pay after your case is filed? Paying creditors after filing bankruptcy Two legal realities drive who needs to be paid […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2016, after bankruptcy

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Bankruptcy Basics

About The Soapbox

You’ve arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

Cheat Sheet For Passing Bankruptcy Means Test

The bankruptcy means test has a fatal weakness in its attempt to keep people out of bankruptcy. Like so much recently, it's health care. It's health care, in the future, to be paid before your creditors get any money in your bankruptcy. It works because, in a logic that only Congress could employ, the means … Read more

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