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Damaged Credit Heals

By Cathy Moran

damaged credit

Will filing bankruptcy hurt my credit? Probably. [Keep reading, there’s more.] Should that hit to your credit keep from filing bankruptcy?  Not by a long shot. Incredibly, I encounter people drowning in debt who think their credit report is more important than their financial health. Their thinking seems to be that credit, once damaged, is never […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: credit heals, damaged credit

Two Strikes & You’re Out (Of Your Home)

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy stay

Three strikes and you’re out.  Anyone familiar with baseball knows that one. The rules are different in bankruptcy. Two strikes and you’re out. And for one couple, they’re not only out of bankruptcy, they’re out of their house. Foreclosed the day after they filed bankruptcy number three. Because, what they didn’t know is that there […]

Filed Under: Featured, True Stories Tagged With: 2017, do it yourself

Why You Don’t Want A Bankruptcy Attorney To Fight For You

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy lawyer

Everyone wants a good bankruptcy lawyer when they’re considering filing bankruptcy. So, how do you measure a good bankruptcy lawyer? We Fight For You! screamed the on-line headline for a bankruptcy law firm. That firm clearly thought willingness to fight was the measure. While I applaud the firm’s energy and commitment, I question their focus. […]

Filed Under: Featured, You & your lawyer

5 Essential Tips To Understand Your Mortgage Loan

By Cathy Moran

mortgage debt

Figuring out what your home loan balance is can be harder than a calculus exam. For most people, their mortgage is their biggest debt.  And their home is their most important asset. Yet, the people accounting for your payments are increasingly incapable of the very basics of their job.  And that makes your job, as […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2017

Bankruptcy Means Test: New Numbers, Little Impact For Bay Area

By Cathy Moran

means test numbers

The bankruptcy means test numbers for California are out, showing median incomes moving in both directions, depending on family size. In the Bay Area, the means test income levels, coupled with the cost of housing, don’t keep many people out of the bankruptcy chapter of their choice. More. Why the means test matters The median […]

Filed Under: Means test, Strictly California Tagged With: Alameda, means test, median income bay area, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

When You’re Behind On Your Car Loan

By Cathy Moran

car loan

Are you looking over your shoulder for the repo man every time you park your car? You’re not alone. Delinquent car loans are on the rise:  almost 1 in 20 vehicle loans are in default. If you’re in that group of Americans struggling to pay for your wheels, there are solutions in bankruptcy. If you […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2017, car loan

What Your Signature On Your Bankruptcy Papers Really Says

By Cathy Moran

Wish I had a buck for every time a client has told me, “Yes, I signed it, but I didn’t read it”. This is usually delivered as though the signature had no meaning if it wasn’t coupled with actual reading. Unfortunately, it isn’t so. Not true in commerce in general, and certainly not true when you […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: perjury, schedules

How To Pay For Bankruptcy When You’re Flat Broke

By Cathy Moran

paying for bankruptcy

One of the cosmic ironies of our legal system is that it costs money to file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy gets you out of debt only if you have the money to file. The costs of bankruptcy include the filing fee collected by the court; the required credit counseling; and, if you’re smart, an experienced lawyer to […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

The Judgment Lien That Escaped Your Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

forgotten lien

What do you do when you discover old judgment liens on your home long after you filed bankruptcy? Your bankruptcy case is closed. You’re recovering nicely. Then you find there’s a judgment lien on your house from before your bankruptcy that you didn’t know about. And the law says that liens survive a bankruptcy case, […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages

5 Free Tools To Fight A Debt Collector

By Cathy Moran

debt collection rights

When a debt collector calls, the conversation often seems all too one-sided. The collector makes impossible demands.  Nothing you say penetrates. Including your assertion that you don’t recognize the collector, the debt, or any legal responsibility for paying. Or maybe you recognize the debt but simply don’t have the money to deal with old debt […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Debt Collection Rights

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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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