Care to guess what it will cost a retired couple in San Mateo County to meet their basic living needs? If they rent, it takes $3193 a month. If they have a mortgage, it rises to $4247. Those dollars cover housing, food, medical, transportation and $376 for everything else. Social security doesn’t cut it The average Social […]
The Dozen Most Important Bankruptcy Posts Of 2016
Last week, I let readers pick their favorite new bankruptcy posts from 2016 . It was a good bunch. Now, it’s my turn. Here are the dozen new posts for this year that struck a chord with me. If there’s a theme, it’s the subject matter, rather than the style. Each post is on target on issues […]
Last Call For Loan Modifications Under HAMP
If your house is teetering on the edge of foreclosure, the time to act has a deadline. HAMP, the government program incentivizing home loan modifications, ends in 2016. To qualify for HAMP, you must submit a complete Initial Application Package by December 30, 2016. That package must include: A RMA form which includes a required hardship […]
Your Picks For The Best Of Bankruptcy Soapbox For 2016
Jumping the gun on year-end by a bit, I’ve gathered up the 10 most-read new posts on Bankruptcy Soapbox in 2016. Without need of an envelop, please, here they are, in reverse order: 10. Why The Gap Between Judges & Attorneys About Fees Most bankruptcy judges never walked a mile (or any distance) in the […]
Spotting The Mean In The Means Test
Just being a consumer is enough to put you on Congress’s bad side when it comes to bankruptcy. How do I know? I read the “reformed” bankruptcy code where the means test discrimination is blatant. Only those individuals whose debts are primarily consumer debts have to prove that they aren’t abusing the bankruptcy laws. The […]
Bankruptcy Alphabet: S is for Strip
S is for Strip in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Bankruptcy lawyers delight in stripping liens from people’s homes. In any chapter of bankruptcy, a debtor can void judgment liens that have attached to assets that would otherwise be exempt. In Chapter 13, tax liens and other statutory liens can be stripped off the asset if there […]
How To Spot A Fake IRS Officer
Identity thieves are now posing as “helpful” folks from the IRS. These scammers email you with the disturbing news that your tax return has been flagged for further examination. Posing as representing the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, they offer help in “resolving” the problem, if you’ll just click a link and provide them information. They […]
Keep Your Tax Refund Despite Filing Bankruptcy
Usually, we’re touting pre bankruptcy planning: know what’s exempt, what debts will survive bankruptcy, and arrange your affairs to lose as little as possible to a bankruptcy trustee. There’s one bit of tax and bankruptcy planning that you can do after you file bankruptcy. That’s despite the fact that bankruptcy is generally a snapshot of […]
Why The Gap Between Judges & Attorneys Over Fees?
Very few bankruptcy judges ever represented average individuals in bankruptcy before they became judges. Fewer were sole practitioners,who must rely on the fees they earn and collect to stay in business. Those two factors seem to create the chasm between bench and bar over attorneys fees in consumer bankruptcy cases. This post starts from the […]
The Dr. Seuss Secret To Laws That Actually Work
The election is here. If you haven’t already, get out and vote. Put aside your excuses and your cynicism. Forget that democracy, at the detail level, hasn’t worked so well lately. In the big picture, voting, picking those who write the laws and those who administer them, is the essence of our freedom. Winston Churchill […]
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