The infamous Melania Trump speech at the Republican convention shared more than a paragraph or so with Michelle Obama. It shared Michelle’s aspirational thought that in America, any child with hard work and perseverance can succeed. “The only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for […]
Not Too Late To Strip Mortgage Lien
It’s never too late to value a lien and avoid it in bankruptcy. Even after the Chapter 13 case is done and closed. So says the 9th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in Chagolla, decided February 9, 2016. In the absence of prejudicial delay, we find that a motion to value and avoid the lien of a junior […]
File Bankruptcy All Alone: No Spouse Required
We’re so used to thinking about married folk as a couple, rather than as two individuals: George and Gracie; Bill and Hillary; John and Abigail. The Bankruptcy Code feeds that perception when it allows a married couple to file a joint case. Two people, one set of papers, one filing fee. But while filing together […]
Who Gets To Choose Your Bankruptcy Chapter?
Does someone other than the debtor get to choose which chapter a bankruptcy case is filed under? Some seem to think so. There’s an ongoing tug of war in the courts between the bankruptcy establishment on one side and debtors and their lawyers on the other about whether a Chapter 13 that pays only the attorneys […]
Dead Debts Haunt Home Purchase
Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. It’s also the price of freedom from old debts, as my former bankruptcy client learned. He was about to close escrow on a new home a couple of years after his discharge. But the sale came to a screaming halt when an old, discharged debt reappeared on his […]
Facing Foreclosure? Your Kids Can Cope
I talk with clients about walking away from underwater houses day after day. * Yet despite the pain and the roadblocks, these clients express reluctance to move because of the impact on their children.> It’s our home, they intone. It’s as though there can be only ONE home, and it’s this piece of real estate. They imagine […]
Tugging On Superman’s Cape
When a Chapter 13 trustee complains that the means test is not easy to administer when only one spouse files, should I be sympathetic? After all, Chapter 13 confirmation is often a negotiation on disputed issues between the trustee and debtor’s counsel. Here’s what I said recently at ConsiderChapter13.org on that issue. Come on, Madame […]
California Anti Deficiency Laws Trump Short Sale Agreement
A California homeowner who negotiated a short sale of her home that left her personally liable to the lender for the shortage scored an appeals court victory expanding our understanding of the anti deficiency provisions of California law. Coker v. J.P.Morgan Chase, decided by the 4th Appellate District court, barred enforcement of the seller’s agreement to […]
Super Bankruptcy Lawyer Spotted in Redwood City
Cathy Moran was again named a Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy for Northern California in 2023 for the 17th year in a row. This is pretty heady stuff, Cathy was heard to admit. But then, it’s just part of the job of getting clients out of debt and back in a sound financial place. Between this site, BankruptcySoapbox.com […]
California Pulls The Plug On Debt Buyers
Up until now, old debts lived on, until the person who owed the debt pulled the plug. That’s right: it is the person who is liable for the debt who can kill the debt off, not the person to whom the money is owed. Because, at law, there’s a limit on the age of a […]
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