The letter N, in my Bankruptcy Alphabet, stands for Nondischargeable. These are the debts that simply don’t go away, even when you get a bankruptcy discharge. Family support heads the list of nondischargeable debts, at least figuratively. Whether it’s called child support, alimony, maintenance, or a domestic support obligation, the debtor’s obligation to pay […]
Bankruptcy Alphabet: M Is For Modify
M is for Modify in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. The Bankruptcy Code provides that a borrower can modify the terms of some secured debts, like car loans, judgment liens, and some mortgages. And in the midst of the current pandemic mess, the automatic stay can prevent foreclosure while a homeowner seeks a mortgage modification on their […]
Bankruptcy Alphabet: I Is For IRS
“I” stands for IRS in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Bankruptcy law treats the IRS little different than other creditors. The tax collector is just one of the boys. But the most important point is that income taxes can be erased in bankruptcy. There are rules, three of them in fact, that govern when income taxes […]
Bankruptcy Alphabet: G is for Guaranty
G is for guaranty in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. A guaranty is just as much a debt as the bills one incurs directly, yet guaranties are often forgotten when the list of creditors is assembled to file bankruptcy. Any time you sign for a debt, yours or someone else’s, you create a legal relationship. The lender […]
Bay Area Loan Modification Scam Busted
People are desperate to save their homes; scammers are pleased to part them from their money. Two Bay Area men were convicted this week of foreclosure consultant fraud. The men took money from homeowners seeking loan modifications. Sounds innocent enough, until you recall that California law prohibits anyone, even an attorney, from taking money in […]
Oakland Bankruptcy Judge Upheld At 9th Circuit
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 […]
No Recourse for Junior Lien in Short Sale
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 […]
Your Choices For The Underwater House
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. […]
Self Employed, But Not By Choice
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. In better times, I would have urged them to acknowledge […]
How Long Til Foreclosure?
Everyone who has made the painful decision to let an unaffordable house go to foreclosure wants to know: how long before they have to get out. While the statutory foreclosure process in California , on paper, takes a little more than 4 months, if the the creditor is perfectly efficient, creditors aren’t perfectly efficient. In […]
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