My newest colleague in the Bankruptcy Law Network, Adrian Lapas, discussed the critical importance of developing a budget in connection with a Chapter 13 plan. Spend the plan payment on something else and your case may be dismissed. Budgeting for your post bankruptcy life is made more complex by a number of factors: Many people underestimate […]
Another voice in the savings chorus
I am not alone! A Wisconsin judge allowed Chapter 7 debtors to contribute to retirement savings in the face of a means test challenge claiming savings was an abuse of the bankruptcy system. Hurray! Another in the small band of those touting savings. In the Mravik case, the debtor’s Chapter 7 means test, which does […]
Falling rents make walking away cheaper
Those who elect to let their house go to foreclosure will find renting cheaper even than renting last year. A Business Week study named Sunnyvale-San Jose and Oakland-Fremont to the top ten cities where rents fell the most. I usually lead clients with homes in foreclosure through an analysis of “should they keep the house.” […]
Bankruptcy as opportunity
My friend bankruptcy attorney Doug Jacobs tackles client guilt about filing bankruptcy by getting the client to consider how much more than the original charge they’ve paid the credit card company over time. I have success getting clients to consider what they could do with the money they are now paying out on minimum payments […]
Countrywide admits to faking interest in modifications
Defending a lawsuit claiming it engaged in fraud and misrepresentation when it strung borrowers along with the promise of a loan modification, Countrywide asserted that its ads promising help with loan modification was just puffery. It’s a startling admission from a mortgage lender already in the glare for its lending practices. But, hey, we can […]
Tax breaks no place to hide public policy choices
The US tax code is stuffed with tax breaks to further some social policy or another. We’ve made it safer for legislators to funnel money to the poor, the parents of college aspirants, those saving for retirement by giving them a tax break than by appropriating money for the purpose deemed worthwhile. And these are […]
Chapter 13 trustees, money, and goodwill
Date line: July, 2008 I’ve spent the last three days at the annual meeting of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees in San Francisco. Strewn through the convention site are banners thanking those who have contributed money to put on the gathering of Chapter 13 trustees. Those three sponsors at this event are exclusively […]
Credit counseling, well understood, is just another bankruptcy hoop
While there are an endless number of misconceptions about filing bankruptcy, the one I’ve encountered more often in the past weeks is the belief that participation in a debt management program or debt settlement program meets the new requirement for a “credit briefing” as a condition of filing bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy “Reform” Act of 2005 […]
Cash collateral in consumer cases
What’s cash collateral, and why should you care? You care because there’s a whole set of rules in bankruptcy to protect a creditor’s interest in cash collateral, and ugly consequences if you ignore those rules. But you don’t have to have a traditional business to have cash collateral, and the duties it brings, in a […]
File Your Tax Return Or Get An Extension?
Filing a tax return does not focus a spotlight on you. Really. I regularly see clients who have not filed returns because they have some issue with the IRS. They either have taxes that will be owed with the unfiled return, or taxes owed from earlier periods. They think they are avoiding trouble by not […]
