It’s Halloween and we indulge in make-believe scary moments and call it fun. In real life, fear isn’t so fun. People up to their eyeballs in debt are scared witless by the thought of filing bankruptcy. It frightens them more than haunted houses, ghouls, and blood-soaked bodies. So really: what’s so scary about filing bankruptcy? […]
Disarm The Debt Collector: Understanding The Weapons of Debt Collection
You can stop a debt collector cold, wherever you live, using federal law. It doesn’t take a lawyer, a court, or an enforcer. That’s because the weapons of a debt collector are fear, shame, and annoyance. The weapon delivery system is communication. Those weapons don’t have to be any more threatening than a plastic toy […]
Which Spouse Is Liable For Debts In California
California has been a community property state since 1850, and still we struggle to understand which spouse is liable for debts. So here, broad brush, is a guide to the legal liability of spouses, ex spouses, registered domestic partners and their community property for debt. Because, as I’ve written, the community is a third “party” […]
Bankruptcy Alphabet: Z is for Zillion
In my bankruptcy alphabet, Z is for zillion. Zillion is a real word but a made-up number. For certain, it’s lots and lots. It takes a zillion details, it seems, to file a bankruptcy case. And it goes on. Guess what? The 2005 Congress who passed the bankruptcy reform act wanted to make it detailed […]
Acing Bankruptcy’s Means Test For Those Over Median Income
Your future living expenses may be the key to passing the bankruptcy means test. Those who are under median income for their state have already passed the means test. Those over median income move on to the expense portion of the test to calculate whether they have more than the allowed disposable income. Most often, […]
Better Credit After Bankruptcy: Does Reaffirming A Car Loan Help?
Does reaffirming a car loan after bankruptcy help rebuild your credit? Rebuilding credit is the motivation that drives lots of debtors to waive the benefits of their discharge as to a car loan. A reaffirmation agreement has the debtor agreeing to be personally liable after the bankruptcy discharge for the car loan balance. Miss payments […]
The Biggest Bankruptcy Mistake You Can Make
The biggest bankruptcy mistake has nothing to do with choice of chapter, exemptions, disclosure, or attorneys. It has to do with timing. The biggest bankruptcy mistake is waiting too long to consider bankruptcy. Time is seldom your friend What’s wrong with letting time pass before making a momentous decision? Doesn’t time heal most wounds? No, […]
California Extends Protection For Home Loan Borrowers
One of the home refinance pitfalls for Californians bit the dust. Starting January, 2013, antideficiency laws that protect home loan borrowers from personal liability have been expanded to include a refinanced purchase money loan. If a borrower refinances a loan used to buy a property in which he will live, he will no longer lose […]
Do I Have To File Bankruptcy Before There’s A Judgment?
Can I discharge a judgment once it’s entered, was the first question the caller asked. Do I have time to file bankruptcy? The caller was sure he had to file bankruptcy before the court entered judgment or he’d be stuck with the judgment forever. Not so. Bankruptcy discharges judgments. And, a judgment in California does not […]
Bankruptcy Discharge For One Spouse Yields Benefits For Non-filing Spouse
Spouses don’t have to file bankruptcy together. Often there are strategic reasons for only one spouse in a community property state like California to file. So, where does that leave the non-filing spouse when creditors come calling? Community property in bankruptcy Central to this discussion is the way the Bankruptcy Code treats community property. When […]
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