Unfiled tax returns upset all the normal rules about discharging taxes in bankruptcy. This story tells you why. Two clients, each with $200,000 in tax debt, came to my office this week. One can escape it all now; the other is facing several years before bankruptcy will do anything for him. What’s the difference? Filed […]
Pay Your Debts Or Go To Jail?
What would you do if you got a tip there was an arrest warrant out because you hadn’t paid one of your bills? Scrape up the money any way you can? Get out of town? Laugh? The right answer is “laugh”. In the US we don’t arrest people for owing money they can’t pay. Yet […]
How To Make Mortgage Lender ‘Fess Up
What have they been doing with my mortgage payments? The client has been making a mortgage payment according to the HAMP formula for almost 18 months of her Chapter 13. Yet without a 1098 form, her very capable tax preparer told her she couldn’t deduct mortgage interest on her tax return. Never fear. We have a new […]
How Chapter 13 Cuts Car Loan Down To Size
Car lenders who make new car loans with an underwater trade-in will face the music in Chapter 13. The Supreme Court declined to review a 9th Circuit decision that stripped car loans of their protected specially protected status in bankruptcy; as a result, Californians will continue to benefit from the debtor-friendly decision in Penrod, rising out of […]
Three Barriers To Getting Out Of Debt
Three emotions, not reasons, keep people from filing bankruptcy and getting out of debt. While not as sexy as the seven deadly sins, these emotions still keep my clients mired in debt long after logic says “quit”. Fear Stubbornness Pride These emotions keep people mired where they are. They block the road forward. Fear Fear of […]
Speak Fluent Bankruptcy: Guide To Essential Bankruptcy Terms
Bankruptcy has its own language. If you are considering filing bankruptcy, it helps to know the language spoken there. Master just a couple of words and phrases, and input from a bankruptcy lawyer starts to make sense. So, in our continuing campaign for better understanding of bankruptcy, here’s a dozen phrases from the language of […]
Avoid Paying Taxes On That 1099 Form, Legally
It’s tax time and the mails are full of IRS form 1099. If you managed a short sale of your property; suffered a foreclosure; filed bankruptcy; or settled your debt for less than you owed, you probably got a 1099. But that’s not the end of the tax story. Receipt of the form does not […]
When Can I File Bankruptcy Again
You can file bankruptcy tomorrow, so long as you don’t currently have a bankruptcy case pending. When you can get a discharge in that case is a different story. The Bankruptcy Code limits the frequency of getting a discharge, not the filing and completion of the bankruptcy case. My friend Gene Melchionne wrote a marvelous […]
California’s New Exemptions For Money In The Bank
California has finally created a state law exemption for cash in the bank. Californians filing bankruptcy no longer face loss of all the funds in their bank accounts when they choose California’s generous homestead, thanks to changes in exemption law. Two exemption statutes , new in 2020 , provide protection for cash in the bank […]
Stupid Moves Before Seeing A Bankruptcy Lawyer
Don’t tidy up your financial affairs before consulting a bankruptcy lawyer. Your current mess may present opportunities to plan your bankruptcy for a better outcome. You may waste money or lose bankruptcy options when you make last minute changes to your situation without understanding how that situation plays out in bankruptcy. You’ll have the widest set […]
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