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Life And Death of Debt In California

By Cathy Moran

statute of limitations on debt

CPR has its place when human life is involved. Human life is precious. But when what’s dying is the legal right to collect a debt?   Not so fast. You don’t want to breathe new life into an old debt that is legally dead. Yet you can do that, unintentionally reviving a debt that is legally […]

Filed Under: Debt Collection Rights, Featured Tagged With: 2018

What If You Ignore That Lawsuit Against You

By Cathy Moran

ignore lawsuit

How do you ignore a lawsuit and expect a good outcome? Yet twice in the past few months, individuals have come to me with judgments already entered against them. That’s not noteworthy; after all, I’m a bankruptcy lawyer. We deal with unpaid judgments. But both of these men explained the situation this way: the claims […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2021, collection, judgment, lawsuit

What You Left Out Of Your Bankruptcy Schedules

By Cathy Moran Leave a Comment

bankruptcy schedules

One of the first questions a bankruptcy trustee will ask you at the hearing in your bankruptcy case is:  did you read the schedules before you signed them? The obvious, and expected, answer is YES. And if your answer is “yes”, then the trustee can conclude that you stand behind the information that the schedules […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: bankruptcy hearing, bankruptcy papers

Save The House Even AFTER The Foreclosure Sale

By Cathy Moran

after foreclosure

The fall of the hammer at the foreclosure sale threatened to leave my widowed client homeless and poorer by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead, we recovered her house from the foreclosure sale under new California law which delays the finality of the change of title. The prompt filing of a Chapter 13 brought the […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2023, California, chapter 13, foreclosure

How Long Does Bankruptcy Take?

By Cathy Moran Leave a Comment

Every client filing bankruptcy asks that question: how long will bankruptcy take? Probably, the real question is “when will this be over?” Like so many questions in the law, the answer is “it depends.” From filing bankruptcy to discharge In a Chapter 7, filing to discharge is about four months;  in Chapter 13 it’s three […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

Do I qualify for bankruptcy in the Bay Area?

By Cathy Moran

San Francisco Bay Area

The higher-than-average wages in the Bay Area don’t disqualify you from bankruptcy, despite rampant misinformation about the bankruptcy means test. The means test, added to bankruptcy law in 2005, was (poorly) designed to keep above-average earners out of bankruptcy. But it hasn’t worked in the Bay Area, largely because of the cost of housing here. […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, Alameda, Bay Area, means test, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

When You Can’t Pay The EIDL Loan

By Cathy Moran

EDIL loan due

The COVID-era EIDL loans are coming due. But just because the pandemic is over doesn’t mean that business has returned to normal. Prepandemic, normal may have been difficult too. If yours is one of the many businesses can’t bear the additional stress of repaying EIDL loans, here’s what you need to know. What are EIDL […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business Tagged With: 2023, COVID, EIDL, SBA

4 Compelling Reasons To File The Tax Return Even If You Can’t Pay

By Cathy Moran

Should you file the tax return if you can’t pay the tax? You got to the bottom of your tax return and the amount you owe is bigger than your checkbook balance. Nope.  It doesn’t work that way. The IRS does not start harassing nonpayers for money immediately after a return is filed.  Or even […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2016

How 13 Works To Save Your House From Foreclosure

By Cathy Moran

save house

Saving a house from foreclosure is the single reason most people file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy stops foreclosure- that’s a given. But then what? How can bankruptcy save the house from foreclosure,  rather than just putting off the inevitable loss? After all, the mortgage lender has a lien on the house, and liens aren’t discharged in bankruptcy. […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2017, chapter 13, foreclosure

Bankruptcy Discharge For One Spouse Yields Benefits For Non-filing Spouse

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy protection 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 […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2022, community property, discharge, filing alone, non-filing spouse

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Bankruptcy Basics

About The Soapbox

You’ve arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

What You Left Out Of Your Bankruptcy Schedules

One of the first questions a bankruptcy trustee will ask you at the hearing in your bankruptcy case is:  did you read the schedules before you signed them? The obvious, and expected, answer is YES. And if your answer is "yes", then the trustee can conclude that you stand behind the information that the … Read more

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