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Title Isn’t Everything: Watch Out For The Assets In Your Spouse’s Name

By Cathy Moran

community property surprise

Your spouse’s assets can get swept up in your bankruptcy when you live in California. Because, most likely, just holding an asset in the name of one spouse doesn’t defeat the community property presumption. I saw it play out in a first meeting of creditors when the bankruptcy trustee asked about an asset. But it’s […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2016, California

Bankruptcy Alphabet: H is for House

By Cathy Moran

In my bankruptcy alphabet, H is for house. Can I keep my house if I file bankruptcy, anxious homeowners ask. In most cases, my answer is “yes”. Should you keep the house is another question. Houses are vulnerable in bankruptcy only if there is If the trustee can’t sell the property for enough money to […]

Filed Under: ABC's of bankruptcy, Real property & mortgages

SBA Loans Collectible Long Past Business Failure

By Cathy Moran

SBA collection

The SBA has eagle eyes and sharp talons when it comes to collecting from guarantors of business loans. SBA collection rights are ruthless, efficient, and ageless. So I learned when a client consulted me about a business that had failed 12 years ago. Yet the SBA had never sued him, nor had it filed a […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business Tagged With: 2020, business debt, SBA

Damaged Credit Heals More Rapidly Than You Think

By Cathy Moran

damaged credit

Will filing bankruptcy hurt my credit? Probably. [Keep reading, there’s more.] Should that hit to your credit keep from filing bankruptcy?  Not by a long shot. Incredibly, I encounter people drowning in debt who think their credit report is more important than their financial health. Their thinking seems to be that credit, once damaged, is never […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: credit heals, damaged credit

Two Strikes & You’re Out (Of Your Home)

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy stay

Three strikes and you’re out.  Anyone familiar with baseball knows that one. The rules are different in bankruptcy. Two strikes and you’re out. And for one couple, they’re not only out of bankruptcy, they’re out of their house. Foreclosed the day after they filed bankruptcy number three. Because, what they didn’t know is that there […]

Filed Under: Featured, True Stories Tagged With: 2017, do it yourself

Why You Don’t Want A Bankruptcy Attorney To Fight For You

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy lawyer

Everyone wants a good bankruptcy lawyer when they’re considering filing bankruptcy. So, how do you measure a good bankruptcy lawyer? We Fight For You! screamed the on-line headline for a bankruptcy law firm. That firm clearly thought willingness to fight was the measure. While I applaud the firm’s energy and commitment, I question their focus. […]

Filed Under: Featured, You & your lawyer

5 Essential Tips To Understand Your Mortgage Loan

By Cathy Moran

mortgage debt

Figuring out what your home loan balance is can be harder than a calculus exam. For most people, their mortgage is their biggest debt.  And their home is their most important asset. Yet, the people accounting for your payments are increasingly incapable of the very basics of their job.  And that makes your job, as […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2017

Bankruptcy Means Test: New Numbers, Little Impact For Bay Area

By Cathy Moran

means test numbers

The bankruptcy means test numbers for California are out, showing median incomes moving in both directions, depending on family size. In the Bay Area, the means test income levels, coupled with the cost of housing, don’t keep many people out of the bankruptcy chapter of their choice. More. Why the means test matters The median […]

Filed Under: Means test, Strictly California Tagged With: Alameda, means test, median income bay area, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

When You’re Behind On Your Car Loan

By Cathy Moran

car loan

Are you looking over your shoulder for the repo man every time you park your car? You’re not alone. Delinquent car loans are on the rise:  almost 1 in 20 vehicle loans are in default. If you’re in that group of Americans struggling to pay for your wheels, there are solutions in bankruptcy. If you […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2017, car loan

What Your Signature On Your Bankruptcy Papers Really Says

By Cathy Moran

Wish I had a buck for every time a client has told me, “Yes, I signed it, but I didn’t read it”. This is usually delivered as though the signature had no meaning if it wasn’t coupled with actual reading. Unfortunately, it isn’t so. Not true in commerce in general, and certainly not true when you […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: perjury, schedules

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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

How Much Is My Chapter 13 Payment

Intrigued by Chapter 13, but worried about how much your Chapter 13 payment might be? OK, let's walk through what your payment must be by law and what you want that payment to cover to get a fresh start. Part of the power of Chapter 13 is that you write the plan, with the help of your bankruptcy lawyer. Forget … Read more

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