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How Much Should You Pay To Get Out Of Debt?

By Cathy Moran

Shop for a bankruptcy lawyer, and you’ll end up wondering what bankruptcy should cost. When you’re flat broke and under pressure, cheaper sure looks better. If a lawyer will do your Chapter 7 for $1500, what’s the point of paying $2000? Or even $2500? Like answers to many legal questions, it depends. Bankruptcy relief depends on […]

Filed Under: Before You File, You & your lawyer Tagged With: price of bankruptcy lawyer, what bankruptcy costs

Bankruptcy Filing Requires More Than Honesty

By Cathy Moran

get bankruptcy discharge

The discharge of debts you can’t pay is the goal of a bankruptcy filing. That discharge wipes out debts, making them forever unenforceable. Yet, it isn’t a slam-dunk that your bankruptcy case ends in discharge. The Bankruptcy Code lists 12 situations in which a debtor doesn’t get a discharge. Which is why my colleague Jay […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Rising From The Ashes Of Financial Disaster

By Cathy Moran

phoenix rising from ashes

Life doesn’t end with bankruptcy. Bankruptcy doesn’t mean that the good times are all in the past. There’s the  future, too. Both the individual and society reap benefits from bankruptcy in ways that you may have missed. So, in my view, Jay Fleichman’s analysis of the bankruptcy of Halsey Minor, the founder of CNET and once […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy

What Happens To Liens In Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

liens in bankruptcy

Liens in bankruptcy have an uncertain fate. While most liens survive a bankruptcy discharge, some liens get wiped out. Think of mortgages, tax liens, and judgment liens. Each of them is a lien, but some get different treatment in bankruptcy. Some liens can even be reduced or eliminated . Lien basics A lien gives the […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2018

Who To Pay When There’s Not Enough Money To Go Around

By Cathy Moran

collection calls

If you can’t pay your bills, the squeaky wheel should NOT get the oil… At least, not until you’ve assessed all the other demands for oil. That’s a quaint way of saying that your decisions about which of your creditors to pay when you can’t pay your bills should not be based on who is […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: who to pay

Make Sure Your Mortgage Is Current At Bankruptcy’s End

By Cathy Moran

mortgage maze

What do you really owe on your home mortgage when you get to the end of your Chapter 13 case? For years, homeowners couldn’t tell where they were or how to get answers. But with the recent changes to bankruptcy rules, you don’t have to wonder where you stand with your mortgage lender. Starting December […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2016, chapter 13 mortgage

What Everyone Knows About Bankruptcy: Not

By Cathy Moran

torture device

Lots of people profess to know all about bankruptcy. Whether they have good information or not. But other professionals should know better than to advise people about the workings of bankruptcy. And if they don’t know better, they should be made to pay, in some exquisitely painful way, for the harm they inflict with bad […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, True Stories Tagged With: living expenses, means test

The New Rules Of Asset Protection

By Cathy Moran

I coined a new rule about asset protection schemes after meeting with a bankruptcy prospect: If the asset protection plan is too complicated for the owner to explain, it probably won’t stand up to challenge. This man had paid an attorney a fistful of money to create LLC’s and limited partnerships, each of which held fractional […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, True Stories

When Is Individual Business Owner Liable for California Sales Tax

By Cathy Moran

California sales tax

Even when corporate retailers collect California sales taxes from customers, the individuals running the entity face liability for that debt. That’s because, , if the business doesn’t pay, state law allows collection from the business owners themselves The rules are complicated and the results can be harsh if the business falls behind. So business people […]

Filed Under: Small business, Strictly California, Taxes

New California Homestead In Action

By Cathy Moran

california homestead

The California homestead increase effective January, 2021brought the homestead closer into line with the cost of a home in the Golden State. It’s a change for the better. But how will the change impact the balance of homestead law? Time, or further legislation, will tell. The newly enacted version of California Code of Civil Procedure […]

Filed Under: Strictly California

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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

Inclusion in Bankruptcy Doesn’t Equal “Discharged”

Convincing clients that all of their debts must be included in bankruptcy is one of the hardest parts of being a bankruptcy lawyer. The struggle often seems Herculean. Sometimes, they will tell me they don't want to include their car loan in the case because they "need the car". Sometimes I find the … Read more

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