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Who Profits When Money Trouble Is Shameful?

By Cathy Moran

money troubles taboo

Talking about our financial troubles is taboo in this society. In fact, we are more willing to talk about our sex lives than our money troubles. We lionize those who make a fortune.  Everyone expects to live the middle class life. It becomes easy to think that something is wrong with you if you aren’t […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights Tagged With: debt settlement

Epedemic of DIY Chapter 13s to Stop Foreclosures End in Trajedy

By Cathy Moran

Warning: virulent outbreak of do-it-yourself bankruptcies all around. Symptoms:  panic over prospect of foreclosure Supposed remedy:  file your own skeleton Chapter 13 bankruptcy to stop foreclosure Prognosis: enjoy the stay for about 2 weeks, followed by foreclosure relapse Homeowners facing foreclosure Three different would-be clients called in a 10 day period this month, to stop […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2019, automatic stay, foreclosure

How To Write A Contract Without A Lawyer & Make It Stick

By Cathy Moran

writing your own contract

Even in a world where people attempt almost any skilled task with the help of Google, YouTube, or Legal Zoom,  people continue to ask: is this contract legal? They aren’t asking (usually) whether the subject matter of the contract is permitted by law. They really want to know: will what I’ve written be enforceable. What makes it […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business Tagged With: draft contract

Don’t Trust Anything Your Lender Says On The Phone

By Cathy Moran

mortgage servicer

Don’t trust the loan servicer for a moment, was my advice to the client who was trying to track payments he’d made on his home mortgage . The mortgage industry has created an inhabited accounting swamp around your home;  the lender’s representative lives in that swamp. Don’t turn your back on a carnivorous predator. I’m […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2019, foreclosure

Reduce Your Tax Hit By Filing Bankruptcy Rather Than Settling Debts

By Cathy Moran

tax bite

Settle your debts outside of bankruptcy and you may be bitten by taxes you didn’t expect years later. Yet, everyone I talk to would rather cut a deal with their creditors than file bankruptcy.  It’s universal. But here’s the killer reason why bankruptcy alone protects homeowners from a unexpected  tax consequence down the road. Debt […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Taxes Tagged With: 2018, cancellation of debt tax

The Causes of Bankruptcy Aren’t What You Think

By Cathy Moran

why file bankruptcy

The columnist who equated debt problems with irresponsibility nearly caused me to melt down, right in my law office. Irresponsibility, he said! The idea that people who find themselves with bills they can’t pay got in that mess through flighty behavior  or self absorption is sooooo wrong. The real causes of bankruptcy Mindless spending is […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2018

Chapter 13 Keeps You In Control

By Cathy Moran

steering your financial course

You can’t decide between bankruptcy chapters until you really understand how Chapter 13 works to keep you in control.   Control of your assets, control of your payment plan, control of who gets paid. You want to be at the helm of your case.  Chapter 13 can do that. Chapter 13 protects more than assets Chapter […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2016

The Risks Of Filing Bankruptcy For Your Corporation

By Cathy Moran

risk of business bankruptcy

When your incorporated business fails,  the instinctive reaction is to file bankruptcy for the corporation. But a corporate bankruptcy comes with risk to the shareholders. I know you incorporated to separate yourself as the owner from the risks of the business.  As a separate legal “person”, the corporation is distinct from the individuals who own […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

California Stimulus Checks Available Only When You File Your Tax Return

By Cathy Moran

California stimulus check

Are you eligible for a California stimulus check? This state program provides cash payments to low and moderate income individuals, regardless of immigration status. But the stimulus checks are tied to filing a tax return. No tax return, no California stimulus check. Mind you, this Golden State Stimulus is in addition to the federal stimulus […]

Filed Under: Strictly California Tagged With: 2021, California stimulus, relief check

Credit Scores Trend Upward After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

After bankruptcy, credit scores go steadily up, says a 17 year study released by  the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Got that?  Go UP.  Every year. Importantly,  credit scores start improving the same year that the bankruptcy is filed. Think on that for a moment. Creditors and their shills shout that bankruptcy trashes your credit score;  […]

Filed Under: Featured, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: 2019, credit scores

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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

Cheat Sheet For Passing Bankruptcy Means Test

The bankruptcy means test has a fatal weakness in its attempt to keep people out of bankruptcy. Like so much recently, it's health care. It's health care, in the future, to be paid before your creditors get any money in your bankruptcy. It works because, in a logic that only Congress could employ, the means … Read more

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