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Ordinary Heroes Deliver Second Chances With Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy is heroic

Guest author Bob Schuman on the good that bankruptcy does. I’m a mortgage broker. In that role, I see close up the immense relief that a homeowner feels when they file Chapter 13. They are no longer forced to deal with collection calls and a multitude of letters that are aggressive and intimidating, threatening to […]

Filed Under: You & your lawyer Tagged With: 2019

Sign Your Corporation’s Name So You Aren’t On The Hook

By Cathy Moran

John Hancock knew how to sign his name- so large that King George could read it without his glasses. But could he sign for a corporation as effectively? Most small business folks who do business today as a corporation are clueless when it comes to signing contracts on behalf of their corporation. When they sign […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business

Silicon Valley Horror Story: The Business Credit Card That Bit

By Cathy Moran

business credit card

I’ve long said that there is no credit card for which a real, live human being isn’t liable. (That may be an exaggeration, but not by much.) And I’ve long worried about the prospects for success of business startups financed on credit cards. But I’ve never seen a departing employee of a start up stuck […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business, True Stories Tagged With: 2019, credit card

5 Small Business Mistakes That Thwart Success

By Cathy Moran

small business

In recognition of National Small Business Week, we look at what a bankruptcy lawyer knows about business. Everyone tells you what to do to succeed in business;  you also need to know what not to do if you don’t want to fail. Running your own business is the classic American dream.  It’s romantic and heroic. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business Tagged With: going out on your own, small business

How Guarantors Can Escape Tax On Soured Debt

By Bill Purdy

settlement tax

Tax lawyer Bill Purdy and I shared a client with a small interest in a failed corporation with a huge SBA loan.  Could our client escape the tax consequences should we be able to settle his  liability on a million dollars in unpaid loan.  Was the client looking at a million dollars of cancellation of […]

Filed Under: Small business, Taxes Tagged With: 2019, default, guarantor, tax consequences

Financial Literacy Building Block: Compound Interest

By Cathy Moran

financial literacy building blocks

    Albert Einstein said compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. Those who understand it, earn it.  He who doesn’t, pays it. In other word, it’s a double edged sword. Terrific if you’re earning it.  Debilitating if you’re paying it. And compound interest is a fundamental building block of personal financial literacy. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Student loans Tagged With: 2016

Does Marriage Make Me Liable For My Spouse’s Debts

By Cathy Moran

Liability of community property in California

Countless times, a client announces that he won’t marry the love of his life until he’s fixed his debt problems. Noble thought, but unnecessary in California.  Even though we have a community property system of marital property. His bride will not become liable for the debts he brings to the marriage. If the newlyweds elect to have community property, […]

Filed Under: Strictly California

Bankruptcy No Place For DIY

By Cathy Moran

The do- it- yourself spirit seems especially strong in bankruptcy courts these days. Only it often comes with a big price tag. Nearly 45% of the Central District CA Chapter 7 cases were filed by individuals doing it themselves.  The national rules committee drafted the new bankruptcy forms with the unrepresented in mind. Why do people […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, You & your lawyer Tagged With: do it yourself

The One Person You Must Tell About Your Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy tax

Most people who file bankruptcy don’t want anyone else to know. Some of my clients try to hide their break for financial freedom from friends and neighbors. Others are worried about their boss finding out. Occasionally, someone will try to keep it from their mate. But trying to hide his bankruptcy nearly cost one client […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes, True Stories

What Mythbusters Star Says About Money Troubles

By Cathy Moran

Look at the big picture. That was the point Adam Savage of the TV show Mythbusters made as the speaker at my son’s graduation as a mechanical engineer. He was talking about using engineering skills after college. But, it struck me as equally applicable  to my audience of the indebted as it was to his audience of newly fledged engineers. […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

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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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