Identity thieves are now posing as “helpful” folks from the IRS. These scammers email you with the disturbing news that your tax return has been flagged for further examination. Posing as representing the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, they offer help in “resolving” the problem, if you’ll just click a link and provide them information. They […]
Keep Your Tax Refund Despite Filing Bankruptcy
Usually, we’re touting pre bankruptcy planning: know what’s exempt, what debts will survive bankruptcy, and arrange your affairs to lose as little as possible to a bankruptcy trustee. There’s one bit of tax and bankruptcy planning that you can do after you file bankruptcy. That’s despite the fact that bankruptcy is generally a snapshot of […]
Why The Gap Between Judges & Attorneys Over Fees?
Very few bankruptcy judges ever represented average individuals in bankruptcy before they became judges. Fewer were sole practitioners,who must rely on the fees they earn and collect to stay in business. Those two factors seem to create the chasm between bench and bar over attorneys fees in consumer bankruptcy cases. This post starts from the […]
The Dr. Seuss Secret To Laws That Actually Work
The election is here. If you haven’t already, get out and vote. Put aside your excuses and your cynicism. Forget that democracy, at the detail level, hasn’t worked so well lately. In the big picture, voting, picking those who write the laws and those who administer them, is the essence of our freedom. Winston Churchill […]
Staying Out Of Bankruptcy Trustee’s Crosshairs
Clients who want the benefits of bankruptcy without any change in the way they want to live life have been the theme of my practice lately. This seems to come out when we do a Schedule J budget in a Chapter 13: they want $300/month in recreation, $1400 in food, and $300 in clothing. While […]
The DOJ War On Chapter 13 Debtors
What’s wrong with the picture when United States Trustee is offended by Chapter 13 success? I heard a distressing story about the war against debtors recently. It seems a high rate of successful Chapter 13 plan completions triggered multi-day audit of the trustee by the United States Trustee. The UST likes to remind us that it […]
Your Rights When Your Home Is Foreclosed
The foreclosure sale is over and the bank now owns the home. You’re now living in someone else’s property. What next? If you were the homeowner in California, here are your choices after the foreclosure: Your rights before the foreclosure sale
Foreclosure Looms But The Bank’s Numbers Don’t Add Up
The bank wants to foreclose on my client’s home. They claim he’s months behind. Only the numbers in their relief from stay papers filed in the bankruptcy don’t add up. The mortgage balance is one thing here, and other thing there. They file a declaration under penalty of perjury saying they have the note, followed within […]
Free Expert Help With Your Bay Area Home Loan Modification
Applying for a mortgage modification is equal parts torture and miracle drug. It can mean the difference between staying in your home and foreclosure. Yet it comes with more questions than answers. What’s the difference between HAMP and HARP? Do I want to appear broke or prosperous? Should I default before I apply? Critical questions, the […]
California Law on Cancelled Debt Mirrors Federal Law
I’ve always assumed that California law excluded from income debt forgiven in bankruptcy, just as federal tax law does. When a client asked me to confirm that the treatment was the same, I realized that this was one of those things I had just assumed. As a lawyer, I ought to know the danger […]
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