The right of your bank to take your money when you aren’t looking stops at your credit card. Your bank may be entitled by common law to setoff what it owes you from what you owe it on the garden variety debt. But the federal Fair Credit Billing Act forbids a bank who has issued you a […]
Debt Actually Makes You Stupid
It’s easy to tell ourselves that getting into debt was stupid. Maybe, maybe not. Lots of debt happens without making bad decisions. Think of medical bills. Natural disasters. Divorce. But regardless of how you got in debt, there’s more bad news. Just being in debt makes you stupid. Stupid, as in, your IQ goes down […]
Who Cares About Your Spending Before Bankruptcy?
Worried about using credit cards before bankruptcy? Afraid of prejudicing your bankruptcy case by spending money before you file? Do you imagine some authority figure deciding that your financial behavior in the run-up to bankrupcy bars you from relief? Take a deep breath. That’s not how it works. Let’s look at what matters and what […]
It Takes More Than Bankruptcy To Save Your House
Protecting your house from foreclosure ranks high on the list of reasons people file Chapter 13. The automatic stay stops foreclosures; Chapter 13 gives you time to fix the problem. Powerful stuff. But the stay and more time, alone, aren’t enough to save the day if you run afoul of other rules, written and unwritten, […]
How to get copies of your bankruptcy papers
When you need to get copies of your bankruptcy papers, there’s a long line of people ready to rip you off. I mean, really rip you off. I’d list the companies prepared to overcharge you, but I don’t want to give them any more visibility than they already have. You may need to get bankruptcy […]
California’s Good Deed: Passing Real Property At Death
The horror stories about do-it-yourself estate planning are both plentiful and tragic. Between the fear of probate and the fear of legal fees, inventive people invent inexpensive strategies for passing property to the next generation. Adding someone to the deed is the most common one I see. It works like this: in order to see […]
Means Test Expense Form 122A-2
Get the form Here’s the link to the official form used by over-median income debtors to calculate the expense portion of the means test. Use this as a guide to the future expenses you expect to incur when assessing your eligibility for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Know that the calculation is not as straightforward as this […]
What Is The Bankruptcy Trustee Looking For
What’s the bankruptcy trustee looking for when you submit your bank statements before the 341 meeting? Let me tell you what the trustee isn’t looking for: trustees don’t care if you bought the premium brand of coffee; paid for your kid’s sports team; fixed broken appliances; went on vacation; or bought concert tickets. No part […]
When Bankrupting The Business Doesn’t Protect The Owner
“I want to file bankruptcy for my business, but I don’t need a personal bankruptcy”. I’ve had 2 such calls to my law office in just the last week. And in each case, bankrupting the business corporation will not solve the debt situation. Here’s why. The underlying problem is that the individual owner is personally […]
Why Bankruptcy Means Test Is Paper Tiger In Bay Area
Bankruptcy’s means test is a paper tiger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Really! You can see why few Bay Area residents are constrained by the means test when you compare the latest median income figures used in the means test with the allowed cost of rental housing here. To review: Congress in 2005 tried to write […]
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