We have a lien on your name. Not your property, your name. That’s what the county tax collector told my client, years after he got his bankruptcy discharge. And that multi-thousand dollar lien claim threatened to sink the refinance of his house. Eventually, we got the county straightened out without going back to bankruptcy court. […]
Can You Rescue Your Business With Chapter 13
Small business owners who are sole proprietors can enlist the power of bankruptcy’s Chapter 13 to rescue their business at a price they can afford. Everyone thinks of Chapter 11 as the “keep the business and ditch the debt” form of bankruptcy. But traditional Chapter 11 is cumbersome and just flat out too expensive for […]
Top Ten New Bankruptcy Soapbox Posts of 2021
Every year, I count up the new posts on Bankruptcy Soapbox, and see how my readership ranked them. Now, if posts could talk, some might complain that they first saw the light of day in December 2021: it’s not fair to compare their audience with the posts from January. But, as JFK said: life isn’t […]
Closing Up Shop
What can you do when it becomes obvious that your business should close? The hardest part of being in business is recognizing when the business has no future and needs to close. Yet the overwhelming majority of new businesses fail within 5 years. So you’re not alone. In fact, in the face of the pandemic, […]
3 Things That Prevent You From Getting Out Of Debt
It’s not a bad economy, poor budgeting skills, or credit card interest that keep you from getting out of debt. It’s emotions, not reasons, keep people from filing bankruptcy and starting fresh. Even if Reason says that you’ll never pay your debts off in the usual way. Reason also says that paying old debt steals […]
Hold Or Fold? How To Decide If Filing Bankruptcy Is Right For You
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em; know when to walk away, know when to run… So goes the gambler’s advice to the young card player in the hit Kenny Rogers song. Hum along as we think about how we play our cards when we’re in debt: the hardest call is […]
Family Lawyer’s Cheat Sheet to Bankruptcy
Here, in a nutshell, are bankruptcy basics for family lawyers. This isn’t everything you need to know to navigate a dissolution where one spouse files bankruptcy, or when marital debts suggest both spouses should file. It’s a start to a complex issue. You can get the basic introduction to concepts and terms operative in bankruptcy […]
SBA Loans Collectible Long Past Business Failure
The SBA has eagle eyes and sharp talons when it comes to collecting from guarantors of business loans. SBA collection tools are ruthless, efficient, and ageless. So I learned when a client consulted me about a business that had failed 12 years ago. Yet the SBA had never sued him, nor had it filed a […]
Bankruptcy Is Not Your Last Resort
Every personal finance guru intones that “bankruptcy is the last resort.” In my opinion, they have it wrong: bankruptcy is the big gun in getting out of a financial mess. But it shouldn’t be the last thing you try to get financially healthy. You shouldn’t mess around with lesser solutions if they don’t fit. Some […]
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