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When Debt Collectors Won’t Stop, Despite Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

Get a collection notice after you’ve filed bankruptcy and after you’ve gotten a discharge, and it’s easy to be distressed. You’ve taken the hard step to get a fresh start, and it appears not to have worked. It’s easy to assume that the collector has a right to its money.  Easy, too, to assume their […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Is Not Your Last Resort

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy choice

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 […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Featured Tagged With: 2017

Which Creditors Should You Really Fear?

By Cathy Moran

scary creditors

A debt collector’s threat to sue you usually produces terror. You’re scared about losing your wages, or your bank accounts.  Scared about being served with process at work. The threat of a lawsuit often triggers the first call to my law office. Some collector has said he will take 25% of your wages, or will serve […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Pay Off Credit Cards At Zero Percent

By Cathy Moran

I’ve got news for you: There’s a government program that lets you pay the balance on your credit card without interest and owe nothing more. Sound like one of those snarky radio ads? This one’s legit. Meet Chapter 13. Credit card interest is the killer Here’s the refrain I hear from clients, over and over. I […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Consumer Rights

Incorporating A Troubled Business: Work-around Or Worse?

By Cathy Moran

business bankruptcy

Facets on a gem bend light and change how we see things. The same thing happens when bankruptcy law encounters a small business owner and the business itself. Seen from one angle of the law, the business is a valuable asset. Seen from another, it is nothing more than a job for the owner, having […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business

Bail Yourself Out Of Payroll Tax Trouble

By Cathy Moran

Business owners with unpaid payroll taxes are in deep trouble. Even if the employer is a corporation, the corporation’s managers are personally liable for the trust fund portion of unpaid payroll taxes. There’s no corporate shield when it comes to payroll taxes. You are in the IRS’s cross hairs, personally, if the business hands out “net” checks […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business, Taxes Tagged With: 2016

When Your STBX Files Bankruptcy: An Action Plan

By Cathy Moran

stbx bankruptcy

Whether the news comes by phone or mail, the notice that your soon-to-be-ex spouse has filed bankruptcy can bring fear and confusion. You need some facts and a plan, now. So let’s look at how bankruptcy affects a non filing spouse and how to chart a course through a STBX bankruptcy case. Child support safe […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Family Law Tagged With: divorce, family law

Find The Right Cure for Your Debt Problems

By Cathy Moran

get out of debt

Get-out-of- debt advice and sales pitches abound. Like this one. But too few get-out-of-debt gurus tell you that you need a diagnosis of your financial ills before prescribing the cure. Is the stomach ache indigestion or appendicitis? Is it temporary upset or a life threatening money pit? The answer makes a big difference in how […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2019, get out of debt

Ten Debts That Follow You After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

debts after bankruptcy

Some debts just follow you out of bankruptcy. Not many but a few. These debts continue to be collectible even after a Chapter 7 discharge.  The discharge in Chapter 13 is different and broader:  just another reason to choose Chapter 13. 1.   Family support Regardless of what it’s called, court ordered payments for support […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: 2017, debts after bankruptcy

Doing The Means Test Yourself

By Cathy Moran

Posts on internet bankruptcy boards feature individuals who have “filled out the means test” and then proceed to announce their conclusions. Given the uncertainties in the legal community about how to apply the means test, I can’t imagine a non lawyer learning anything reliable from trying to do this themselves.  As a certified bankruptcy specialist, I […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

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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 on how I think law should work for the consumer and small businesses when it comes to debt.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

High Income Earners Pass Bankruptcy’s Means Test

ALERT:   Being above the median income on the means test is not an automatic bar to filing bankruptcy I'm so used to railing against deliberate campaigns of misinformation about bankruptcy that I forget that there's a lot of innocent ignorance out there. Start with "qualifying" for bankruptcy. A very … Read more

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