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Bankruptcy Filing Requires More Than Honesty

By Cathy Moran

get bankruptcy discharge

The discharge of debts you can’t pay is the goal of a bankruptcy filing. That discharge wipes out debts, making them forever unenforceable. Yet, it isn’t a slam-dunk that your bankruptcy case ends in discharge. The Bankruptcy Code lists 12 situations in which a debtor doesn’t get a discharge. Which is why my colleague Jay […]

Filed Under: Featured

Real world values for assets critical in bankruptcy world

By Cathy Moran

asset value

Valuing your assets when filing out your bankruptcy schedules can be challenging. After all, what is a closetful of clothes or a garage full of tools worth? You are tempted to ask: why does it matter? Asset value matters in several different contexts in a bankruptcy case. Using the wrong measure of value or over-estimating […]

Filed Under: Featured

Your Right To Credit Reporting After Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

credit report after bankruptcy

You’ve finished your Chapter 13 and emerged from bankruptcy with your home loan current. But your credit report is a blank page as to your mortgage. The mortgage servicer isn’t reporting your payments to the credit reporting agencies [CRA’s].   Nothing. Nada.  Crickets. So, even though you’re making regular payments, you’re not visibly rebuilding your credit. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Life after bankruptcy Tagged With: 2017, credit reporting

Dumbest Thing For Those In Debt

By Cathy Moran

dealing with debt

The headline was compelling:  The 5 Dumbest Things You Can Do If You Have Too Much Debt. I even liked the site’s name:  How Life Works.  That’s a tagline I’d like to use. I could make my own list of dumb ways to tackle debt, but better if someone else had already done it. Until […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured

Hold Or Fold? How To Decide If Filing Bankruptcy Is Right For You

By Cathy Moran

considering bankruptcy

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 […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured Tagged With: bankruptcy and poker, hold or fold

Is There Life After Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

frequently asked questions

Is bankruptcy worth it? If you see filing bankruptcy to get a fresh start as painful or less than honorable, you might wonder what life is like, on the other side of bankruptcy. What’s the return on taking the big step? I got a report from the other side this week from a Chapter 7 […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured, Life after bankruptcy, True Stories

What’s Your Retirement Theme Song?

By Cathy Moran

tax time

Why does tax season put me in mind of September Song ? Oh, the days dwindle down, to a precious few…. A precious few days to make your contribution to tax advantaged retirement accounts. Or, do you tap your foot to a different song:  Do You Believe in Magic?  Do you expect that finances in your old […]

Filed Under: Featured, Managing Money

Find The Hidden Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction In Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

MORTAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION

Is your Chapter 13 plan  paying back mortgage payments that were delinquent when you filed bankruptcy? If so, a mortgage interest tax deduction lurks, unclaimed, in the trustee’s records. Track down that tax deduction, add it to your tax return, and you reduce your federal income tax burden. But it’s difficult because, for reasons I […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2017, tax deductions

How Much Should You Pay To Get Out Of Debt?

By Cathy Moran

Shop for a bankruptcy lawyer, and you’ll end up wondering what bankruptcy should cost. When you’re flat broke and under pressure, cheaper sure looks better. If a lawyer will do your Chapter 7 for $600, what’s the point of paying $1000? Or even $2000? Like answers to many legal questions, it depends. Bankruptcy relief depends on […]

Filed Under: Featured, You & your lawyer

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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

The Biggest Lie About Bankruptcy

Read anything about Chapter 7 and you get, "Your possessions are sold in Chapter 7 bankruptcy." That is, flat out, the biggest lie about bankruptcy. It's a liquidation proceeding and your stuff will be sold to pay creditors, the lie goes on. No wonder people are scared off from getting relief from debts they … Read more

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