Welcome to the California Bar, Sergio Garcia. Brought to this country as a teen by his father, Garcia is still waiting after 10 years for his green card. Meanwhile, he graduated from university and law school, and passed California’s notoriously difficult bar exam. But it was unclear whether an undocumented person was eligible for […]
Live Help To Keep Your Bay Area Home
Homeowners in trouble with their Bank of America mortgages can get live, face-to-face help this week in San Jose. The event is aimed at preventing foreclosure. July 16-18 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Parkside Hall, 180 Park St., San Jose, bank personnel will work with homeowners on their mortgage options. An appointment is […]
California Exemptions Increase April 1
Today, April 1, and apparently not a moment before, the Judicial Council has released the new California exemptions reflecting the cost of living adjustments. EJ-156 sets out both the dollar amounts of the California bankruptcy exemptions found in Code of Civil Procedure 703.140 and those CCP 704 subsections where the dollar amounts were increased. Bankruptcy exemptions […]
New venture for new bankruptcy lawyers
I’ve launched a new web site, www.bankruptcymastery.com, dedicated to being a resource for lawyers new to the practice of consumer bankruptcy law. I envision it as being a tool to learn, systematically, those things beyond the Code that are necessary to be an effective bankruptcy lawyer. I’ve been mentoring an increasing group of local young […]
Mortgage modification as subsidy by taxpayers
The bankruptcy mortgage modification provision, headed to the Senate this week, is a bargain to taxpayers next to the “voluntary” mortgage modification programs instituted by the administration. HR 1106 involves no taxpayer money; it strips the special interest provision sheltering banks from home loan modification. The costs of changing the mortgage so that the debtor […]
Mortgage Modification and Moral Hazard
The NBC Sunday morning new shows were again talking about moral hazard as applied to efforts to stem the tide of foreclosures. This concept looks at the message we send when we rescue a homeowner who took out a bad loan and give nothing to the prudent homeowner who didn’t take an exploding ARM loan. […]
IRS warns of credit counseling fraud
The IRS’s list of its annual “Dirty Dozen” tax frauds includes credit counseling. Credit Counseling Agencies. Taxpayers should be careful with credit counseling organizations that claim they can fix credit ratings, push debt payment plans or impose high set-up fees or monthly service charges that may add to existing debt. The IRS Tax Exempt and […]
