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Time Running Out On Dynamite Business Reorganization Opportunity

By Cathy Moran

tax refund 2018

In less than a month, the nifty new small business bankruptcy option that makes Chapter 11 feasible for the little guy reverts to its far smaller debt limits. Still great, but available to fewer troubled businesses. SBRA is a new subset of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Also called a Subchapter V case, it’s designed […]

Filed Under: Small business Tagged With: 2021, reorganization, SBRA

Personal Assets Can Be At Risk For Your Business Debts

By Cathy Moran

business debts

Business debt can bleed over into an entrepreneur’s personal assets.  Hearing me say that, my client was dumbfounded. He was aghast that the generous equity in the home he and his wife owned was at risk when his corporate business folded. That was not because the shareholder is liable for the corporation’s debts.  A properly […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business, True Stories Tagged With: 2017

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

The Easiest Business Loan In Town

By Cathy Moran

Easy loans have consequences

Running a small business is hard work.   Cash flow is tight; time is in short supply. When there’s just not enough in the bank to cover payroll, the easiest loan in town is from the Bank of Uncle Sam. There’s no application, no review, no waiting. You just give employees their checks, net of […]

Filed Under: Small business, Strictly California

Who Owns Your Business When You File Bankruptcy?

By Cathy Moran

business bankruptcy

The bankruptcy trustee’s question was straightforward (if inartful) yet the business owner nearly blew the answer. The trustee asked:  are you the sole owner of your business? When my client hesitated, she followed up:  are you a sole proprietor? Focusing on the fact that he was the only person with an interest in the business, […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business, True Stories Tagged With: 2018

Myth Of The Corporate Credit Card

By Cathy Moran

business credit card

As far as myths go, the myth of the business credit card ranks right up there with  unicorns, Big Foot, and leprechauns . Every struggling small business owner who crosses the threshold of my office believes that his corporate credit card is not a personal debt. Wrong. In 41 years of bankruptcy practice, I have never seen […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business Tagged With: 2017

Incorporating Your Business Has Surprise Benefit

By Cathy Moran

incorporation protects

Incorporate to protect yourself from the debts of your  business, shriek the ads. That’s the theory of incorporation for business:  create a separate legal entity in the form of the corporation. Let that entity incur debt and expose itself to other risks.  If it fails, the personal holdings of the owners of the corporation are […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business

What Small Business Needs From Government

By Cathy Moran

business challenges

  This post was first published 10 years ago, in the midst of the Great Recession.  I continue to think about the real challenges of running a small business and the balance needed between simplicity for the business owner and protections for the public.  More below. Senator McCain this morning on Meet the Press reprised […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business

Sign Your Corporation’s Name So You Aren’t On The Hook

By Cathy Moran

John Hancock knew how to sign his name- so large that King George could read it without his glasses. But could he sign for a corporation as effectively? Most small business folks who do business today as a corporation are clueless when it comes to signing contracts on behalf of their corporation. When they sign […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business

Silicon Valley Horror Story: The Business Credit Card That Bit

By Cathy Moran

business credit card

I’ve long said that there is no credit card for which a real, live human being isn’t liable. (That may be an exaggeration, but not by much.) And I’ve long worried about the prospects for success of business startups financed on credit cards. But I’ve never seen a departing employee of a start up stuck […]

Filed Under: Featured, Small business, True Stories Tagged With: 2019, credit card

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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

What Happens To Your Bank Account in Chapter 13

Those considering filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy worry about "what happens to my bank account?" Will the trustee take all the money? How do I pay my living expenses after I file? The short answer is: nothing changes. The account remains yours and available for all the expenses of day to day living. Because, … Read more

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