A prospective bankruptcy client often arrives in my office because a creditor is hot on their heels. They’ve been sued for debt and they are panicked about the consequences. Almost invariably, the client has leapt to two incorrect assumptions: the world as they know it is coming to an end; and they don’t have to do […]
Collection Suits and Court Dates
Those in financial difficulty are frequently not operating at their peak. I know that. But for the life of me, I can’t understand how the recipient of a summons and complaint from a California court can read the papers and absorb only that they have a “court date”. Arghhh! How California lawsuit works The basic […]
Why Even Rock Solid Marriages Need A Prenuptial Agreement
Pre nuptial agreements aren’t just for the rich or mid-life marriages. In California, pre nuptial agreements do far more than provide a blueprint for division of property at divorce. A prenup can earn its keep for decades in marriages where divorce never enters the picture. Why? It protects the assets of the marriage from outsiders. […]
Does Marriage Make Me Liable For My Spouse’s Debts
Countless times, a client announces that he won’t marry the love of his life until he’s fixed his debt problems. Noble thought, but unnecessary in California. Even though we have a community property system of marital property. His bride will not become liable for the debts he brings to the marriage. If the newlyweds elect to have community property, […]
What Are Your Rights In A California Foreclosure
The old saw about Oakland, California is that there is no “there” there. I suggest it’s the same about being “in foreclosure”: foreclosure is not a place, it’s a path. Nothing legally meaningful changes until you get to a foreclosure sale. Everything before that is prelude. Yet several Bay Area clients have asked whether they can remove personal […]
Do California Seniors Need to File Bankruptcy?
California, it turns out, is a great place to retire. Not because of the cost of living, certainly. In spite of the cost of living. Because California exemptions are very generous to those of retirement age. Those exemptions effectively make many indebted seniors collection-proof. How exemptions protect seniors Exemption laws come from the idea that, […]
Dates, Mates, and Debts In A Community Property State
Scoping out dates and mates by their credit scores at first seems far fetched and overblown. Not to mention it pretty much kills romance. CNN reported on credit scores and dating. My colleague Frank Pipitone took off on the idea. But there is a kernel of wisdom there that couples in California need to heed. […]
Creditor Must Pay If It Loses A Bankruptcy Fight
The game isn’t very fair when the players are mismatched. Though bankruptcy court is hardly a game, it’s been unfair when it comes to attorneys fees for the winning party. California law provides that when a contract allows one party their fees if they prevail, the other party got their fees if they won. So, […]
Your Home Loan May Be Excluded From Homeowner Bill of Rights
Homeowners whose loans were originally made by a federally chartered savings bank are excluded from protections of HBOR, a federal judge has ruled. Dual tracking is back on the rails California Homeowners Bill of Rights, enacted January, 2013, prohibited dual tracking of mortgages: that is, the lender could not simultaneously consider a loan modification and prosecute […]
6 Things You Need To Know About The California Homestead
Bill raising homestead amount and tying it to local home prices passed Legislature and was signed by governor September 18, 2020. California’s homestead exemption is the Super Hero of the exemption world. While other exemptions protect things worth a thousand dollars here and a couple of thousand there, the homestead protects big bucks. Starting January […]
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