You can file bankruptcy tomorrow, so long as you don’t currently have a bankruptcy case pending. When you can get a discharge in that case is a different story. The Bankruptcy Code limits the frequency of getting a discharge, not the filing and completion of the bankruptcy case. My friend Gene Melchionne wrote a marvelous […]
California Homestead Exemption: The Truth Isn’t What You Think
“They can’t take my house, whatever happens. Right?” The young man in my office “knew” how the California homestead works: he insisted that his home was exempt as a California homestead, even if he filed bankruptcy. He “knew” that credit card debt was dischargeable. And that “knowledge” lead to his conviction that , in bankruptcy, […]
Getting Excused From Bankruptcy’s Means Test
You can get a pass on the means test without claiming your dog ate your homework. If your debt is not “primarily consumer debt”, you don’t have to pass the means test to file bankruptcy. So, you need to total up the consumer debt you have and compare it to the rest of your debts. […]
Can You Spot The Signs Of A Collection Scam
It’s pretty scary when a $300 payday loan turns into an investigation by the Federal Crimes Bureau. Not only was the recipient of the collection letter below being “investigated for crimes”, his Social Security number would be suspended, and a court case initiated against him immediately. At great cost and embarrassment. Unless, of course, he sent the […]
$7000 Off The Price Of The Car In Chapter 13
How would you like to reduce your car payment, by lots? In a recent case, Chapter 13 allowed my client to save $7000 off the loan balance based on an examination of the car finance contract. You couldn’t see the issue from the monthly statement. When I got the finance agreement itself, I found the […]
Personal Assets Can Be At Risk For Your 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 […]
What Everyone Knows About Bankruptcy: Not
Lots of people profess to know all about bankruptcy. Whether they have good information or not. But other professionals should know better than to advise people about the workings of bankruptcy. And if they don’t know better, they should be made to pay, in some exquisitely painful way, for the harm they inflict. The rack […]
Bankruptcy Alternatives Cost More, Deliver Less
Bankruptcy alternatives often suck. The on-line story of one customer of a debt settlement company particularly sticks with me. Using the “services” of this company, the poster now has six judgments of record and two garnishments in process. The debt settlement company, however, has its full fee. One man I represented went to a debt […]
Which Bankruptcy Chapter Is Right For Me?
Seven or Thirteen? 13 or 7? When you have a choice, how do you decide which chapter of bankruptcy works best? Usually, the choice is driven by the scope of the discharge and the kind of debts you have. More kinds of debts are dischargeable in Chapter 13 and the automatic stay protects you for the […]
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