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Free Bankruptcy Advice: Consider The Source

By Cathy Moran

Who gets their legal advice from their adversary? My client did. Get your legal advice from your adversary, your brother in law, or the internet and be prepared to get a surprise.  Often, not a pleasant surprise. My client insisted that his tenant’s debt to him survived the tenant’s bankruptcy “because it was listed on Schedule […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, True Stories

Old Tax Liability Discharged In Bankruptcy, If….

By Cathy Moran

Discharging tax debt in bankruptcy gets lots of families out of a horrible hole. Tax debt can be large and swelled beyond the tax by interest and penalties.   Collection on old tax debt often compromises the ability to stay current on more recent years. Bankruptcy can save their bacon because taxes found on returns […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes, True Stories

The Foreclosure That Was Longer Than War & Peace

By Cathy Moran

foreclosure timeline

Foreclosure is coming.  Whether by choice or circumstances, you know the bank will take the house. Should you start packing immediately? The way banks are currently operating, the answer is:  not yet, not soon, not for a long time. For one of my clients, the answer to how long was well more than 735 days.  And they did […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages, True Stories Tagged With: 2015

Pay Off Credit Cards Without Interest And Be Debt Free

By Cathy Moran

The  sixtyish client sitting in my office had assets worth 10 times his credit card debt. What could bankruptcy possibly do for someone who was solvent? His problem was liquidity and an income that was certain to decline in the next few years. His generous disability income would end at 65, leaving him with only […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works, True Stories

How One Family Settled Huge Debt For Pennies

By Cathy Moran

debt settlement

When he started the Chapter 13 trek, he owed $370,000 in personal loans and credit cards. As he completes his plan, he will have settled that debt for three cents on the dollar. No tax is due on the forgiven debt and no listed creditor can legally come back to try to collect the difference. […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Featured, True Stories Tagged With: 2018

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

The One Person You Must Tell About Your Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy tax

Most people who file bankruptcy don’t want anyone else to know. Some of my clients try to hide their break for financial freedom from friends and neighbors. Others are worried about their boss finding out. Occasionally, someone will try to keep it from their mate. But trying to hide his bankruptcy nearly cost one client […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes, True Stories

The Flat Wrong 1099

By Cathy Moran

When her soon-to-be-ex filed bankruptcy, my client got a 1099-C for the joint credit card. The form claimed that the debt was cancelled. Therefore, she had additional income equal to the card balance. Only, none of the statements on the 1099 were true. The debt wasn’t discharged as to the non filing spouse.  One spouse’s […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes, True Stories

Divorce And The Ticking Debt Bomb

By Cathy Moran

Debts of the marriage often outlive the marriage itself. And, those left-over debts are nothing but trouble. But too often, divorcing couples don’t mop up the joint debts they held during the marriage, only to have the situation blows up years later when one ex-spouse hits financial trouble. Here’s a true story that illustrates the danger. […]

Filed Under: Family Law, How bankruptcy works, True Stories

Worthless Mortgage Liens Keep Homeowner At Risk

By Cathy Moran

mortgage after bankruptcy

The client originally had his choice of bankruptcy chapters. He could file Chapter 7, get quick relief, and put “everything” behind him. Or his could file Chapter 13, propose a plan that would strip the mortgage lien and pay the taxes that wouldn’t be discharged in Chapter 7. He chose 7, and briskly got a […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages, True Stories

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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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