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Search Results for: do you need to file bankruptcy

Make Sure Your Mortgage Is Current At Bankruptcy’s End

By Cathy Moran

mortgage maze

What do you really owe on your home mortgage when you get to the end of your Chapter 13 case? For years, homeowners couldn’t tell where they were or how to get answers. But with the recent changes to bankruptcy rules, you don’t have to wonder where you stand with your mortgage lender. Starting December […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2016, chapter 13 mortgage

The Kind of Person Who Files Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

who files bankruptcy

You’d think the person who files bankruptcy is some alien fraudster, to listen to my clients. This is last place I ever expected to be, says the client sitting in my bankruptcy office.  I hear that probably twice a week. Or, the client assures me:  I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t pay their […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

What’s Your Retirement Theme Song?

By Cathy Moran

tax time

Why does tax season put me in mind of September Song ? Oh, the days dwindle down, to a precious few…. A precious few days to make your contribution to tax advantaged retirement accounts. Or, do you tap your foot to a different song:  Do You Believe in Magic?  Do you expect that finances in your old […]

Filed Under: Featured

Find The Hidden Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction In Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

MORTAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION

Is your Chapter 13 plan  paying back mortgage payments that were delinquent when you filed bankruptcy? If so, a mortgage interest tax deduction lurks, unclaimed, in the trustee’s records. Track down that tax deduction, add it to your tax return, and you reduce your federal income tax burden. But it’s difficult because, for reasons I […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2017, tax deductions

The Difference Between Good Bankruptcy Lawyer and Great Bankruptcy Lawyer

By Cathy Moran

Finding the right bankruptcy lawyer may be the difference between a successful bankruptcy and a nightmare. Choosing a lawyer you can talk to is critical because the basic bankruptcy bargain is full disclosure in exchange for discharge of debts. You’ll be disclosing lots of information normally held confidential. But there’s more. It’s not just a […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, You & your lawyer

Pay Off Credit Cards Without Interest: Bankruptcy For The Solvent

By Cathy Moran

chapter 13 rescue

Once again, Chapter 13 rescued a client. He’ll get out of debt and pay off credit cards with no interest going forward. So many people tell me they could pay off the credit card balance if it wasn’t for the high interest. This client owned a home, had a job, and was solvent on paper, but […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Consumer Rights, True Stories Tagged With: 2016, homestead

Going To Court In Your Bankruptcy Case

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy hearing

Every bankruptcy debtor must go to court in their bankruptcy case. It’s usually the first and only time that your personal appearance is required. And these days, your “personal appearance” is by Zoom. What’s the point of going to court The first meeting of creditors has two basic purposes: to have the debtor validate the […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 341, first meeting, testifying

When Can I File Bankruptcy Again

By Cathy Moran

filing bankruptcy again

Remember the old high school cheer:  two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Turns out, that’s not just a cheer, it’s shorthand for the rule on when you can file bankruptcy again. And it points out that when you can file again depends on what kind of bankruptcy you filed last time. Here’s how […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2019, discharge, eligibility, file again

Getting Excused From Bankruptcy’s Means Test

By Cathy Moran

You can skip the bankruptcy 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. Don’t miss […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works, Means test, True Stories

All You Need To Know About Bankruptcy Stay & Pending Litigation

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy during litigation

When a trial date looms, bankruptcy may look better and better to a defendant. Bankruptcy can be the emergency exit from a bad situation that is about to get worse. That’s because every bankruptcy case comes with an  automatic stay .  That’s  a federal court injunction automatically entered when a bankruptcy case is filed, protecting the […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: automatic stay, lawsuit

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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

Cheat Sheet For Passing Bankruptcy Means Test

The bankruptcy means test has a fatal weakness in its attempt to keep people out of bankruptcy. Like so much recently, it's health care. It's health care, in the future, to be paid before your creditors get any money in your bankruptcy. It works because, in a logic that only Congress could employ, the means … Read more

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