| Image | Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| “How do I know when to file bankruptcy” was David Leibowitz’s topic on the Bankruptcy … | ||
 | “Hold Harmless” Survives “To Have and To Hold” | Divorce usually requires the division of the debts of the marriage along with the assets. … |
 | $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, … |
 | 10 Best Bankruptcy & Money Posts Of 2015 | Jumping the gun on year end by a bit, I’ve gathered up the 10 most-read … |
 | 10 Best Bankruptcy Soap Box Posts Of 2015 | How do I measure which Soapbox posts from 2015 are my favorites? It’s like asking … |
 | 10 Must-Know Things About Money Judgments | What does it mean when a money judgment is entered against you in a lawsuit? … |
 | 10 Reasons Why Bankruptcy May Be Your Best Investment | There are compelling reasons to file bankruptcy and invest in a better future. Spend money … |
 | 10 Things Every Attorney Should Know About Bankruptcy | Financial stress is everywhere. It pops up in family law, litigation, business, and our dealings … |
 | 10 Things Personal Finance Bloggers Need To Get Right About Bankruptcy | Too many personal finance bloggers need to sharpen their game when it comes to bankruptcy. … |
 | 10 Things Tax Professionals Need To Know About Bankruptcy | As tax season approaches, tax pros need a basic understanding of bankruptcy to serve clients … |
 | 10 Tips To Help You Keep Your House | When financial trouble rears its head, keeping the house becomes a number one priority. Whether … |
 | 10 Top Tricks Of The Lending Industry | The tricks lenders use to sell you a bad loan are limited only by the … |
 | 20 Years Of Bankruptcy In Brief | Twenty years ago this month, Soapbox’s parent website, Bankruptcy In Brief, went live with four … |
 | 2019 Reader Favorites From Bankruptcy Soapbox | It’s always fun to see which posts spoke to readers of Bankruptcy Soapbox during the … |
 | 3 Real Reasons Chapter 13 Plans Fail | Two out of three confirmed Chapter 13 cases fail. Those are cases that met … |
 | 3 Things That Prevent You From Getting Out Of Debt | It’s not a bad economy, poor budgeting skills, or credit card interest that keep you … |
 | 3 Things Turn Off This Bankruptcy Lawyer | Looking to find a bankruptcy lawyer. Then you need to know what makes a good … |
 | 4 Compelling Reasons To File The Tax Return Even If You Can’t Pay | Should you file the tax return if you can’t pay the tax? You got to … |
 | 4 Easy Tips To Prepare For Bankruptcy And Beyond | Ready for life after bankruptcy? Even before your case is filed, you can start preparing … |
 | 4 Keys To Chapter 13 Success | How do I make a Chapter 13 plan that succeeds? That’s important because a successful … |
 | 4 Rules For Testifying At Your Bankruptcy Hearing | Going to court for your first meeting of creditors? What are they going to ask … |
 | 5 Essential Tips To Understand Your Mortgage Loan | Figuring out what your home loan balance is can be harder than a calculus exam. … |
 | 5 Free Tools To Fight A Debt Collector | When a debt collector calls, the conversation often seems all too one-sided. The collector makes … |
 | 5 Lies About Bankruptcy That Enrich Creditors | If the truth will make you (debt) free, your creditors are motivated to lie about … |
 | 5 Small Business Mistakes That Thwart Success | In recognition of National Small Business Week, we look at what a bankruptcy lawyer knows … |
 | 5 Things To Do When You Have Been Sued | The ring on the doorbell was a process server. Bingo! You’ve been sued. Now what? … |
 | 6 Things You Need To Know About The California Homestead | California’s homestead exemption is the Super Hero of the exemption world. While other exemptions protect … |
 | 7 Essentials For Better Results From Filing Bankruptcy | Plan before filing bankruptcy and you get better, more certain relief. Even if you’re not … |
 | 7 Keys To Keeping Your House: Chapter 13 After You File | You filed filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep your house and stop the foreclosure. You’ve … |
 | 7 Principles of California Community Property | Baffled by California community property? Think it makes you personally liable for the debts of … |
 | Acing Bankruptcy’s Means Test For Those Over Median Income | Your future living expenses may be the key to passing the bankruptcy means test. Those … |
| After the loan modification: the underwater house | Two trends in the housing crisis are intersecting in my practice: we’re seeing more loan … | |
 | All I Want For Christmas Is A New Year And A Fresh Start | The best gift you can give yourself for Christmas may be a fresh financial start … |
 | All Star Soapbox Posts For 2017 – The Readers’ Favorites | We’re half way through the year here on the Bankruptcy Soapbox. Let’s take an All … |
 | All You Need To Know About Bankruptcy Stay & Pending Litigation | When a trial date looms, bankruptcy may look better and better to a defendant. Bankruptcy … |
 | Annual IRA Contribution: Use It Or Lose It | Tax day approaches. With it comes the IRA contribution deadline. You expect to live for … |
 | Another voice in the savings chorus | I am not alone! A Wisconsin judge allowed Chapter 7 debtors to contribute to retirement … |
 | Are You Better Off With Bankruptcy? | Who cares whether bankruptcy filings are up or down? Bankruptcy professionals, certainly. Economists, probably. But … |
 | Are You Liable For Your Spouse’s Debts In California? | “Everyone knows” that California’s community property law makes you liable for spouse’s debts. Only, “everyone” … |
 | Are You Stuck With The Lawyer Who Filed Your Bankruptcy Case? | Your bankruptcy case is filed. It’s not going as smoothly as you expected. In fact, … |
 | Asset Protection For Free | Before you sign up with the guy in the ad, explore free asset protection, courtesy … |
| At Risk Of Arrest For Not Paying Your Debts? | This fake arrest warrant is wrong in so many ways. Repeat after me: we don’t … | |
 | At Risk of Repossession? How To Keep The Car & Pay Less | If you are one of the 7 million Americans late on your car payments and … |
 | Audited? Did You Tell The State Tax Authorities? | We’re all about sharing these days, aren’t we? So, did you share with the state … |
 | Automatic Stay Has Exceptions: It Doesn’t Stop Everything | The automatic stay is the signature feature of American bankruptcy, but the stay has important … |
 | Avoid Paying Taxes On That 1099 Form, Legally | It’s tax time and the mails are full of IRS form 1099. If you managed … |
| Bail Yourself Out Of Payroll Tax Trouble | Business owners with unpaid payroll taxes are in deep trouble. Even if the employer is a … | |
| Bank Account Safe From Credit Card Debt | Your bank can’t take your money in an account to pay their credit card. That’s … | |
 | Bank Has No Remedy After Foreclosure | Facing foreclosure is bad enough; worrying about your exposure afterwards is worse. Breathe deeply. California … |
| Banking lobby ignores current mortgage law | Spokesmen for the banking lobby expect the world to stop spinning if bankruptcy judges gain … | |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: A Is For Assume | In my bankruptcy alphabet, “A” is for Assume. People assume all kinds of things about bankruptcy, most of … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: B Is For Business | Business is my bankruptcy “B’ word. Business debt of the individual filing bankruptcy is dischargeable just … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: D is for Discharge | “D” is for discharge in my bankruptcy alphabet. Getting a discharge of debts is the … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: F is for First | In my Bankruptcy Alphabet, F is for First meeting of creditors. Lots of rumors exist … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: H is for House | In my bankruptcy alphabet, H is for house. Can I keep my house if I … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: L is for Life | In my bankruptcy alphabet, L is for the Life you can get back when you … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: M Is For Modify | M is for Modify in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. The Bankruptcy Code provides that a borrower … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: N Is For Nondischargeable | The letter N, in my Bankruptcy Alphabet, stands for Nondischargeable. These are the debts … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: P is for Priority | Priority is the P word in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Priority is the order in which … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: Q is for Questions | The letter Q stands for Questions in my bankruptcy alphabet. Like the storied Light Brigade, … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: S is for Strip | S is for Strip in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Bankruptcy lawyers delight in stripping liens from … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: T is for Tension | In my bankruptcy alphabet, T stands for Tension. I’m not talking so much about the … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: U Is For Unsecured | U stands for Unsecured debt in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Unsecured describes a bankruptcy … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: W is for Wait | W is for Wait in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. As in “Wait! Wait! Don’t file yet.” Timing … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: X is for oeX | I had to stretch, I admit, for X in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. An OEX under … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: Y is for Yoke | Y, in my Bankruptcy Alphabet, stands for Yoke. Debt is a yoke around the … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: Z is for Zillion | In my bankruptcy alphabet, Z is for zillion. Zillion is a real word but a … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: C is for Counseling | Counseling, delivered by an approved provider, before the bankruptcy case is filed, is required. Fail … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: E is for Exemptions | E stands for exemptions in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Exemptions describe the possessions you get to … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: G is for Guaranty | G is for guaranty in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. A guaranty is just as much a … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: I Is For IRS | “I” stands for IRS in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Bankruptcy law treats the IRS little … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: J For Justify | J stands for Justify in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Or rather, it stands for “no need … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: K Is For Keep | The letter K is for the stuff you keep through bankruptcy. The cartoon image of … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: O Is For Omitted | O stands for Omitted in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Whether it’s creditors or assets that are … |
 | Bankruptcy Alphabet: R is for Retirement | In my bankruptcy alphabet, R stands for Retirement. Retirement plans and IRA’s are safe in … |
 | Bankruptcy Alternatives Cost More, Deliver Less | Everyone wants a solution to their debt problems without bankruptcy. But the truth is, bankruptcy … |
 | Bankruptcy and “Ruining your credit score” | No matter how precarious their financial situation, almost every client I meet thinks bankruptcy will … |
 | Bankruptcy And Divorce Collide: The Threatened Filing | My soon-to-be ex threatens to file a bankruptcy tomorrow and get me kicked out of … |
| Bankruptcy as opportunity | My friend bankruptcy attorney Doug Jacobs tackles client guilt about filing bankruptcy by getting the … | |
 | Bankruptcy Busts Taxes If The Timing Is Right | Got unpaid taxes for 2019? Three tax discharge timing rules control when those taxes can … |
 | Bankruptcy Can Rewrite The Divorce Property Division | The assets were divided in the divorce. The divorce was over. The house would go … |
 | Bankruptcy Changes Your Life, Only Not The Way You Think | How will filing bankruptcy change my life? My clients ask all the time. They imagine … |
 | Bankruptcy Debtors Entitled To Monthly Mortgage Statements | Servicers must now send monthly mortgage statements to borrowers in bankruptcy under a new CFPB … |
 | Bankruptcy Discharge For One Spouse Yields Benefits For Non-filing Spouse | Spouses don’t have to file bankruptcy together. Often there are strategic reasons for only one … |
 | Bankruptcy Discharge Slays IRS Form 1099 | In a duel between a tax Form 1099 and a bankruptcy discharge, bankruptcy wins every … |
 | Bankruptcy Discharge vs. Dismissal | Dismissed and discharged. In a bankruptcy case, these two terms are at the opposite ends … |
 | Bankruptcy Disclosure: Don’t Let Orange Be The New Black | How will anyone know? That’s the question clients ask about assets that they don’t want … |
 | Bankruptcy Drives Credit Score Surprise | Bankruptcy improved my client’s credit score, almost on the spot. Before bankruptcy, a miserable credit … |
| Bankruptcy Exemption Bill Changes More Than Dollar Amounts | An odd quirk in California’s bankruptcy exemptions was eliminated when the exclusion for pain and … | |
 | Bankruptcy Filing Requires More Than Honesty | The discharge of debts you can’t pay is the goal of a bankruptcy filing. That … |
 | Bankruptcy Is Not Your Last Resort | Every personal finance guru intones that “bankruptcy is the last resort.” In my opinion, they … |
 | Bankruptcy Isn’t The Real Threat To Your Retirement Savings | Your creditors can’t get your retirement savings. In bankruptcy or not, your creditors can’t take … |
 | Bankruptcy Judge – Umpire In A Robe? | The most powerful tool for debtors fixing things is the bankruptcy judge. My friend bankruptcy … |
 | Bankruptcy Judge: The Phantom In Your Case | Will the judge approve my bankruptcy case? Do I have to explain to the judge … |
| Bankruptcy lawyer must have otherworldly powers | A colleague’s rant about murky language of notices from the bankruptcy court struck a cord. … | |
 | Bankruptcy Means Test: New Numbers, Little Impact For Bay Area | The bankruptcy means test numbers for California are out, showing median incomes moving in both … |
 | Bankruptcy No Place For DIY | The do- it- yourself spirit seems especially strong in bankruptcy courts these days. Only it … |
 | Bankruptcy Questions Have Few Quick Answers | The caller to my law office kept telling my assistant: I just want to ask Cathy … |
 | Bankruptcy Schedules Are More Than Just Paperwork | Bankruptcy paperwork can make you feel like you are drowning in paper. There’s your paper; … |
| Bankruptcy Without A Discharge: Why Chapter 20 Works | What does a Chapter 13 bankruptcy get you if it doesn’t get you a discharge? … | |
| Banks have already lost on bad loans | A Credit Slips post on HR 1106, the mortgage modification bill, . lamented that “people … | |
| Banks Worsen Foreclosure Crisis | Business Week has a great (or sad) story detailing the reactions of the banking industry … | |
| Bay Area Loan Modification Scam Busted | People are desperate to save their homes; scammers are pleased to part them from their … | |
 | Be Prepared When You File Bankruptcy Without Your Spouse | The bankruptcy trustee’s question to the debtor was jarring: “why didn’t your spouse file bankruptcy … |
 | Before You List Your Home For Sale: The Essential First Task | Selling your home? A letter to the servicer of your mortgage. You want full … |
 | Best Bankruptcy Advice of The Year | Readers of Bankruptcy Soapbox vote for their favorite bits of bankruptcy and money advice … |
 | Best New Bankruptcy Insights Of 2019 | As we wave goodbye to 2019, we asked what issues grabbed you in 2019? Or, … |
 | Best Of 2014 On Bankruptcy Soapbox | Here are the ten posts that most intrigued readers of Bankruptcy Soapbox in 2014. Some … |
 | Best Of 2017: Reader Favorites On Bankruptcy Soapbox | I tallied up reader favorites from the 2017 posts on Bankruptcy Soapbox. The balloting is … |
 | Better Credit After Bankruptcy: Does Reaffirming A Car Loan Help? | Does reaffirming a car loan after bankruptcy help rebuild your credit? Rebuilding credit is the … |
 | Better To Live With Debts Than File Bankruptcy? | Locked up in debt? What are the consequences of bankruptcy? Or, is it better to … |
 | Big Ocwen Payout To Victimized Homeowners | Ocwen’s mortgage servicing failings will cost it big bucks. The Attorneys General of the states … |
 | Bills I Gotta Pay, But There’s A Pandemic Out There | I have bills I have to pay but no income. That despairing line was repeated … |
| Borrowers Beat Wells Fargo In Trial Modification Case | The mortgage modification process has long felt like a match between David and Goliath. Homeowners … | |
 | Bouncing Back From Bankruptcy | How long does it take to recover from bankruptcy? I started to answer the client’s … |
 | Bouncing Back From Bankruptcy: The To-Do List | Recovering from bankruptcy isn’t hard. You’ve hurdled the debt chasm and finished your bankruptcy case. … |
 | Business Bankruptcy Depends On Who You Are | While knowing who you are may be central to philosophy and mental health, you wouldn’t … |
 | California Anti Deficiency Laws Trump Short Sale Agreement | A California homeowner who negotiated a short sale of her home that left her personally … |
 | California Bankruptcy Law Is All Our Own | California Bankruptcy law is a lot like a unicorn….appealing but imaginary. Instead, we have bankruptcy … |
 | California Community Property Creates A Marital Threesome | Sounds kinky, doesn’t it? Three players in a marriage. Sharing. Everything. Only this is something … |
 | California Consumers Have Powerful Debt Collection Rights | California outdoes the rest of the country in its debt collection rights for consumers. Debt … |
 | California Courts Provide On Line Help | Individuals with matters before the state courts of California have an updated resource in the … |
 | California drivers score huge bankruptcy win | California law, effective January 1, 2023, will assure those who file bankruptcy that they can … |
 | California Exemptions Increase for 2025 | New 2025 California exemption amounts becomes effective April 1, 2025. And it’s no joke. The … |
 | California Extends Protection For Home Loan Borrowers | One of the home refinance pitfalls for Californians bit the dust. Starting January, 2013, antideficiency … |
| California Garnishment Now Provides Greater Protection Of Wages | Workers making close to the California minimum wage got additional protection from wage garnishments under … | |
 | California Gets New Homestead | The California Legislature enacted a dramatic increase to the state’s homestead law at the very … |
 | 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” … |
 | California Homestead Grows With Inflation: Calculating The Homestead Increase | Calculating California’s homestead reveals the homestead in 2022 is now capped at $626,400. That’s even … |
 | California Homestead Works In Other States, Too | California homestead law drives bankruptcy exemptions even for those who no longer live in California. … |
 | California Law on Cancelled Debt Mirrors Federal Law | I’ve always assumed that California law excluded from income debt forgiven in bankruptcy, just … |
 | California Only Middling In Protecting Families From Debt Collectors | When it comes to protecting working families from debt collectors, California gets a B, according … |
 | California Pulls The Plug On Debt Buyers | Up until now, old debts lived on, until the person who owed the debt pulled … |
 | California Renter Protections From Eviction: How To Qualify | California bans evictions for non payment triggered by the COVID-19 shut-down under Gov. Newsom’s executive … |
| California Restores Mortgage Debt Relief for 2013 | California taxpayers who lost their home to foreclosure or a short sale in 2013 got … | |
 | California Stimulus Checks Available Only When You File Your Tax Return | Are you eligible for a California stimulus check? This state program provides cash payments to … |
 | California’s Good Deed: Passing Real Property At Death | The horror stories about do-it-yourself estate planning are both plentiful and tragic. Between the fear … |
 | California’s New Exemptions For Money In The Bank | California has finally created a state law exemption for cash in the bank. Californians filing … |
 | Californians Can Now Keep Their Cars After Bankruptcy Without Reaffirmation | New California law, effective January 1, 2023, eliminates the need for bankruptcy debtors to reaffirm … |
 | Can A Trust Protect You In Bankruptcy? | Can a living trust protect your assets in bankruptcy? Or, anywhere else? According to the … |
 | Can Debt Discharged In Bankruptcy Come Back To Haunt You? | Can debt bankruptcy in bankruptcy come back to haunt me? Worried clients ask me this … |
| Can You Afford The Cost of Retiring Here In California? | Care to guess what it will cost a retired couple in San Mateo County to … | |
 | Can You Be Arrested For Not Paying Your Debts? | Despite the story spread all over about federal marshals arresting a man for an unpaid … |
 | Can You Be Sued After The Foreclosure | Foreclosure is traumatic enought without worrying whether lenders can sue you after foreclosure. Breathe deeply. … |
 | Can You Get A Car Loan After Bankruptcy? | Wheels are essential for most of us to get to work. And whatever you’re driving … |
 | Can You Rescue Your Business With Chapter 13 | Small business owners who are sole proprietors can enlist the power of bankruptcy’s Chapter 13 … |
 | 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 … |
 | Can Your Creditor Get A Lien On You? | Can “they” put a lien on me? If you have debts you can’t pay, that’s … |
| Cancel card and enjoy convenience? | American Express is offering a cash reward for card holders who cancel their accounts. This … | |
 | Car Crazy In Bankruptcy Court | My client wants to keep paying on his car after bankruptcy. The lender wants my … |
 | Cash collateral in consumer cases | What’s cash collateral, and why should you care? You care because there’s a whole set … |
| Changing view of when to file bankruptcy | The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lanning and the application of the infamous “means test” … | |
 | Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Disrupted by Coronavirus | Has your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case been turned upside down by coronavirus? You are not … |
 | Chapter 13 debt limits double for couples | Each debtor in a Chapter 13 was entitled to debts within the debt ceilings for … |
 | Chapter 13 Discharges HOA Debt | Condo fees that come due after a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed are discharged at … |
 | Chapter 13 Dismissed After All Payments Are Made: Self Inflicted Wounds | There’s been a rash of bullet-ridden feet lately in Chapter 13 cases. Debtors seem to … |
 | Chapter 13 Fixes Tax Trouble | Tax troubles become manageable in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. 13 offers powerful alternatives to fighting with … |
 | Chapter 13 Keeps You In Control | You can’t decide between bankruptcy chapters until you really understand how Chapter 13 works to … |
 | Chapter 13 To The Rescue In Ruinous Business Lawsuit | Twice in the last six months, Chapter 13 bankruptcy has saved clients facing catastrophic lawsuits … |
| Chapter 13 trustees, money, and goodwill | Date line: July, 2008 I’ve spent the last three days at the annual meeting of … | |
 | Chapter 13: Know Who Gets Paid First Under Your Plan | Who gets paid in Chapter 13, and in what order, makes a huge different when … |
 | Cheapskate’s Guide To Asset Protection | We’ve been looking for ways to protect our possessions since the beginning of time. The … |
 | Cheat Sheet For Passing Bankruptcy Means Test | The bankruptcy means test has a fatal weakness in its attempt to keep people out … |
 | Claim Tax Deductions Lurking In Your Chapter 13 | Tax deductions may be hiding in your Chapter 13. Did you file for an extension … |
 | Client “wants to think” before getting good bankruptcy information | The caller with a pending foreclosure sale called and canceled an initial consultation with me … |
 | Closing Up Shop | What can you do when it becomes obvious that your business should close? The hardest … |
 | Co Signers Put Themselves In Creditor’s Crosshairs | The liability of a co signer is the single most common misunderstanding about the law … |
 | Collection Law Suits in California | A prospective bankruptcy client often arrives in my office they’ve been sued for debt and they … |
 | Collection Suits and Court Dates | Those in financial difficulty are frequently not operating at their peak. I know that. But … |
 | Collections Is A Boogie Man For Businesses Too | “Being sent to collections” is a boogie man for businesses as well as for individuals, … |
| Congratulations To Sergio Garcia, New California Lawyer | Welcome to the California Bar, Sergio Garcia. Brought to this country as a teen … | |
 | Consider The Clawback of Pre-bankruptcy Transfers Before Filing | If you don’t understand clawback in bankruptcy, you might think that bankruptcy involves only what … |
 | Considering Going Out Of Business? | When the virus shutdown is over, ailing businesses must consider whether to continue. |
| Costs of Incarcerated Kid Dischargeable in Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy “reform” a decade ago expanded protections for those owed family support. Any debt “in … | |
| Countrywide admits to faking interest in modifications | Defending a lawsuit claiming it engaged in fraud and misrepresentation when it strung borrowers along … | |
| Couple Beats Big Banks Who Ignored Bankruptcy Discharge | A couple of banks found out that it’s expensive to ignore the bankruptcy discharge. For … | |
| Credit card “overspending” parallels housing crisis | Forbes has compiled a list of cities where credit card spending is highest. My scan … | |
| Credit card for emergencies | Can I keep a credit card out of my bankruptcy for future emergencies, clients routinely … | |
| Credit counseling, well understood, is just another bankruptcy hoop | While there are an endless number of misconceptions about filing bankruptcy, the one I’ve encountered … | |
 | Credit Reporting Agency Is All Wrong About Bankruptcy | Found a mistake in your credit report after bankruptcy? Happens all too frequently. But a … |
 | Credit Scores Trend Upward After Bankruptcy | After bankruptcy, credit scores go steadily up, says a 17 year study released by the … |
 | Creditor Must Pay If It Loses A Bankruptcy Fight | The game isn’t very fair when the players are mismatched. Though bankruptcy court is … |
 | Cut Tax Liens Down to Size | Tax liens are no match for Chapter 13 when it comes to cutting the lien … |
 | Cut Tax Penalties In Bankruptcy | Get in tax trouble and the tax penalties often grow huge. What starts as a … |
 | Cutting The Car Loan Down To Size | Bankruptcy can strip down what you’re paying on your car loan to just the bare … |
 | Damaged Credit Heals | Will filing bankruptcy hurt my credit? Probably. [Keep reading, there’s more.] Should that hit to … |
 | Danger In Delaying Division of Property In CA Divorce | Delay dividing property in your California divorce and a bankruptcy filing may cost you any … |
 | Dates, Mates, and Debts In A Community Property State | Scoping out dates and mates by their credit scores at first seems far fetched and … |
 | Dead Debts Haunt Home Purchase | Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. It’s also the price of freedom from old … |
 | Deal With Your Taxes After Bankruptcy | When you’ve still got taxes after bankruptcy, things can get complicated. That’s because some taxes … |
 | Debt Actually Makes You Stupid | It’s easy to tell ourselves that getting into debt was stupid. Maybe, maybe not. Lots … |
 | Debt Buyer Gets Less Than It Bargained For | No way, said the court. A debt buyer who sued a foreclosed borrower, not for … |
| Debt Buyers Barred From California Courts | Zombie debt may have met its match. California law now bars the door to the … | |
 | Debt Can Kill You If You Let It | Debt is deadly. There is a straight-line connection between debt and health: the stress of … |
 | Debt Collection Breakthrough Protection | The new rule defines attempts to collect a time-barred debt a false or deceptive practice, … |
 | Debt Collector Threats: Which Ones Are Real? | “What debt collector threats should people be afraid of?” was the question my friend bankruptcy … |
 | Debt Collectors Distort Law On Debts Of Spouses | Debt collectors claim you are personally liable for your spouse’s, debts. Or even for your … |
 | Debt Is Nothing To Shrug Off | When this site was young, U.S. Armed Services disclosed that a significant number of service … |
 | Debt Settlement Is A Dud | Debt settlement is often dangled in front of the financially challenged as an alternative to … |
| Debt settlement: how it really works | Debt settlement companies thrive on tapping the consumer’s genuine desire to pay back their debts. … | |
| Debtor Bites Collector Over Stale Debt | The collection law firm had to pay, not the debtor, when they sued a disabled … | |
| Debts not passed on when one passes on | The survivors of someone who dies are not personally responsible for the decedent’s debts. Yet … | |
 | Debts To The Government: Can They Be Wiped Out | It’s easy to assume that debts owed to the federal government can’t be discharged in … |
 | Debts You Can’t Wipe Out In Bankruptcy | Three kinds of debt survive bankruptcy discharge, because they are unlike the other sixteen non … |
 | Depressed Property Values & Valueless Liens | Filing bankruptcy to eliminate an underwater lien is perfectly acceptable, says the 9th Circuit Bankruptcy … |
 | Did You Tell The Whole Truth In Your Bankruptcy Papers? | You must “tell the truth” on your bankruptcy paperwork, bankruptcy advice sites intone. Most of … |
 | Disarm The Debt Collector: Understanding The Weapons of Debt Collection | You can stop a debt collector cold, wherever you live, using federal law. It doesn’t … |
 | Discharge Taxes in Bankruptcy: Move Beyond the Myth | Myths about discharging taxes in bankruptcy are as common as myths about fire-breathing dragons. Central … |
| Discharged Debts Don’t Bar Chapter 20 Lien Strip | Underwater liens that linger after an earlier bankruptcy don’t count in Chapter 13. At least, they … | |
 | Dividing Debts At Divorce: What You Need To Know | The division of the debts of a failed marriage, however carefully crafted at divorce, can … |
 | Divorce And The Ticking Debt Bomb | Debts of the marriage often outlive the marriage itself. And, those left-over debts are nothing … |
 | Do California Seniors Need to File Bankruptcy? | California, it turns out, is a great place to retire. Not because of the cost … |
 | Do I Have To File Bankruptcy Before There’s A Judgment? | Can I discharge a judgment once it’s entered, was the first question the caller asked. … |
 | Do I qualify for bankruptcy in the Bay Area? | The higher-than-average wages in the Bay Area don’t disqualify you from bankruptcy, despite rampant misinformation … |
 | Do It Yourself Bankruptcy Software Is A Trap | Good intentions and a good education are apparently not enough for Upsolve to get the … |
 | Do You Get The Bankruptcy Grubstake Exemption? | The word grubstake never appears in the Bankruptcy Code or the California Code of Civil … |
 | Do You Need To Reaffirm Your Home Loan After Bankruptcy? | Banks, most especially Wells Fargo, seem to relish denying refinance applications for debtors who didn’t … |
 | Do You Qualify for Chapter 13: The Debt Limits | Chapter 13 debt limits are one of the eligibility requirements to file for this form … |
 | Does Bankruptcy Bar Retirement Savings? | Ongoing retirement saving by Chapter 13 debtors has been a touchy subject since the means … |
| Does Filing Bankruptcy Ruin My Credit For 7 Years | Will filing bankruptcy ruin my credit for seven years? I heard this again from a … | |
 | Does Foreclosure Forever Keep Me From Homeownership | If I lose this house, will I ever be able to buy a house again? … |
 | 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 … |
 | Does My Bankruptcy Lawyer Need To Be From My City? | If you’re inclined pull up a map application to find a bankruptcy lawyer, I gotta … |
 | Does THIS Violate My Bankruptcy Discharge? | When creditors contact you after your bankruptcy, you need to know what actions violate the … |
 | Does Your Corporation Really Protect You From Debt: A Checklist | Business people usually incorporate their business to create a barrier between themselves and the debts … |
 | Doing The Means Test Yourself | Posts on internet bankruptcy boards feature individuals who have “filled out the means test” and … |
 | Don’t Brag About What You Saved Unless It’s True | It’s a mark of our consumer economy that we use the word save in connection … |
 | Don’t Fall For Your Mortgage Lender’s Insurance | The mortgage lender’s property insurance does not leave you in good hands. No matter how … |
 | Don’t Get Fleeced At The Car Dealership: Tips On Buying A Car | Getting fleeced at the car dealership is all too common. The ways to get taken, … |
 | Don’t Let The IRS File A Return For You | Bankruptcy works lots of magic with tax debt, but the magic fizzles out when … |
 | Don’t Let Your Bank Pick Your Pocket | The right of your bank to take your money when you aren’t looking stops at your credit … |
 | Don’t Tidy Up Before Seeing A Bankruptcy Lawyer | Don’t tidy up your financial affairs before consulting a bankruptcy lawyer to plan for bankruptcy. … |
 | Don’t Trust Anything Your Lender Says On The Phone | Don’t trust the loan servicer for a moment, was my advice to the client who … |
 | Donald Trumpets: I Didn’t File Bankruptcy | As much as it pains me to say, Donald Trump was doubly right about filing … |
 | Double Dipping On Retirement Savings | Any time you can double your retirement savings and protect your money from creditors is … |
 | Drive-in bankruptcy? | We got a call about three o’clock the other afternoon from someone who wanted to … |
 | Dumbest Thing For Those In Debt | The headline was compelling: The 5 Dumbest Things You Can Do If You Have Too … |
| DYI Bankruptcy Did Him In | For a layman filing a bankruptcy without a lawyer, he didn’t do too badly. He … | |
| Earthquake In California Law Of Community Property And Title | The ground has shifted under California real property law. The change looms as large as a … | |
 | Easy Ways To Avoid HOA Fees After Bankruptcy | After a bankruptcy discharge, your ongoing liability to your home owners association lives on. … |
| Ending the debit card gotcha | Banks and credit unions collected nearly $24 billion last year in overdraft fees, the majority … | |
 | Epedemic of DIY Chapter 13s to Stop Foreclosures End in Trajedy | Warning: virulent outbreak of do-it-yourself bankruptcies all around. Symptoms: panic over prospect of foreclosure Supposed … |
 | Essential Tasks After Bankruptcy To Maximize Your Fresh Start | Got your bankruptcy discharge recently? The end of the bankruptcy case is the start … |
 | Even The Rich & Famous File Bankruptcy | ESPN tweeted the names of some 60 professional athletes who have filed bankruptcy and asked … |
 | Everyone gets the $1M + bankruptcy exemption | Bankruptcy exemptions vary from state to state, but everyone gets an exemption of ~$1.75 M … |
 | Explaining The Increase In Monthly Mortgage Payments On Long Established Loans | Why has my mortgage payment increased so much? That’s the question I’m getting from lots … |
 | Facing Foreclosure, You Need A Plan B | Bankruptcy stops foreclosures, with certainty. It’s the surefire defense to a scheduled foreclosure sale. Then … |
 | Facing Foreclosure? Your Kids Can Cope | I talk with clients about walking away from underwater houses day after day. * Yet … |
| Falling rents make walking away cheaper | Those who elect to let their house go to foreclosure will find renting cheaper even … | |
 | Family Lawyer’s Cheat Sheet to Bankruptcy | Here, in a nutshell, are bankruptcy basics for family lawyers. This isn’t everything you need … |
| Fear keeps folks from bankruptcy relief | Fear of bankruptcy is both common and necessary. Those who aren’t living the American dream … |
 | Fear of Bankruptcy Misplaced | Fear follows debt, like a shadow follows you. People in debt are afraid of the … |
 | Feds Offer Deferral Option For Home Mortgage Payments | Homeowners with federally backed mortgage loans got a lifeline for payments skipped under COVID 19 … |
 | File Bankruptcy All Alone: No Spouse Required | We’re so used to thinking about married folk as a couple, rather than as two … |
 | File bankruptcy tomorrow? | Clients clearly have little sense of how long it takes to file bankruptcy. Proof is … |
| File Your Tax Return Or Get An Extension? | Filing a tax return does not focus a spotlight on you. Really. I regularly see … | |
 | Filing Bankruptcy Is All About Your Future | The decision to file bankruptcy is usually driven by threats from creditors to take something from … |
| Financial education program worthwhile | Stand by: I’m going to say something nice about BAPCPA, the bankruptcy “reform” law of … | |
 | Financial Fundamentals: Credit v. Debit | Just because it’s plastic, doesn’t mean it’s a credit card. Yet when I ask my … |
 | Financial Lessons From Furloughed Federal Workers | The plight of workers going without pay because of the government shut down looms over … |
| Financial Literacy Building Block: Compound Interest | Albert Einstein said compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. Those … |
| Financial products sold to the unsophisticated | Quick: how is a small Tennessee town like a California family facing foreclosure? The New … | |
 | Find The Best Bankruptcy Information Online | Need to understand bankruptcy? Just Google it. No issue is too important or complicated that … |
 | Find The Hidden Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction In Bankruptcy | Is your Chapter 13 plan paying back mortgage payments that were delinquent when you filed … |
 | Find The Lost Tax Deduction When Lender Misreports Mortgage Interest Paid | How can you pay thousands of dollars in mortgage payments in a year, and get a … |
 | Find The Right Cure for Your Debt Problems | Get-out-of-debt advice and sales pitches abound. But too few get-out-of-debt gurus tell you that you … |
 | Five Tax Tips For Two Cents | The tax filing deadline approaches. So why is a bankruptcy lawyer talking about taxes? I’ve … |
 | Five Ways To Bankruptcy Proof Your Divorce | No matter how prejudicial or unfair, a Chapter 13 discharge will relieve a former spouse of obligations … |
 | Foreclosure And The Tax That Follows: What You Must Know | The homeowner did the right thing: faced with the threat of foreclosure, he called his … |
 | Foreclosure Looms But The Bank’s Numbers Don’t Add Up | The bank wants to foreclose on my client’s home. They claim he’s months behind. Only … |
| Foreclosure the day after tomorrow | The email said: ” We saw you two months ago about bankruptcy. The foreclosure is … | |
 | Foreclosure: The Unseen Hazards | It’s not the foreclosing creditor that really threaten California homeowners. It’s the forces that follow … |
 | Forgiveness Starts At Home | The need for forgiveness in bankruptcy extends beyond forgiving debts. Self-care requires that you forgive … |
 | Four Essential Habits For Successful Entreprenuership | Starting out in business for yourself? Congratulations. Small business, and businesses that were once small, form … |
 | Free Bankruptcy Advice: 5 Reasons Why I’m Not Free | There’s no free bankruptcy advice in my office. Unlike many, we charge for that initial … |
 | Free Bankruptcy Advice: Consider The Source | Who gets their legal advice from their adversary? My client did. Get your legal advice … |
 | Free Expert Help With Your Bay Area Home Loan Modification | Applying for a mortgage modification is equal parts torture and miracle drug. It can mean the … |
| Free Retirement Advice By Professional Advisor Comes Up One Tool Short | The 65 year old woman featured in the newspaper’s Money Makeover series got a free … | |
 | Free Tax Preparation Offered In Bay Area | Households with an annual income of $54,000 or less can have their tax returns prepared … |
 | Get A Bankruptcy Discharge Even Without Making All Your Payments | You can get a Chapter 13 discharge even without making all the plan payments you promised. … |
 | Get A Deal On Your Car After Bankruptcy | How are you going to keep your car after you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy? Here … |
 | Get A Voodoo Discharge Without Filing Bankruptcy | One of the great mysteries of debtor/creditor law is the community property discharge in bankruptcy. … |
 | Get Annual Credit Report For Free | When is FREE not FREE? In a world seemingly driven in all matters by credit … |
| Get Out From Under Student Loans In Half The Time | Work full time for a governmental agency or non-profit, and you can discharge your federal … | |
 | Get real information about what’s happening with your mortgage loan payments | What have they been doing with my payments on mortgage loan? The client has been … |
 | Get Rid Of Liens On Your Home | Bankruptcy gives you a super power: you’re able to remove liens on your home, for … |
 | Get The IRS To Feed Your Savings | Lucky enough to get a tax refund this year? Then celebrate America Saves week by … |
 | Getting A Loan Modification Is Only Half The Fight | Loan modification troubles persist, long after the loan modification. For all of you who stressed, … |
 | Getting Excused From Bankruptcy’s Means Test | You can skip the bankruptcy means test without claiming your dog ate your homework. If … |
 | Getting Rid Of Junior Home Liens In Bankruptcy | One of Chapter 13’s superpowers is its ability to strip off mortgage liens on a … |
 | Give More Than Thanks | Ever feel the disconnect between buying your groceries for the Thanksgiving meal, then dropping some loose … |
| Glimmer of Hope For Change In Student Loan Dischargeability | A small opening in the legal barrier to discharging student loans in bankruptcy has appeared … | |
| Going To Court In Your Bankruptcy Case | Every bankruptcy debtor must go to court in their bankruptcy case. It’s usually the first … |
| Google & Me | Google and BankruptcyInBrief share a birthday, I’ve learned. I’m sure you saw the similarities in a flash. The … | |
 | Got A 1099? How To Avoid Paying More Tax | One of life’s persistent gotcha’s is the tax consequence of having debt forgiven. Did you … |
 | Got Tax Trouble? Don’t File Bankruptcy In December | Bankruptcy can provide tax relief, if your timing is right. Tax troubles are at the … |
| Guilt & fear used to keep homeowners paying | Susanne Robicsek’s post on the futility of keeping a home through bankruptcy brought to mind … | |
 | Has Your Social Security Number Been Suspended? | The latest variety of tax scam picked the wrong target when they called my fellow … |
 | Hidden Dangers In Tapping The Reverse Mortgage Piggybank | Actor Fred Thompson used to appear on my Sunday morning news program every week touting … |
 | High Income Earners Pass Bankruptcy’s Means Test | ALERT: Being above the median income on the means test is not an automatic bar … |
 | Highlighted Tax Tips For Final Week To File Returns | We talk a lot about taxes here on the Soapbox. That may seem a strange … |
 | Hold Or Fold? How To Decide If Filing Bankruptcy Is Right For You | You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em; know when … |
 | Home Mortgage Forbearance: Will It Save Your Home From Pandemic? | Mortgage forbearance for homeowners, shout the headlines. No need to make a house payment. Borrowers … |
 | Homeowner Beats Loan Servicer On Foreclosure Appeal | California appeals court slaps down servicer’s attempt to require payment of the entire mortgage loan a … |
 | Homestead Law Little Protection For California Seniors | Home equity makes up most of the net worth of California seniors. Most are house … |
| How 13 Works To Save Your House From Foreclosure | Saving a house from foreclosure is the single reason most people file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy stops … |
 | How A Careless Bankruptcy Can Bite Your Family | Your bankruptcy can affect your family even though they haven’t filed bankruptcy. Transfer assets or … |
 | How Avoiding Probate Ended Up In Bankruptcy | Do it yourself seems so industrious and self reliant. And we’ve been bombarded with books, … |
 | How Chapter 13 Cuts Car Loan Down To Size | Car lenders who make new car loans with an underwater trade-in will face the music in … |
 | How Chapter 13 Saves You Money | Why should I file Chapter 13 if I have to pay all my creditors in … |
 | How Consumer Remedies Were Gutted By Little- Noticed Tax Code Changes | Tax code changes effective in 2018 inflicted a crippling blow to consumers who must sue … |
 | How Creditors Spread Fear Of Bankruptcy For Profit | The unknown is often fearful. My colleague Peter Orville wrote It is natural to … |
 | How Does Your Household Budget Measure Up? | The living expenses your paycheck has to cover go on and on. Each dollar is stretched; … |
 | How Filing Bankruptcy Can Benefits Your Heirs | Elders in California enjoy enhanced state exemptions that protect them from debt collectors. Those protections … |
 | How Guarantors Can Escape Tax On Soured Debt | Tax lawyer Bill Purdy and I shared a client with a small interest in a … |
 | How Long Does Bankruptcy Take? | Every client filing bankruptcy asks that question: how long will bankruptcy take? Probably, the real … |
| How long for California foreclosure | The time between a notice of default on a mortgage loan and foreclosure now averages … | |
 | How Long Til Foreclosure? | Everyone who has made the painful decision to let an unaffordable house go to foreclosure … |
 | How Many Collection Calls Is Too Many | The CFPB has answered the burning question of how many collection calls is too many. … |
 | How Much Is My Chapter 13 Payment | Intrigued by Chapter 13, but worried about how much your Chapter 13 payment might be? … |
 | How Much Should You Pay To Get Out Of Debt? | Shop for a bankruptcy lawyer, and you’ll end up wondering what bankruptcy should cost. When … |
 | How One Family Settled Huge Debt For Pennies | Almost everyone wants to settle debt rather than file bankruptcy. But how about settling debt … |
| How The Bankruptcy Liquidation Tests Really Work | Is the Chapter 7 trustee going to sell your house when there’s $5000 in non … | |
 | How Their Telephone Can Ruin Elders | The elderly couple was suddenly in financial trouble. The two mortgages on their home were … |
 | How To Exclude A Debt From Your Bankruptcy Discharge | Some debts you may want to carve out of your bankruptcy discharge. Debts that for … |
 | How to fight back against EDD’s Form 1099G | By William Purdy Got an EDD tax form 1099G but no benefits? At this moment, … |
 | How to get copies of your bankruptcy papers | When you need to get copies of your bankruptcy papers, there’s a long line of … |
 | How To Pay For Bankruptcy When You’re Flat Broke | One of the cosmic ironies of our legal system is that it costs money to … |
 | How To Pick A Bankruptcy Lawyer | How do you pick a bankruptcy lawyer when you’ve never hired any lawyer and never … |
 | How to Screw Up Your Bankruptcy | Transferring assets to others on the eve of bankruptcy is the single, easiest way to … |
 | How To Spend Money Before Filing Bankruptcy | Trying to spend down cash before filing bankruptcy? It’s time to talk about the float. … |
 | How To Spot A Fake IRS Officer | Identity thieves are now posing as “helpful” folks from the IRS. These scammers email you … |
 | How To Wipe Out Tax Penalties In Bankruptcy | Tax penalties seem like a further insult when you’re having trouble paying the tax itself. … |
 | How To Write A Contract Without A Lawyer & Make It Stick | Even in a world where people attempt almost any skilled task with the help of Google, YouTube, … |
 | How Will Bankruptcy Filers Retire? | Contributions to 401(k) retirement plans during a Chapter 13 are not forbidden, as claimed … |
 | How You Can Collect From The Debt Collectors | I team up with consumer lawyer Mike Cardoza to identify your rights against debt collectors … |
 | How Your Property Gets Sold In Your Partner’s Bankruptcy | It isn’t just marriage that can get you roped in to a bankruptcy case that … |
 | If The IRS Comes Calling After Your Bankruptcy Discharge | It’s scary, or infuriating, when the IRS continues to try to collect taxes discharged in … |
 | If You Can’t Make Your Car Payment During The Virus Shutdown | How am I going to keep my wheels while the coronavirus looms? The fight … |
| Immigrants and bankruptcy disclosure | The culture you grow up in shapes your views of truth telling, business ethics and … | |
 | In Debt? Plan For Holidays And A Better New Year | The countdown to the holidays is on. It’s after the holidays that the desire to … |
 | Inclusion in Bankruptcy Doesn’t Equal “Discharged” | Convincing clients that all of their debts must be included in bankruptcy is one of the … |
 | Incorporating A Troubled Business: Work-around Or Worse? | Facets on a gem bend light and change how we see things. The same thing … |
 | Incorporating Your Business Has Surprise Benefit | Incorporate to protect yourself from the debts of your business, shriek the ads. That’s the … |
 | Information is power….become more powerful | In the information age, we’re inundated with information about bankruptcy. Some of it accurate and … |
 | Inherited Homes Now Come With Full Measure Of Consumer Rights | Half a loaf is what you too often got when you weren’t the original borrower … |
 | IRS Pandemic Relief in Taxing Times | In normal times, this would be tax season. Not this year; these aren’t normal times. … |
 | IRS Shakedown Happening In Bankruptcy Court | The latest IRS scam is happening in bankruptcy, out in the open. Now usually when … |
 | Is A Free Bankruptcy Consultation Worth It? | No matter how much they’ve spent on other stuff, those shopping for a bankruptcy lawyer … |
 | Is Bankruptcy In Your Future? | Tough economic times make us think about escape by filing bankruptcy. Bankruptcy offers a straight … |
| Is defaulting on mortgage immoral? | Falling home prices have lead to a surge of strategic defaulters, in real estate columnist … | |
 | Is Home Equity A Substitute For Retirement Savings | My home is my retirement plan. If I had a dollar for every time a … |
 | Is It Too Late For Bankruptcy? | Worried that it’s too late to file bankruptcy? You’ve put off considering bankruptcy, hoping to … |
 | Is There Life After Bankruptcy? | Is bankruptcy worth it? If you see filing bankruptcy to get a fresh start as … |
 | Is This Really The Season For Credit Card Debt Forgiveness? | CBS’s article “How to prepare for credit card debt forgiveness this April” constitutes a serious … |
 | Is Your Choice Of Bankruptcy Chapters Really Dictated By Your Stuff? | Through my Twitter feed came a link to the pro’s and con’s of filing bankruptcy … |
| It Takes More Than Bankruptcy To Save Your House | Protecting your house from foreclosure ranks high on the list of reasons people file Chapter … |
 | It’s Who You Owe In Bankruptcy | WHO to list in your bankruptcy case is a question I hear lots. My response: … |
 | Jailed For Debt In The USA? | Worried about being arrested and jailed for not paying your bills? A surprising number of … |
| Judicial review of debtor’s attorneys fees | At a hearing on the approval of my attorneys fees in a Chapter 13 case, … | |
| Keep the house? Deflector shields up | Logic and reality have been bouncing off my clients’ deflector shields recently on the issue … | |
 | Keep Your Tax Refund Despite Filing Bankruptcy | Usually, we’re touting pre bankruptcy planning: know what’s exempt, what debts will survive bankruptcy, and … |
 | Keep Your Tax Refund Through Your Bankruptcy | For most of us, finding out that we are getting a sizable tax refund is … |
 | Know What You Really Owe: Your Mortgage Loan Rights | You’ve got a lot to keep an eye on. You probably regularly check Yet chances … |
 | Laboring Over Bankruptcy Papers | Why is preparing the bankruptcy papers so much work? Paper. Statements. Tax returns. Car contracts. … |
 | Last Call For Loan Modifications Under HAMP | If your house is teetering on the edge of foreclosure, the time to act has … |
 | Last Minute Tax Break For Distressed Homeowners | Days before the end of the tax year, the massive tax bill changed the … |
| Lawyers ask “How does bankruptcy work?” | The good folks at the Collaborative Law gathering yesterday had the same questions that their … | |
 | Legacy of the Mortgage Lending Frenzy Returns | Just when I thought that most of the pain from the mortgage lending bubble of … |
| Lenders slow to act following relief from stay | The automatic stay is the hallmark of bankruptcy, so when the judge lifts the stay … | |
 | Lien Stripping Works Without A Bankruptcy Discharge | The waiting and uncertainty is over. The judges have decided. Chapter 13 debtors can void … |
 | Lien Strips Live in Chapter 20 | Twenty is my favorite number these days. The Oakland bankruptcy judges have ruled consistent with … |
 | Life After Bankruptcy: What’s It Really Like? | What’s life really like after bankruptcy? Everyone suffering through financial difficulties wants to know whether … |
 | Life And Death of Debt In California | CPR has its place when human life is involved. Human life is precious. But when … |
 | List It Or Lose It: Why It’s Critical To Tell All | It is vital to include everything in your bankruptcy list of assets. Transparency is the … |
 | Loan Modification Excuses No Longer Good With Courts | Some excuses never seem to wear out. There seems to be no limit … |
| Loan modification resources | The good folks at the National Consumer Law Center have put together a page of … | |
 | Loan Modification: The $100,000 Mistake | The job of a mortgage servicer is to collect loan payments and keep track … |
 | Locked Out Of Court: The Not-So-Fine-Print Arbitration Clause | Equifax and the CFPB have teamed up, sort of, to focus attention on consumer rights … |
 | Long Silent Second Mortgages: The Worrisome Truth | Like a sleeping bear, long-silent second mortgages hibernate in people’s houses these days. They are … |
| Lost Homes, Cut Off Creditors & Whack A Mole | Those who lost homes in the Great Recession may not be home free yet. Two … | |
 | Make Sure Your Mortgage Is Current At Bankruptcy’s End | What do you really owe on your home mortgage when you get to the end … |
 | Marital Separation Doesn’t Require Two Homes | Split the sheets in California, and your wages are no longer community property. That’s because property acquired … |
 | Means Test & Taxes: Look Backward Or Forward | One of the mysteries of the universe (well, sorta) was answered for me by my … |
 | Means Test As Three Dimensional Chess | Means test issues in bankruptcy extend far beyond how much income you have. The allowable … |
 | Means Test Cheat Sheet 2: Taxes In Bankruptcy | If the most useful trick for beating the means test involves projecting health care expenses, … |
| Means Test Expense Form 122A-2 | Get the form | |
| Means Test Not Sole Measure Of Bankruptcy Abuse | Two appeals courts hold that a bankruptcy judge may dismiss a Chapter 7 case based … | |
| Medical bankruptcies not obvious | On the surface, my initial consult had a tax problem: years of unpaid income taxes. … | |
 | Melania Trump Sold The American Dream Short | The infamous Melania Trump speech at the Republican convention shared more than a paragraph or … |
 | Miracles Possible in Mortgage Mess | INVOKE THE SECOND DIVINE MIRACLE OF THE VANISHING EQUITY Why Many Homeowners Need to Run, … |
 | Mix Old Debts & Good Faith Payments For Bad Results | Old debts don’t live forever. The shell of the debt may hang around, like this mummy, but … |
| Money management and the things we “deserve” | American Express radio commercials are touting a women’s money group, The Smart Cookies, who, we’re … | |
 | More Californians Eligible For Expanded Pandemic Mortgage Relief Grants | Need help with your California house payments due to COVID? Grants from California’s mortgage relief … |
| Mortgage bankers lobby for status quo | I feel like I’ve found my new website’s reverse image: meet the evil twin of … | |
 | Mortgage Forbearance And The Hidden Gotcha: Escrow | Got a mortgage forbearance? Seems like a relief. But watch out for the normally escrowed … |
 | Mortgage Forbearance For Non-government Backed Loans | Are you one of the homeowners whose mortgage isn’t eligible for the government’s COVID forbearance … |
 | Mortgage Lenders Stop Lurking And Start Foreclosing | I’m re-upping this post from nearly two years ago because I’ve seen a surge … |
| Mortgage modification bill returns to Congress | A bipartisan group of Representatives is planning to offer an amendment to the Wall Street … | |
 | Mortgage Payments During California Shelter-in-Place | Is my house at risk if I have no income due to coronavirus? With economic … |
| Muttering about the means test | The stupidity of the means test as a metering device in bankruptcy was apparent as … | |
| My 7 Favorite Soapbox Posts Of 2014 | I tallied the readership’s favorite posts of the year and found the list far different … | |
 | My Wildly Biased Choices For Best Posts Of 2017 | Readers got their say earlier when I showcased the 10 most popular new posts on … |
 | Myth Of The Corporate Credit Card | As far as myths go, the myth of the business credit card ranks right up … |
| Negotiate to the last minute at your peril | The would be client had millions of dollars of equity in the house at stake, … | |
| New Bankruptcy Trends From An Old Hand | I’m seeing a real change in the people seeing me about filing bankruptcy. Used to … | |
 | New California Bankruptcy Exemptions | Californians filing bankruptcy got some new exemptions to protect their assets on January 1, 2023. … |
 | New California Homestead In Action | The California homestead increase effective January, 2021brought the homestead closer into line with the cost … |
 | New California Homestead Numbers For 2025 | It’s time to check out the California homestead numbers for 2025. The 2021 expanded California … |
| New California law protects sellers in short sales | Effective January 1, 2011, a lender who approves a short sale of California residential property … | |
| New Tool For Homeowners Against Mortgage Lender Mistakes | Pstt! Homeowners. Bankruptcy Lawyers. We’ve been handed a new tool for dealing with problems … | |
 | No Discharge Chapter 13 Effective To Strip Lien | The wait is over; the decision is in. Homeowners in the 9th Circuit can strip … |
 | No Foreclosure If Loan Modification In Process | The cruelest trick played on homeowners trying to modify their mortgage was dual tracking. One … |
 | No House, No Discharge When Chapter 13 Goes Off Script | Sound the alarm. Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are getting dismissed right and left when debtors … |
 | No More Lawsuits On Old Debt In California | California law has turned the tables on debt buyers suing on old debt. Under new … |
 | No Recourse for Junior Lien in Short Sale | Junior lenders who consent to a short sale of underwater homes are barred from seeking … |
 | No Rush To File Bankruptcy | When the virus steals your income, it’s easy to be overwhelmed with unpaid bills and … |
 | Not Too Late To Strip Mortgage Lien | It’s never too late to value a lien and avoid it in bankruptcy. Even after … |
| Oakland Bankruptcy Judge Upheld At 9th Circuit | Ruling against the California Franchise Tax Board, the 9th Circuit upheld Oakland bankruptcy judge Edward … |
 | Old Tax Liability Discharged In Bankruptcy, If…. | Discharging tax debt in bankruptcy gets lots of families out of a horrible hole. Tax … |
 | Ordinary Heroes Deliver Second Chances With Bankruptcy | Guest author Bob Schuman on the good that bankruptcy does. I’m a mortgage broker. In … |
 | Out of Luck If You Skip A Creditor? | So, you slipped up and left a creditor out of your bankruptcy schedules. Can you … |
 | Pay Down Debt Or Save? Which Should Come First | Pay off debt first or start saving now? It’s a debate almost as convoluted as which came … |
 | Pay No Tax On Debt Discharged In Bankruptcy | Debt discharged in bankruptcy is tax free, even if you get a 1099 claiming otherwise. … |
 | Pay Off Credit Cards At Zero Percent | I’ve got news for you: There’s a government program that lets you pay the balance on … |
 | Pay Off Credit Cards Without Interest And Be Debt Free | The sixtyish client sitting in my office couldn’t pay off his credit cards, even though … |
 | Pay Off Credit Cards Without Interest: Bankruptcy For The Solvent | Once again, Chapter 13 rescued a client. He’ll get out of debt and pay off credit … |
 | Pay Or Go To Jail Tops IRS List Of Tax Scams | The phone caller recites his IRS badge number. Then he demands immediate payment of “overdue taxes” … |
 | Pay Your Debts Or Go To Jail? | What would you do if you got a tip there was an arrest warrant out … |
 | 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 … |
| Personal money management is complicated | My newest colleague in the Bankruptcy Law Network, Adrian Lapas, discussed the critical importance of … | |
| Perversity run amok | The clients in financial trouble couldn’t get the attention of their mortgage lender about the … | |
 | Planning For Bankruptcy: Keep Your Tax Refund | Getting a tax refund check from the government is usually a great thing. Or at … |
 | Protect Your Credit After Equifax Security Breach | Half the US population may be affected by the hacking of credit reporting agency Equifax. … |
 | Protecting Your Co signor When You Can’t Pay | Cosigning a loan links you and your cosignor together for the life of the debt. … |
| Rant on realtors claiming to be a profession | Or maybe this is just a continuing, disappointed sigh that this group, who tries to … | |
 | Reaffirm Your Car Loan: The Bankruptcy Fight You Hope To Lose | It isn’t often I go into bankruptcy court, hoping to lose. But when the issue … |
 | Real-world Values for Assets Critical in Bankruptcy World | Valuing your assets when filing out your bankruptcy schedules can be challenging. After all, what … |
 | Reduce Your Tax Hit By Filing Bankruptcy Rather Than Settling Debts | Settle your debts outside of bankruptcy and you may be bitten by taxes you didn’t … |
| Required financial management education: BAPCPA’s one good thing | Once again, a client told me that if she’d known before what she learned in … | |
 | Resolve To Thrive In The New Year | May I suggest a 2025 New Year’s resolution? It doesn’t involve diets or workouts or … |
| Retirement contributions in Chapter 7 | As befits a Moran, I got my Irish up at a 341 meeting when the … | |
 | Retirement Nest Egg: Ostrich Egg Or Quail Egg? | Will my retirement nest egg be enough to live comfortably when I’m done working? Living will … |
 | Right To Support When Your Ex Files Bankruptcy | Outrage is the usual reaction when a former spouse with child support or alimony files … |
 | Rising From The Ashes Of Financial Disaster | Life doesn’t end with bankruptcy. Bankruptcy doesn’t mean that the good times are all in … |
 | Save The House Even AFTER The Foreclosure Sale | The fall of the hammer at the foreclosure sale threatened to leave my widowed client … |
 | SBA Loans Collectible Long Past Business Failure | The SBA has eagle eyes and sharp talons when it comes to collecting from guarantors … |
 | Scammers Spoof IRS To Get Your Info | Tax season saw a 400% rise in fake email to taxpayers pretending to be from the … |
 | Scofflaws Must Pay When They Violate The Stay | Debtors in bankruptcy got back the right to collect all of their damages for violations … |
 | Second Best Reason To Contribute To Retirement Fund Even If You’re In Debt | We’re not used to applauding those who are second-best. But I’m going to try. The … |
 | Self Employed, But Not By Choice | One of the thorniest problems I’m confronting in the Great Recession is what advice to … |
| Sell first, litigate later | Meeting with a client with Truth in Lending claims the other day reminded me about … | |
| Separate Finances Doesn’t Protect Spouse From Financial Disaster | By keeping separate finances, this California couple thought they had insulated the wife from the … | |
| Short sales no boon to credit score | When the house is unaffordable, homeowners often look to a short sale or deed in … | |
| Should You Keep Your Stuff After Bankruptcy? | The usual question for a bankruptcy attorney is “can I keep my (fill in the blank)”. … | |
| Should you pay the mortgage? | Homeowners should be walking away from underwater houses in droves, according to the analysis of … | |
 | Should You Pay Your Creditors Rather Than File Bankruptcy? | Is there an alternative to bankruptcy, my clients often ask. Can I realistically avoid filing … |
 | Sign Your Corporation’s Name So You Aren’t On The Hook | John Hancock knew how to sign his name- so large that King George could read … |
 | Silicon Valley Horror Story: The Business Credit Card That Bit | I’ve long said that there is no credit card for which a real, live human … |
| Six Credit Card Scams You Need To Spot | One of the hazards in today’s society is becoming the victim of credit card fraud. … | |
 | Six Rotten Excuses Not To File Bankruptcy | I am not a bankruptcy attorney. I never have been. I am a mortgage law … |
 | Six Tips For A Worry-Free Bankruptcy | What happens after filing bankruptcy ? Your bankruptcy case is filed. After you’ve assembled all … |
 | Skip Bankruptcy’s Means Test | The couple was despondent when another bankruptcy attorney told them that, despite $100,000 in old … |
 | Skip Filing Your Tax Return And The Tax Lives Forever | It’s tax season and tax myths are everywhere. Know what the most dangerous one is? … |
 | Sloppy Mortgage Servicers Prey On Borrowers | Given the way they behave, you’d think mortgage servicers actually flew a pirate flag … |
| Small businesses increasingly seek bankruptcy relief | Mom and pop businesses are beginning to dominate the list of my new clients over … | |
 | Smoke, Mirrors, And Budgets: Are You Missing Where Your Money Goes | Budget tricks keep lots of us from seeing where our money goes. If you don’t … |
 | So You Keep Your Home Through Bankruptcy- What Then? | What happens to your home after your bankruptcy case is over? Most people who file … |
 | Social Security Safe In Bankruptcy | The Chapter 13 trustee objected to the debtors’ repayment plan because they did not plan … |
 | Speak Fluent Bankruptcy: Guide To Essential Bankruptcy Terms | Bankruptcy has its own language. If you are considering filing bankruptcy, it helps to know … |
 | Spot Credit Report Errors After Your Bankruptcy & Fix Them | Your debts have been discharged in Bankruptcy. Congratulations! But if those debts still appear on … |
| Spotting The Mean In The Means Test | Just being a consumer is enough to put you on Congress’s bad side when it … | |
 | Stay At Home Doesn’t Mean Get Left Behind At Retirement | Just because you don’t work outside the home doesn’t mean you can live on nothing … |
| Staying Out Of Bankruptcy Trustee’s Crosshairs | Clients who want the benefits of bankruptcy without any change in the way they want … | |
 | Step By Step Guide To Business Shutdown | There’s lots written on how to start a business. Not so much about business shutdown. … |
 | Stop Making Quarterly Tax Payments & Stay Within The Law | Uncle Sam expects a quarterly tax payment from the self employed. Since you don’t get … |
 | Stressed Families Can Take A Card From Trump Casino | From our archives, but still on point: Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino operation filed bankruptcy, … |
| Student loans ensnare parents | Should you guarantee a student loan, asks my good friend Doug Jacobs. His is the … | |
| Student loans: sinking the parents | The numbers on repayment of a student loan for four years at a private university are … | |
 | Super Bankruptcy Lawyer Spotted in Redwood City | Cathy Moran was again named a Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy for Northern California in 2023 for … |
 | SuperLawyer | I’ve been named a SuperLawyer among Bay Area bankruptcy lawyers. That makes 14 years running. … |
 | Surefire Steps To Avoid Bankruptcy | Most people would rather parade naked down Main Street than file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy makes them feel … |
 | Surefire Ways To Tell Scammers From Private Tax Collectors | Private debt collectors are going back to work for the IRS. You know those … |
| Tax breaks no place to hide public policy choices | The US tax code is stuffed with tax breaks to further some social policy or … | |
 | Tax Deductions Hidden In Chapter 13 | Don’t miss the tax deductions hiding in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The same, very important … |
| Tax Exposure Increases Along With California Foreclosures | Warning: we are returning to the bad, old days of home foreclosure with tax consequences … | |
| Tax Fallout from Foreclosure & Loan Modification | It’s bad enough when the client loses their home to foreclosure, but it’s a double … | |
 | Tax Filing Extension Invites Tax Trouble For The Self Employed | We never make tax deposits for our small business because we don’t know what we’ll … |
 | Tax Form 1099 Needs A Closer Look: Chances Are It’s Wrong | Tax attorney Bill Purdy says: don’t take IRS form 1099 at face value. Hundreds … |
 | Tax Liens Live On After Bankruptcy, Unless…. | You mean the tax liens won’t go away when I get a bankruptcy discharge? The … |
| Tax Question Roundup | Not long til tax returns are due. Time for a roundup of tax issues … | |
 | Tax Tidbits As Filing Deadline Approaches | If you got an extension to file your tax return, and tax filing time has … |
 | Tax Tips & Tidbits To Pay Less | Tax filing deadline approaches, so I thought we’d gather up tax tips and little known … |
 | Tax Trap When You Settle Debts Outside Of Bankruptcy | Debt settlement has a hidden tax consequences no one ever discusses. If you own a … |
| Taxes: Building Block of Financial Literacy | You’re a first time employee. Congratulations. Welcome to the world of tax forms, withholding, and tax deadlines. … |
| Ten Best Bankruptcy Gems In 2021 | What did readers want to know about bankruptcy in 2021? Turns out, a bit of … |
 | Ten Debts That Follow You After Bankruptcy | Some debts just follow you out of bankruptcy. Not many but a few. These debts … |
 | Ten Essential Nuggets For Creditors in Bankruptcy Notice | You’re looking at bankruptcy official form B9. It arrived in your mail because someone has filed … |
| Terminate Cell Phone Penalties in Bankruptcy | I’m accustomed to advising those on the verge of filing bankruptcy about big ticket debts like … | |
 | Thankful | Professionally, what’s a bankruptcy lawyer thankful for? I’m thankful for experience and a skill set … |
| Thankful amid hard times | As families and well established businesses pour through my office, I remain thankful that our … | |
 | The Bankruptcy Problem Your Lawyer Can’t Fix | Everyone considering bankruptcy faces the question of what to tell their lawyer. Sometimes it’s a problem … |
 | The Biggest Bankruptcy Mistake You Can Make | The biggest bankruptcy mistake has nothing to do with choice of chapter, exemptions, disclosure, or … |
 | The Biggest Lie About Bankruptcy | The claim that you lose everything in bankruptcy is, flat out, the biggest lie about … |
 | The Causes of Bankruptcy Aren’t What You Think | The columnist who equated debt problems with irresponsibility nearly caused me to melt down, right … |
 | The Collection Call That Terrifies | Nothing strikes terror in someone behind on their bills like a debt collector call to … |
 | The Difference Between Good Bankruptcy Lawyer and Great Bankruptcy Lawyer | Finding the right bankruptcy lawyer may be the difference between a successful bankruptcy and a … |
 | The DOJ War On Chapter 13 Debtors | What’s wrong with the picture when United States Trustee is offended by Chapter 13 success? … |
 | The Dozen Most Important Bankruptcy Posts Of 2016 | Last week, I let readers pick their favorite new bankruptcy posts from 2016 . It was … |
 | The Dr. Seuss Secret To Laws That Actually Work | The election is here. If you haven’t already, get out and vote. Put aside your … |
 | The Easiest Business Loan In Town | Running a small business is hard work. Cash flow is tight; time is in … |
 | The Essential Step To Get Your Day In Court | When you’re sued on an old debt, it’s easy to imagine appearing on the court … |
 | The Fate of Second Homes In Bankruptcy | Homestead exemptions protect a principal residence when someone files bankruptcy. But what about second homes … |
 | The Flat Wrong 1099 | When her soon-to-be-ex filed bankruptcy, my client got a 1099-C for the joint credit card. … |
 | The Foreclosure That Was Longer Than War & Peace | How much time til foreclosure? Foreclosure is coming. Whether by choice or circumstances, you know … |
 | The Government Loans That Bankruptcy Wipes Out | Believe it or not, certain unsecured loans from government entities are dischargeable in bankruptcy. This … |
 | The Judgment Lien That Escaped Your Bankruptcy | What do you do when you discover old judgment liens on your home long after … |
 | The Killer Rule That Zaps Private Student Loans | Got private student loans? I’ve got good news and bad news. Bad news first. Private Student … |
 | The Kind of Person Who Files Bankruptcy | You’d think the person who files bankruptcy is some alien fraudster, to listen to my … |
| The latest debt collector violation of law | A debt collector including the creditor itself must not contact a California debtor who it … | |
| The Living Trust: Can You Trust It To Protect You? | Today’s post comes from Los Angeles area bankruptcy lawyer Mark Markus. The Revocable Living Trust. … | |
 | The Means Test: Badly Mangled | Another purported financial professional has confidently and conclusively gotten the bankruptcy means test absolutely dead … |
 | The Most Compelling Reason To File Bankruptcy | Shedding debt so you can save for retirement is the most compelling reason to file … |
 | The Most Costly Community Property Blunder | What do you do when creditors from your spouse’s past threaten? Chances are your first … |
| The Most Important Bankruptcy Decision Of 2013 | A bankruptcy case nominally about travel trailers, ATV’s, and a car for a an adult … | |
 | The Most Powerful Debt Management Tool | The most powerful debt management tool isn’t a software program. It isn’t a website, nor … |
 | The New Rules Of Asset Protection | I coined a new rule about asset protection schemes after meeting with a bankruptcy prospect: … |
 | The One Person You Must Tell About Your Bankruptcy | Most people who file bankruptcy don’t want anyone else to know. Some of my clients … |
 | The Parent School Loan | Take a good look at the result of the parent loan for college. Tied … |
 | The Real Importance of Your Credit Score | Getting credit after bankruptcy is the most frequent search term that bring visitors to Bankruptcy … |
 | The Real Money Rules Before Bankruptcy | Thinking about filing bankruptcy? Folk wisdom supplies many “rules” about the period leading up to … |
 | The Realtor’s Guide To Home Sales In Bankruptcy | Sooner or later, every realtor will encounter a property involved in a bankruptcy case. Or … |
 | The Risks Of Filing Bankruptcy For Your Corporation | When your incorporated business fails, the instinctive reaction is to file bankruptcy for the corporation. … |
 | The Secret Alternative To Bankruptcy | Looking for the secret alternative to bankruptcy which will solve your debt problems without filing? … |
 | The Secret Bankruptcy Discharge For Community Property | Psst! Let me tell you a secret about bankruptcy law. You can get 3/4 of the … |
 | The Secret Bankruptcy Exemptions | Exemptions in bankruptcy are all about what you keep. Exemptions define the collection of assets and … |
 | The Strange Rules When A Creditor Is Left Off Bankruptcy Schedules | What happens if you miss putting a creditor on your bankruptcy schedules? In the bustle … |
 | The Struggle To Surrender Underwater Real Estate | How difficult it can be to surrender real property in bankruptcy when you have no … |
 | The Tax Deduction No One Tells You About | Did you file Chapter 13 to save your house from foreclosure? Making payments to the … |
 | The Tax Deductions That Hide In Chapter 13 | It’s tax time: don’t overlook tax deductions in Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Tax deductions lurk … |
 | The Thousands That Sat In Mortgage Suspense Account | Sharp eyes on the part of the debtor spotted the unapplied suspense balance, and diligence … |
 | The Tortoise Is The Mascot Of Retirement Savings | Every campaign needs a logo. Make the logo of your retirement planning a turtle, rampant. … |
 | The Trouble With Your Social Security | The caller says your Social Security file is incomplete and without more information, your assets, … |
 | The Truth About Tax Liens After Bankruptcy | We have a lien on your name. Not your property, your name. That’s what the … |
 | The Unexpected Loss When Tax Returns Filed Late | Late tax returns can cost you big-time. File seriously late returns and you get no … |
 | The Worst Reason To Choose Debt Settlement Over Bankruptcy | The guy with an old debt asked if bankruptcy or debt settlement would cause greater damage to … |
 | Three Barriers To Getting Out Of Debt | Three emotions, not reasons, keep people from filing bankruptcy and getting out of debt. While not … |
 | Three Cheers For Entrepreneurs | Let’s hear it for entrepreneurs. Those brave, tireless people with a dream who start or … |
| Three Giant Banks Fail To Keep Settlement Promises | Three of the five big banks who settled charges of mortgage lending abuse have failed … | |
 | Three Reasons To Divorce Your Bank Before Bankruptcy | Banks do funny things when a customer files bankruptcy. Only many are not so funny. … |
 | Time Running Out On Dynamite Business Reorganization Opportunity | In less than a month, the nifty new small business bankruptcy option that makes Chapter … |
| Time Running Out To Claim Prior Year Tax Breaks | Time is running out on your 2011 tax return. Whaaaat?, you say. You’re working on 2014 between … |
| Time Runs Out For Claiming A Tax Refund | Did you know there’s a deadline for claiming a tax refund. If you are entitled … |
 | TImeless Wisdom Doesn’t Apply When Filing Bankruptcy | “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”. It’s a time-tested bit of folk wisdom. But … |
 | Title Isn’t Everything: Watch Out For The Assets In Your Spouse’s Name | Your spouse’s assets can get swept up in your bankruptcy when you live in California. … |
| Top Ten New Bankruptcy Soapbox Posts of 2021 | Every year, I count up the new posts on Bankruptcy Soapbox, and see how my … |
 | Try The Community Property Two Step | Life and debt often presents us with conflicting imperatives. Bankruptcy is required, but when to file? … |
 | Tugging On Superman’s Cape | When a Chapter 13 trustee complains that the means test is not easy to administer … |
 | Turned Down For A Bank Account? Fight Back | Turned down when you tried to open a bank account? We have a clue why. … |
 | Two Strikes & You’re Out (Of Your Home) | Three strikes and you’re out. Anyone familiar with baseball knows that one. The rules are … |
 | Understand Bankruptcy Basics Before You Need Them | Bankruptcy basics are simple, at least in concept. Bankruptcy is the legal system’s remedy for … |
 | Unfiled Tax Returns Are A Life Sentence | Unfiled tax returns upset all the normal rules about discharging taxes in bankruptcy. This story … |
 | Unicorns, Wookies, And Medical Bankruptcies | What do Unicorns, Wookies, and Medical Bankruptcies have in common? Each is a figment of … |
| Update Your Mental Money Software To 2.0 | What kind of life style are you entitled to? When was your sense of your … | |
 | V Is For Value In Bankruptcy Alphabet | The Letter V is for Value in my bankruptcy alphabet. The value of one’s … |
 | Vince Lombardi Is To Blame | Ever feel like you’re battling your mortgage lender for your life? Or the life of … |
| Wage garnishment ends with bankruptcy filing | We were exploring the timing of a bankruptcy case, trying to live free in the … | |
 | Wage Garnishment Survival Guide | “Your wages have been garnished, ” reads the letter from your employer. Do nothing and … |
 | Warning: Wells Fargo Can Freeze Your Account | Preparation for filing bankruptcy should include getting your money out of Wells Fargo Bank. Unless, … |
 | Was Your Credit Score Trampled By Unwanted Wells Fargo Accounts | Fake Wells Fargo accounts opened without consent may adversely affect victims’ credit scores. Are … |
 | We Live In An Economic House Of Cards | I’ve long said to bankruptcy clients that bankruptcy can’t fix an income problem, it can … |
 | We’re Now In Redwood City | Moran Law Group has packed up and moved to Redwood City! Effective October 1, 2018, … |
 | What A Bankruptcy Lawyer Is Thankful For | On Thanksgiving, I’m mindful of how precious the American approach to insolvency is. In the … |
 | What Are Your Rights In A California Foreclosure | The old saw about Oakland, California is that there is no “there” there. I suggest … |
 | What Asset of Failed Business Is Most Valuable? | Usually I rant about mistakes clients made when they incorporated their ongoing business. Come hard times … |
 | What Can Bankruptcy Do About Back Taxes | Bankruptcy wipes out taxes and leaves you with a clean slate. But somehow, the second … |
 | What Causes Bankruptcy? | I was playing in my head with a piece I was writing for consumers about … |
 | What Creditors Of PG&E Need To Know About Bankruptcy | Listen up if you’ve done business with PG&E, now or in the past. The PG&E … |
 | What Debts Were Discharged In My Bankruptcy? | After your bankruptcy, one of the hardest questions is figuring out just which debts were discharged. Eliminating … |
 | What Does A Bankruptcy Lawyer Do For You | Lawyers cost money and you’re considering bankruptcy because you don’t have enough money. What would … |
 | What Everyone Knows About Bankruptcy: Not | Lots of people profess to know all about bankruptcy. Whether they have good information or … |
 | What Goldilocks Knew About Tax Season | It’s so easy to get a tax filing extension and put off the unpleasant work … |
| What happened to encouraging Chapter 13 | Used to be, bankruptcy law was organized to encourage debtors to file Chapter 13 and … | |
 | What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Debts | Overdue debts will not send you to jail. Please repeat: overdue debts will not get … |
 | What happens in Vegas… | May make you a felon. Funny, the Las Vegas PR doesn’t mention criminal prosecution for … |
 | What Happens To Cash In Bankruptcy? | How much cash can you keep when you file bankruptcy? It’s not as though you … |
 | What Happens To Liens In Bankruptcy? | Liens in bankruptcy have an uncertain fate. While most liens survive a bankruptcy discharge, some … |
 | What Happens To My Stuff In Different Bankruptcy Chapters | Will it be Chapter 7 v. 13? After you’ve made the decision to get a … |
 | What Happens To Your Bank Account in Chapter 13 | Those considering filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy worry about “what happens to my bank account?” … |
 | What Happens To Your Business in Bankruptcy | Before you file bankruptcy, you need to know what happens to your business in your … |
| What if you choose an alternative to bankruptcy | I’ve continued to think about my response to David Leibowitz’s discussion of getting out of … | |
 | What If You Ignore That Lawsuit Against You | How do you ignore a lawsuit and expect a good outcome? Yet twice in the … |
 | What Is Really Scary About Debt Collectors | When I tell a client to stop paying credit cards, they look at me as though … |
 | What Is The Bankruptcy Trustee Looking For | What’s the bankruptcy trustee looking for when you submit your bank statements before the 341 … |
 | What Litigators Need To Know About Bankruptcy | Civil litigation often decides who owes what to whom. Bankruptcy law can impact ongoing litigation and … |
 | What looks bad to the trustee in prebankruptcy conduct | Wondering what bankrutpcy trustees look for when they ask for bank statements and question you … |
 | What Mythbusters Star Says About Money Troubles | Look at the big picture. That was the point Adam Savage of the TV show Mythbusters made as … |
 | What Should Bankruptcy Cost? | Pick a cheap bankruptcy lawyer and it could really cost you. We’re trained as consumers … |
 | What Small Business Needs From Government | This post was first published 10 years ago, in the midst of the Great … |
 | What The Fool Got Wrong About Filing Bankruptcy | The famous poem begins, “how do I love thee? let me count the ways”. But … |
 | What The Wild Things Teach Us About Bankruptcy | I miss Maurice Sendak, the late author of children’s books. What does a book about … |
 | What This Lawyer Is Grateful For At Thanksgiving | This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the American judiciary and, particularly, for district court judges. In … |
 | What To Disclose In Bankruptcy Papers | If the headline drew you in, like the Geico gecko, you can complain you’ve been … |
 | What To Do When Served With A Collection Lawsuit | Being served with papers in a California collection lawsuit doesn’t generally help your critical thinking process. … |
 | What You Can Do With Money Before Filing Bankruptcy | Worried that a bankruptcy judge or trustee is going to scour your spending before bankruptcy, … |
 | What You Don’t Know (Yet) About Your Mortgage Loan | The aftermath of mortgage mess mess will be with homeowners for as far into the … |
 | What You Keep In Chapter 13 | Just because debtors can keep their upscale trappings and their toys bought on credit doesn’t … |
 | What You Left Out Of Your Bankruptcy Schedules | One of the first questions a bankruptcy trustee will ask you at the hearing in … |
 | What You Need To Know About Reaffirmation In Bankruptcy | Decisions, decisions. Are you going to reaffirm the car loan? Your bankruptcy filing requires that … |
 | What You Think About Chapter 13 Is Dead Wrong | The difference between bankruptcy’s Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 is often expressed this way: Chapter … |
 | What Your Bankruptcy Lawyer Can’t Tell You | Replace your car before filing bankruptcy. That’s a secret, just between us. Bankruptcy “reform” in … |
 | What Your Signature On Your Bankruptcy Papers Really Says | Wish I had a buck for every time a client has told me, “Yes, I … |
 | What’s After Forbearance | Last spring, the CARES Act entitled everyone with a federally backed home mortgage to a … |
 | What’s Included In Bankruptcy? | People ask, all the time, what’s included in bankruptcy? Too often, people use “included” to … |
 | What’s New In Bankruptcy Law in 2021 | The new year of 2021 brings us face to face with a desolate economic landscape … |
 | What’s So Scary About Bankruptcy? | It’s Halloween and we indulge in make-believe scary moments and call it fun. In real … |
 | What’s The Income Limit for Filing Bankruptcy | Actually, there’s no income limit for filing bankruptcy. None, nada, no way. Instead, there’s the … |
| What’s To Fear About Bankruptcy | Fear of filing bankruptcy keeps countless people mired in debt. Are you one of … | |
 | What’s Up After Tax Extension To File? | The tax extension in the mail and you don’t have to think about income taxes … |
 | What’s Wrong With Most Get-Out-Of-Debt Advice | Get-out-of-debt gurus too often miss the essential truth known to every carpenter. Measure twice, cut … |
 | What’s Your Retirement Theme Song? | Why does tax season put me in mind of September Song ? Oh, the days dwindle down, … |
 | When $400 Emergency Pushes You Over The Edge | The Federal Reserve reported that 40% of Americans couldn’t meet a $400 emergency expense without … |
| When Bankrupting The Business Doesn’t Protect The Owner | “I want to file bankruptcy for my business, but I don’t need a personal bankruptcy”. … | |
 | When Can I File Bankruptcy Again | Remember the old high school cheer: two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Turns … |
 | When Can I File Bankruptcy Again | You can file bankruptcy tomorrow, so long as you don’t currently have a bankruptcy case … |
| When Chapter 20 Bankruptcy Adds Up | You can look a long time in the Bankruptcy Code without finding Chapter 20. Chapter … | |
 | When Debt Collectors Won’t Stop, Despite Bankruptcy | Get a collection notice after you’ve filed bankruptcy and after you’ve gotten a discharge, and … |
| When Foreclosure Requires You Move | When you’ve decided to walk away from a house you can no longer afford, don’t … | |
 | When Giving Isn’t Good | When you owe money to others, you are not free to give assets away. Or … |
 | When Is Individual Business Owner Liable for California Sales Tax | Even when corporate retailers collect California sales taxes from customers, the individuals running the entity … |
 | When Is The Right Time To File Bankruptcy | It can be hard to know when it’s the right time to file bankruptcy. But … |
 | When Is The Time Right To File Bankruptcy | Just like stand-up comedy and batting in baseball, filing bankruptcy is all about timing. Timing … |
 | When Mortgage Lenders Monkey With Your Loan | Spoiler Alert: As a borrower, you are an expendable resource in home loan servicing to … |
| When Stagnant Home Values Mean Huge Savings | I thought the lien stripping ship had sailed. We are finally climbing out of the … | |
 | When The Lender Changes Its Tune After Chapter 13 | The mortgage servicer took less than 30 days to change its story, big time. In … |
 | When You Can’t Make Your Chapter 13 Payments | When your wallet’s as flat as this tire and you can’t make your Chapter 13 … |
 | When You Can’t Pay The EIDL Loan | The COVID-era EIDL loans are coming due. But just because the pandemic is over doesn’t … |
 | When You Can’t Pay Your Bills Because Of The Virus | The coronavirus has us locked at home where the worry demons play unrestrained in our … |
 | When You’re Behind On Your Car Loan | Are you looking over your shoulder for the repo man every time you park your … |
 | When Your Bank Account Is Seized: California Action Plan | Time is short when you get a notice that a creditor has levied your bank … |
 | When Your Bankruptcy Discharge Doesn’t End Your Case | Isn’t my case over? I got my discharge. Why’s the bankruptcy trustee still hounding me?, my … |
 | When Your STBX Files Bankruptcy: An Action Plan | Whether the news comes by phone or mail, the notice that your soon-to-be-ex spouse has … |
 | Where Do I File My Bankruptcy Case? | Remember the kid’s geography game, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Clues took players … |
| Where’s the UST? | Sort of unwittingly, I got involved in one of the bigger issues plaguing bankruptcy courts … | |
 | Which Bankruptcy Chapter Is Right For Me? | Seven or Thirteen? 13 or 7? When you have a choice, how do you decide … |
 | Which Creditors Should You Really Fear? | A debt collector’s threat to sue you usually produces terror. You’re scared about losing your … |
 | Which Debt Collector Threats Should You Be Afraid Of? | Threats are the tools of the trade of debt collectors. Why not? Fear is effective to … |
 | Which Spouse Is Liable For Debts In California | California has been a community property state since 1850, and still we struggle to understand … |
| Who Cares About Your Spending Before Bankruptcy? | Worried about using credit cards before bankruptcy? Afraid of prejudicing your bankruptcy case by spending … | |
 | Who Files Bankruptcy In The Face Of Booming Bay Area Economy? | Silicon Valley is booming; our highways are so full of people getting to work that … |
| Who files bankruptcy? | The latest news from the office of the courts is: lots of people. Sixteen percent … | |
 | Who Gets A Slice Of The Bankruptcy Pie? | “That woman filed a claim in our bankruptcy case, and we don’t owe her any … |
 | Who Gets Grannie’s Cash – Grannie Or The Bankruptcy Trustee? | When there’s a joint bank account and a bankruptcy filing, good intentions can quickly go … |
 | Who Gets To Choose Your Bankruptcy Chapter? | Does someone other than the debtor get to choose which chapter a bankruptcy case is … |
 | Who Needs This Kind Of Help With Debts | Eliminate your unsecured debt sooner than you ever thought possible. That’s the promise of one … |
 | Who Owns Your Business When You File Bankruptcy? | The bankruptcy trustee’s question was straightforward (if inartful) yet the business owner nearly blew the … |
 | Who Profits When Money Trouble Is Shameful? | Talking about our financial troubles is taboo in this society. In fact, we are more … |
 | Who To Pay After Bankruptcy | You’ve filed bankruptcy. Your creditors are stayed. A bankruptcy discharge is ahead. You’re out from … |
 | Who To Pay When There’s Not Enough Money To Go Around | If you can’t pay your bills, the squeaky wheel should NOT get the oil… At … |
 | Who’s Afraid Of Bankruptcy’s 90 Day Rule | Most folks considering bankruptcy know about the 90 day rule in bankruptcy. They’ve talked to friends … |
 | Whopping exemption for CA 529 college accounts | A substantial new California exemption snuck into law in 2021, the college savings account exemption. … |
 | Why Bankruptcy Cases Go Down The Drain | I watched dozens of Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases get dismissed in a single afternoon in … |
 | Why Bankruptcy Means Test Is Paper Tiger In Bay Area | Bankruptcy’s means test is a paper tiger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Really! You … |
 | Why Credit Cards Win Clash of Creditors | In the tug o war of which creditor to pay, why is it that credit … |
| Why Creditors Should Get Less in Chapter 13 | Spending every dollar they make, and then some, is often how our Chapter 13 clients … |
 | 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 … |
 | Why File Bankruptcy? It’s Your Life Expectancy | Increasing life spans and the demise of pension plans is why filing bankruptcy now makes … |
| Why I Hate Credit Reporting Agencies | If you have a couple of hours, I’ll count the ways. But this morning, it’s … | |
 | Why I Love Chapter 13 | How do I love thee, Chapter 13? Let me count the ways. Hang on, because … |
 | Why Keep Bankruptcy Off Your Credit Record | We’ll help you do your own bankruptcy, promises the ad. And for a few dollars … |
 | Why No-Look Bankruptcy Fees Are No-Good | Lawyers become lawyers, in large part, because they can’t, or don’t want to, do math. Judges are … |
| Why Rising Home Prices Will Sink Some Homeowners | The median home price in the Bay Area has risen to over $500,000 for … | |
 | Why Tax Software Is Lousy Purchase | Why pay for Turbo Tax or its competitors when, odds are, you can get it … |
 | Why The Gap Between Judges & Attorneys Over Fees? | Very few bankruptcy judges ever represented average individuals in bankruptcy before they became judges. Fewer … |
 | Why These Student Loans Got Discharged In Bankruptcy | Discharging the student loans of a truck driver who lived in his employer’s truck or … |
 | Why Would Lawyer Choose Consumer Bankruptcy? | I had my fees cut last week in a small Chapter 13 case. The cut ($500) … |
 | Why You Don’t Want A Bankruptcy Attorney To Fight For You | Everyone wants a good bankruptcy lawyer when they’re considering filing bankruptcy. So, how do you … |
 | Why Your Mortgage Lender Won’t Send Statements After Bankruptcy | Lists of stupid laws are lots of fun, when they don’t really touch your life. … |
| Will A Second Bankruptcy Really Protect? | Immediate protection from collection is at the top of the list for most bankruptcy filers. … | |
 | Will I Get a Discharge in My Bankruptcy Case | Getting a bankruptcy discharge is what almost all cases are about. So the question of … |
 | Will recent credit card use sink my bankruptcy | If I’ve used credit cards before filing bankruptcy, do I have to wait? Too many … |
| Will Social Security Be Enough To Retire To Surf City? | We live in the Golden State. Retirement is supposed to be the Golden Years. Do … | |
| Will You Come Visit Me In Jail? | There’s a warrant out for my arrest, according to the message on my home phone. … | |
| Will You Have Money For A Lifetime? | The financially literate manage their money for the long haul so they have money for … |
 | Women win new protections in California exemption law | New California exemption laws will expand protections for alimony and eliminated a barrier to filing … |
 | Word rant: seizure of mortgaged homes | Perhaps I’m feeling particularly crotchety today, but the use of the word “seize” to describe … |
 | Worthless Mortgage Liens Keep Homeowner At Risk | The client originally had his choice of bankruptcy chapters. He could file Chapter 7, get … |
 | You Can Make Debt Collectors Stop | You can make debt collectors stop. You don’t have to endure phone calls and threatening … |
 | You Keep Underwater Property in Bankruptcy | Good news or bad news, the bankruptcy trustee doesn’t want your underwater property. Trustees only … |
 | Your Bankruptcy Discharge Has Teeth: Bite Back | Your bankruptcy discharge is more than a piece of paper. It’s a federal court order prohibiting action … |
 | Your Business Partnership Needs A Prenup | Financial partnerships are at least as challenging as marriages. And business deals don’t have love … |
 | Your Choices For The Underwater House | Gerri Detweiler kicks off a six part series on dealing with a home worth less … |
 | Your Creditors Lie In Wait For Your Kids | Is your legacy to your kids an encounter with your unpaid creditors? Debt problems for … |
 | Your Home Is Not A Piggy Bank | Right before the Great Recession, lenders, main stream and fly-by-night, urged us to “tap the equity in … |
 | 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 … |
 | Your Picks For The Best Of Bankruptcy Soapbox For 2016 | Jumping the gun on year-end by a bit, I’ve gathered up the 10 most-read new … |
 | Your Right To Credit Reporting After Bankruptcy | You’ve finished your Chapter 13 and emerged from bankruptcy with your home loan current. But your … |
 | Your Rights When Your Home Is Foreclosed | The foreclosure sale is over and the bank now owns the home. You’re now living in … |
 | Your Tax Refund In The Crosshairs In Debt Collecting Season | Who knew that there was a season for debt collecting? My friend and colleague attorney … |
 | Your Tax Refund Is Exposed In Bankruptcy, Unless… | The prospect of a tax refund makes most of us light up even when we … |
 | Your Vote, Your Voice | Government is serious work. For it to work well, it requires lawmakers who take those … |
| Zombie Debt Collectors Must Come Clean | Debt collectors in New Mexico must now warn debtors that a debt they are trying … | |
 | Zombie Debt is Naughty, Not Nice | Despite his bankruptcy discharge, my former bankruptcy client has just been bitten by naughty credit … |
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