There’s no free initial bankruptcy consultation in my office. Unlike many, we charge for that initial meeting with a lawyer. (There’s no free lunch either.) That makes us different from lots of other bankruptcy lawyers. Different enough to offend a prospective client who called up this week. He was unwilling to pay for a consultation, […]
How To Pick A Bankruptcy Lawyer
How do you pick a bankruptcy lawyer when you’ve never hired any lawyer and never before considered filing bankruptcy? What do you ask a bankruptcy lawyer to determine if the lawyer is the right one for you? After all, the conversation has to move beyond “what does bankruptcy cost?” Financial troubles are tough and bankruptcy […]
Three Barriers To Getting Out Of Debt
Three emotions, not reasons, keep people from filing bankruptcy and getting out of debt. While not as sexy as the seven deadly sins, these emotions still keep my clients mired in debt long after logic says “quit”. Fear Stubbornness Pride These emotions keep people mired where they are. They block the road forward. Fear Fear of […]
Disarm The Debt Collector: Understanding The Weapons of Collection
You can stop a debt collector cold, wherever you live, using federal law. Consider that the weapons of a debt collector are fear, shame, and annoyance. The weapon delivery system is communication. Those weapons don’t have to be any more threatening than a plastic toy pistol, if you understand what’s going on. To use those […]
Can You Be Arrested For Not Paying Your Debts?
Despite the story spread all over about federal marshals arresting a man for an unpaid student loan, we don’t arrest people for not paying their debts. And Fox News got the story wrong. The man was not arrested because he owed money he hadn’t paid. He was arrested for blowing off a court order that […]
California Bankruptcy Law Is All Our Own
California Bankruptcy law is a lot like a unicorn….appealing but imaginary. Instead, we have bankruptcy in California, where the landscape is shaped by community property; state exemptions, large mortgages, and the 9th circuit court of appeals. Like the Merced River cutting through the granite of Yosemite, those factors alter the bankruptcy landscape here. Community property […]
Don’t File Bankruptcy In December
Bankruptcy can provide tax relief, if your timing is right. Tax troubles are at the heart of so many bankruptcy filings. It makes sense: bankruptcy is a powerful and predictable tool to get out of tax debt. File bankruptcy before the end of the year and you fix only a part of your tax problems. […]
Better To Live With Debts Than File Bankruptcy?
Locked up in debt? Should you file bankruptcy? Or, is it better to live with your debt and keep making minimum payments? Does life get better or worse if you file bankruptcy? That question sums up most people’s fears about shedding their debt through bankruptcy. What will life be like, after bankruptcy? Good questions. And I […]
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 plan payments, what do you do? Chapter 13 promised a chance to reorganize, keep what’s important, and get out of a financial hole. But it just isn’t working. What now? In good lawyer style, I’ve got to tell you: it […]
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