Pay off debt first or start saving now? It’s a debate almost as convoluted as which came first, the chicken or the egg? Experts heatedly take opposite sides. You get rid of debt faster if you put all available cash into paying off balances. BUT You have no reserves for the unexpected if you spend everything that […]
Long Silent Second Mortgages: The Worrisome Truth
Like a sleeping bear, long-silent second mortgages hibernate in people’s houses these days. They are quiet, a snoozing predator, just waiting for spring. And it can be bloody when those sleeping mortgages awaken hungry and look around for something to fill its pocket. Here in California the coming slaughter is particularly noticeable because the value […]
Means Test Cheat Sheet 2: Taxes In Bankruptcy
If the most useful trick for beating the means test involves projecting health care expenses, the second most useful trick involves taxes. Tax troubles drive the filing of a large percentage of bankruptcy cases these days. It makes sense: bankruptcy is a powerful tax tool and a bankruptcy judge can be a good ally when […]
Tax Tips & Tidbits To Pay Less
Tax filing deadline approaches, so I thought we’d gather up tax tips and little known tax strategies, especially useful if you’ve filed bankruptcy. The Tax Deduction No One Tells You About If you are paying mortgage interest, state taxes, back support, or business debt through a Chapter 13 plan, those payments made by the trustee […]
Scammers Spoof IRS To Get Your Info
Tax season saw a 400% rise in fake email to taxpayers pretending to be from the IRS. The scammers want you to click a link, give them information, or otherwise open yourself to identity theft. Identity theft and the diversion of tax refunds is the number one tax scam. Fake email is third. Protect yourself as […]
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 from getting out of debt. It’s emotions, not reasons, keep people from filing bankruptcy and starting fresh. Even if Reason says that you’ll never pay your debts off in the usual way. Reason also says that paying old debt steals […]
Chapter 13 Keeps You In Control
You can’t decide between bankruptcy chapters until you really understand how Chapter 13 works to keep you in control. Control of your assets, control of your payment plan, control of who gets paid. You want to be at the helm of your case. Chapter 13 can do that. Chapter 13 protects more than assets Chapter […]
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 […]
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 to collect the discharged debt from you. And it has teeth. When creditors ignore a federal court order, it has unpleasant consequences. Or should have consequences. So, my call to debtors is to stop being prey to unscrupulous debt collectors. […]
What Debts Were Discharged In My Bankruptcy?
After your bankruptcy, one of the hardest questions is figuring out just which debts were discharged. Eliminating debts was the whole point of filing bankruptcy. You’ve got a court order, but no list. You and your creditors understandably expect to find a single document telling them what debts are no longer enforceable and which survive the bankruptcy. No such […]
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