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Debt Collector Threats: Which Ones Are Real?

By Mike Cardoza

debt collector

“What debt collector threats should people be afraid of?” was the question my friend bankruptcy attorney Cathy Moran asked. To which I replied, “Afraid of? Pretty much none of them!” Because they’re mostly all empty threats. You’re not going to jail,   They are not going to come get you, Your credit is not about to […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2018

We Live In An Economic House Of Cards

By Cathy Moran

I’ve long said to bankruptcy clients that bankruptcy can’t fix an income problem, it can just ameliorate an outgo problem. In the last round of frantic bankruptcy filings a decade ago, one symptom seemed to be that too many families in the Silicon Valley  couldn’t really afford to live a middle class life here. They […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Pondering Tagged With: 2018

Debts You Can’t Wipe Out In Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

nondischargeable debts

Nineteen kinds of debt survive a bankruptcy discharge: but three stand out from the rest. Those three exceptions to discharge look, not at the kind of debt such as taxes, or support or student loans.  Rather the exceptions look at  how the debt arose. These exceptions prevent bad actors from escaping the consequences in bankruptcy.  Bankruptcy is […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2018, non dischargeable, timing

You Can Make Debt Collectors Stop

By Cathy Moran

stop debt collectors

You can make debt collectors stop. You don’t have to endure phone calls and threatening letters. In fact, you have a statutory legal right to be free from harassing debt collection.  All it takes is a letter to the collector. We’ll show you how to write that letter and exercise your right. And, if you […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2018, debt collection

Automatic Stay Has Exceptions: It Doesn’t Stop Everything

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy stay

The automatic stay is the signature feature of American bankruptcy. Just by filing a bankruptcy case, a federal court injunction instantly prohibits your creditors  from actions to collect a debt from you or your assets. But, there’s a whole list of actions that aren’t included in the stay.  We forget that some kinds of lawsuits […]

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works Tagged With: 2018

Explaining The Increase In Monthly Mortgage Payments On Long Established Loans

By Cathy Moran

mortgage payments jump

Why has my mortgage payment increased so much? That’s the question I’m getting from lots of clients recently. Interest rates are creeping up on variable rate loans, but not dramatically. For most of those asking, it’s because the interest-only period of their home loan has run. Loans promised increased mortgage payments Borrowers forgot that lots […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2018

The Real Causes of Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran

why file bankruptcy

The commentator who equated debt problems with irresponsibility nearly caused me to melt down, right in my office. Irresponsibility, he said! The idea that people who find themselves with bills they can’t pay got in that mess through flighty behavior  or self absorption is sooooo wrong. Mindless spending is seldom the cause of bankruptcy in […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2018

Which Debt Collector Threats Should You Be Afraid Of?

By Cathy Moran

debt collectors

Threats are the tools of the trade of debt collectors. Why not? Fear is effective to get people to do stupid things. That’s why debt collectors use it. Pay up or… we’ll send you to collection we’ll sue you we’ll ruin your credit we’ll have you arrested we’ll have you deported we’ll take your house we’ll […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 2018

How One Family Settled Huge Debt For Pennies

By Cathy Moran

debt settlement

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

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

The Trouble With Your Social Security

By Cathy Moran

Social Security call

The caller says your Social Security file is incomplete and without more information, your assets, as well as your benefits, will be frozen. Pretty terrifying if you depend on Social Security checks. Only, it’s not true. The caller isn’t from Social Security. Social Security can’t freeze your assets. Social Security doesn’t do business by phone. […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2018

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About The Soapbox

You've arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said "try").

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions on how I think law should work for the consumer and small businesses when it comes to debt.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

Bankruptcy Alphabet: E is for Exemptions

E stands for exemptions in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Exemptions describe the possessions you get to keep when you file bankruptcy. E could also stand for Exception, since exemptions are the only place in bankruptcy law where the law is explicitly different from state to state. Exemptions vary The Bankruptcy Code … Read more

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