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Free Bankruptcy Advice: Consider The Source

By Cathy Moran

big golden dollar symbol with apple. business success

Who gets their legal advice from their adversary?

My client did.

Get your legal advice from your adversary, your brother in law, or the internet and be prepared to get a surprise.  Often, not a pleasant surprise.

My client insisted that his tenant’s debt to him survived the tenant’s bankruptcy “because it was listed on Schedule G“.

The tenant had “explained” to my client that Schedule G was the list of debts the debtor didn’t seek to discharge.  So, my client continued, he was legally free to collect the back rent from the debtor after bankruptcy.

I had to explain it wasn’t so.

Schedule G is not a list of debts the debtor wants to continue paying on; it’s a list of executory contracts and unexpired leases.  The debtor’s obligation for each of those debts is discharged just as the debts listed on Schedule F.

How reaffirmation works

Reaffirmation is the only way that a dischargeable debt survives the discharge.  Reaffirmation requires a timely written agreement made after the bankruptcy is filed and approved by the bankruptcy judge.

None of that had happened in this case.

Law in the information age

The fund of information in our world is immense, and more accessible with the advent of the internet.

Not all of that information , however, is equally reliable.

The law is often complicated and dependent on the facts.  Information gets stale.  Not all bloggers know what they’re talking about.

I cringe when a client tells me that he’s “researched bankruptcy on the internet“.  Too often, the client’s full of misinformation complicated by erroneous assumptions.

I applaud the proactive consumer. Just take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt.  There’s a reason that lawyers go to school for three years before they can even take the bar exam.

If anything important to you rides on the information you seek, seek out a lawyer for some input.

Free legal advice can be really costly, and the cost of a lawyer to fix the situation is usually far greater than the cost of getting it right the first time.

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Filed Under: Consumer Rights, True Stories

About Cathy Moran

I'm a veteran bankruptcy lawyer and consumer advocate in California's Silicon Valley. I write, teach, and speak in the hopes of expanding understanding of how bankruptcy can make life better in a family's future.

Coronavirus & Your Finances

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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