Bankruptcy

The Arizona Bankruptcy Exemptions Wars Begin: The Armistice Ends November 15th!

Posted on November 07, 2010
The Arizona Bankruptcy Exemptions aren't written in stone. They were written by men and women, and interpreted by men and women, and all of those folks have had opinions about what should or should not be exempt. And, as we know from the movie "Roadhouse", opinions differ! Over the last 30 years, I've gotten to watch a bunch of exemption battles rage...

After The Opt-Out Statute Is Repealed, We Can Use Exemtions in Style in Bankruptcy Cases in Arizona!

Posted on November 07, 2010
I have a dream. My dream is that the dumb ol' opt-out statute in the Arizona Exemption Laws will be repealed soon. It should be. It does no one any good at all, and it causes poor debtors to lose property they shouldn't need to lose. For instance, a computer is exempt under the Federal Exemption Statutes, as it should be, because it's pretty obvious that everybody today needs a darn computer, if only to find a job on Monster...

Death To The Opt-Out Statutes! Let My People Exempt! Freedom to Choose for Bankruptcy Debtors Everywhere!

Posted on November 07, 2010
Okay, I'm getting a little too excited for my advanced age and sluggish blood circulation. But I just had one of those moments of clarity about Opt-Out Statutes and Bankruptcy Law in general. There was never the slightest reason for them, and they've never done anybody the slightest bit of good...

A Statute that Lives in Infamy! FREE THE ARIZONA EXEMPTIONS!

Posted on November 07, 2010
You know, a fish doesn't notice water very much; it's just there. And an Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer normally doesn't think much about the Arizona Opt-Out Statute, which prevents Arizona Residents from making use of the Federal Bankruptcy Exemptions at 11 USC 522...

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The Tools of the Trade Exemption in Arizona; Read it Yourself!

Posted on November 07, 2010
Here it is, so you can see it for yourself. Enjoy! My initial comments and observations follow. 33-1130. Tools and equipment used in a commercial activity, trade, business or profession The following tools and equipment of a debtor used in a commercial activity, trade, business or profession shall be exempt from process: 1...

AVVO.coml A Resource For Everyone! Including Debtors in Bankruptcy Cases!

Posted on November 06, 2010
AVVO.com is a magnificent resource. If you want to try to find the best bankruptcy lawyer in Arizona for your particular needs, it's perhaps the tool of choice. After all, you can use it to compare Phoenix Bankruptcy Attorneys of all sorts, from board-certified experts with AV Ratings from Martindale...

Pre-Packaged Chapter 11 Plans: Don't Try this at Home, Kids!

Posted on November 05, 2010
Giant Chapter 11 Bankruptcy cases are not like mom-and-pop cases. They're more like exotic trips to the planet Krypton, where things happen in different ways than they do around here. MGM now has a bankruptcy plan which will probably be approved soon...

We Just Want It All to be Over! Is This Bankruptcy Ever Going to be Done? Well, No! Not for a While!

Posted on November 04, 2010
Has anybody had a baby? Natural childbirth, maybe? After the Lamaze Classes, my wife looked forward to the delivery, and the beauty and wonder of the birth experience. That was before the contractions hit. After a few hours of contractions, she suggested that the process was substantially less fun than she had expected...

ACORN Makes Election Night Announcement of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Posted on November 03, 2010
Now, some people and some things are just more interesting than others. There is the most interesting man in the world, for instance. And among ordinary people filing bankruptcy, those who are stars on reality shows are also going to be, in general, more interesting than other filings...

Your Arizona Bankruptcy Rights! Your RIGHT To File Bankruptcy! Your RIGHT To A Bankruptcy Discharge in Arizona!!

Posted on November 03, 2010
So you've got a driver's license.  That's good, because you'll need it at the first meeting of creditors (your 341 meeting) in your bankruptcy case, whether it's a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case. Along with your social security card. Do you have a right to your driver's license? No...

The Means Test Gets Meaner on November 1, 2010; Bankruptcy Was A Lot Easier Before 2005!

Posted on October 31, 2010
The means test is a limbo bar that permits some people to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cases, and forces others to file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy cases (if you're filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy because you flunk the means test, plan on five years of bankruptcy purgatory), unless they qualify under the primarily business debt exception to the means test...

Gimmie A Break, Okay? Talk to Your Spouse BEFORE You Visit with Me!

Posted on October 30, 2010
I just wrote about something that is perfectly fine by me; if you come to my office to talk to me about a bankruptcy, and you have a sobbing event for thirty minutes, no problem! Happens all the time, and it's not your fault, and I don't think you're dumb or silly for crying...

It's My Party. You Can Cry If You Want To!

Posted on October 30, 2010
It's fine if you cry. Every week, at least, and sometimes every day, somebody will start to sob and tear up and choke while they're explaining their situation to me. That's doesn't mean that something's wrong. That just means that it's Wednesday. It doesn't embarress me...

Hey, There Are Only a Few Ways This Lawsuit Will Shake Out, You Know?

Posted on October 29, 2010
I recently talked to a nice guy being sued by a S&L for a million. Or a Bank for five million. Doesn't really matter; the plot's the same. See, there's a commercially reasonable solution here, and the Bank (or S&L) really ought to want to change this default into a performing loan, because that's in the bank's best interest...

Is There Life After Bankruptcy? How Long After Bankruptcy Does It Take to Reestablish Credit and Buy a Cool Car with a Good Interest Rate?

Posted on October 28, 2010
The answer is different for everyone, of course. Some folks approach repairing their credit with serious focus, and do everything right. You almost have to take on repairing your credit as a hobby, and monitor it every day, and keep it watered, and fertilized, and weeded...

The Federal Government IS Looking Out for You!

Posted on October 27, 2010
The Federal Government is looking out for you, and that makes me happy. Here is a press release I received today, and I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me:   THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 20, 2010 FACT SHEET: Federal Government Efforts to Support  Accountability, Stability and Clarity in the Housing Market Today the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Office of Thrift Supervision met to discuss ongoing interagency action to support accountability, stability, and clarity in the housing market and residential mortgage backed securities markets...

I Assume You'll Take Care of These Seven Lawsuits for the Seven Months Before We File Bankruptcy. Wrong, Insolvency Breath!

Posted on October 26, 2010
The guys who voted for the 2005 Amendments have a lot to answer at some point or another. Used to be pretty easy, and I could file a fairly "good" kinda bankruptcy for just about anybody, and it didn't require leaping backwards through flaming hoops...

Are There "Hidden Fees" in Your Representation in a Bankruptcy? And Will You Return My Phone Calls?

Posted on October 24, 2010
I sure hope there are no hidden fees! I tried hard to put 'em on a billboard and have a skywriter spell 'em out in our scary five-page retainer agreement! What I try to do when I meet with a client is to figure out how much time, effort, and risk is involved in that particular consumer bankruptcy case, or that small business bankruptcy case, or that unique sui generis case...

Will You Fight For Me? Well, Maybe.

Posted on October 22, 2010
Will You Fight For Me?  There are a lot of people who only interact with a lawyer once in their lives. For instance, when they retain a bankruptcy attorney. And since they've never actually hired a lawyer before, they consult their memory banks for pictures they've seen of lawyers, and stories about lawyers, and jokes about lawyers, and movies about lawyers, and television shows about lawyers, in order to try to guess what their lawyer should be doing for them...

Yes, I Can Still Be Surprised. Using a Docu-prep for a Business Bankruptcy Filing in Arizona. A $20 Million Filing.

Posted on October 21, 2010
Let's say you were from somewhere else. Not from around here. Maybe Eastern Europe. Maybe Antarctica. But you work really hard, and develop good credit. And become able to obtain financing for a business. We'll pretend that the business is a plutonium resin manufacturing plant worth $10,000,000, and you obtain a loan to purchase that business, even though you aren't from around here and you do not speak English very well at all...

The Bankruptcy Video Blog Was a Labor of Love!

Posted on October 20, 2010
I am so pleased with my Bankruptcy Video Blog that I can't stand it! Is it perfect yet? Not even close. But it's a blog. And it has videos! And spotlights! Why am I so proud of it? Well, have you ever tried to find spotlights on Blogger?  I rest my case!NOTHING IN THIS BANKRUPTCY BLOG CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE RE A CHAPTER 7, CHAPTER 13, CHAPTER 11, OR CHAPTER 12...

Do I Have To Wait Six Months After I Take My First Consumer Credit Counseling Class to File My Bankruptcy?

Posted on October 19, 2010
No. You don't wait six months after you take your first consumer credit counseling class before you file. Here's how it works. You have to take your first consumer credit counseling class within the six months prior to filing. Otherwise, that class is "stale", and you'll need to take another waste-of-time-that-you'll-never-get-back-class before we can file for you...

New Jobs in a Flat Economy: the Saga of the Social Media Manager! Jobs to Search after Bankruptcy Might include Social Media Manager, Whatever That Is!

Posted on October 19, 2010
You think you got it tough? Well, you do, of course. Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this blog! But there are some folks with huge debts, and zero job prospects, for whom I have a lot of sympathy. They are recent law school graduates. Especially big-time law school grads...

I Have This New Blog, and I'm Stupidly Proud of It!

Posted on October 18, 2010
I just build a bankruptcy video blog, and I figured out how to make to tinker with backgrounds for my blog. So go see it, and share my joy!NOTHING IN THIS BANKRUPTCY BLOG CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE RE A CHAPTER 7, CHAPTER 13, CHAPTER 11, OR CHAPTER 12...

Do Liens Survive the Bankruptcy Discharge in Arizona in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases? Do Mortgages? Do UCC Security Interests?

Posted on October 18, 2010
In general, yes. I'll get back to you on this, but remember; the general rule is that a properly perfected security interest of any sort remains in existence even after your discharge. In some cases, you can scrape off a judgment lien on your house that impairs your homestead exemption, but that is typically not a part of an uncontested Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case in Arizona...

Deep Mining of Bankruptcy Cases after the Great Bankruptcy Drought of 2006

Posted on October 17, 2010
I was talking the other day to a buddy of mine, who by coincidence is a very experienced, credential heavy, ethical and resourceful bankruptcy attorney in Phoenix. The talk rolled around to the eighteen Arizona bankruptcy trustees who are appointed to bankruptcy cases here in Maricopa County...

Bankruptcy Cases in Arizona and Your Pet Dog. Will The Bankruptcy Trustee in your Chapter 7 Take Your Pooch?

Posted on October 13, 2010
I recently had a bad day making educational bankruptcy videos, because the microphones got funky about halfway through the shoot and we needed to wrap early. But we did get to talk about dogs, one of my favorite topics: Fortunately, the pet exemption in Arizona generally covers Fido and Blooper and Spot, so everybody generally goes home happy...

Toni Braxton Liked Bankruptcy So Much, She Did It Twice!

Posted on October 09, 2010
Well, I guess this is the celeb bankruptcy of the day! Now, to be fair, if you make a ton of money very early in your career, your world view may not be exactly the same as folks who work nine days a week just to make ends meet. That doesn't mean I wish her ill; I loved her song, "Unbreak my Heart", and hope she keeps singing...

Inadvertent Industrial Espionage in a Business Bankruptcy Case in Arizona

Posted on October 08, 2010
Inadvertent industrial espionage is probably not really industrial espionage; but I like the silly television show "Chuck", so I like the word "espionage". It makes me feel a little less boring than the phrase "Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney". I guess it's also not espionage when you ask, and you get told what you want to know; so, once again, I guess I'm not an International Man of Mystery...

Will You Help Me Lie to the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona?

Posted on October 07, 2010
My guys on the phones aren't lawyers; they work hard, and currently they confirm representation when a creditor calls in about our bankruptcy debtor clients. They also take the hot grounders when a panic-stricken potential client calls; people sometimes awaken from their depressive trance when they are served with lawsuits, or when the trustee's sale sign gets pounded into their front yard...

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