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Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Articles & Blog

Bankruptcy and debtor issues
By Goldstein & Clegg, LLC

Post Frequency: 0.5/day

Last Entry: February 15, 2011 at 17:34:50

Will I loose my Personal Injury settlement in a bankruptcy?

Posted on February 15, 2011
One of the most common questions or concerns that people have when they file a bankruptcy case is whether they will loose any assets. The issue of retaining ones home, car and even wages has frankly been discussed to death. However, one issue that has not received the treatment it deserves is whether [...

Mass. decision could wreak ?havoc? on mortgage industry

Posted on February 14, 2011
em>By Phillip Bantz Staff writer LawyersUSA January 10, 2011A recent decision from Massachusetts? highest court could impact courts across the country and lead to a flood of overturned foreclosures, exacerbating the mortgage mess. The Massachusetts court is the first state supreme court to rule that only the holder of a mortgage may foreclose on a property, upholding [...

Attorney Goldstein published in the Newengland Law Journal

Posted on December 08, 2010
Attorney Michael Goldstein of of the partners at our firm has recently published a feature article in the Southern New England Roundtable Symposium Law Journal titled, The Changing Practuce of Bankruptcy Law and Analysis of How Bankruptcy Practice Has Changed in the Last Decade...

How to protect your tax refund from the Trustee

Posted on October 11, 2010
When someone who is facing financial difficulty decides to file for bankruptcy there are many secondary choices they must make. They may be able to decide which chapter of bankruptcy they should file, Chapter 7 liquidation or Chapter 13 reorganization...

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Negotiate to reduce Credit Card Interest Rate

Posted on September 27, 2010
The Credit Card Act has provided a great deal of added protection for consumers in the use of credit cards and the manor in which banks can market to its customers. However, one area that was not addressed was limiting the rate that can be charged after proper notice is provided to existing customers...

CHANGING LAWS ON MALL GIFT CARDS

Posted on August 23, 2010
Have you ever received a gift card for the mall or one of those pre-paid Visa or MasterCard, only to find out when you tried to use them that the card has expired, or due to the length of time, much of the funds were not available for your use? This is an unfortunate occurrence [...

Debt settlement companies may mislead you

Posted on August 14, 2010
Recently, I have heard many Creditor rights and debt settlement companies making statements about bankruptcy that are at best inaccurate, and at worst an attempt to dissuade Debtors from filing bankruptcy in lieu of loosing their home and entering into long-term pay back plans with Creditors that are not in a Debtor?s best interest...

Challenging a Charge on your Credit Card

Posted on July 20, 2010
The process and procedures to dispute an inaccurate charge on a credit card is well documented and supported by Massachusetts & Federal Laws. Consumer laws have been protecting individuals from wrongful actions of creditors. There are certain steps an individual must take to take advantage of the law's consumer protection: contacting the creditor, waiting [...

How are Chapter 13 Payments Determined?

Posted on June 23, 2010
Consumers who file for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 are in a unique position with respect to their debts and how much of those debts get paid. Under a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, the Debtor is proposing to reorganize his or her finances and to pay back not only missed payments on mortgages, cars loans, and [...

Involuntary Bankruptcy

Posted on June 21, 2010
Many Creditors have found themselves in the position of being owed a significant amount of money but having no way of collecting that money. In some situations though, the Creditor may be privy to information that the reason they are not being paid is not due to a lack of funds by the Consumer or [...

How far loan modification programs have been helpful for homeowners

Posted on June 02, 2010
It is known to everyone that many homeowners have defaulted on their mortgage loans due to the economic downturn in the recent past (2007-2009). The homeowners had not been able to get loan modification help from their lenders. So, the Government has introduced Home loan modification Program (HAMP) taking help of which the homeowners can [...

Loan Modifications are not the only option

Posted on May 27, 2010
The term loan modification is not a new one, but it has picked up a lot of speed over the past year. In the past, homeowners and lenders have been able to workout deals to change the essential terms of a mortgage through private negations. However, in March of 2009, the United States government released [...

How to handle medical bills

Posted on May 19, 2010
There are many forms of unsecured debt, including credit cards, personal loans and essentially, any debt that is not secured by an actual asset or collateral. However, the one form of unsecured debt that does not get much treatment or conversation is medical bills...

You don?t have to be in arrears to modify your mortgage

Posted on May 10, 2010
The general rule of thumb is that no one is going to renegotiate a contact of any sort unless it is advantageous to them. What I mean by this is that if it is not in your bank?s interest to modify your loan, then why should they? As a result of this theory, many [...

Consumer Attorney sticking up for Creditors Counsel

Posted on April 27, 2010
Let me preface this blog by stating that I am a consumer debt attorney. I typically represent homeowners or small business owners in negotiations with banks and other creditors, or in protecting consumer rights though use of the Bankrutpcy code. Now with that said, I am going to do somthing for my brothers and sisters, [...

What if you need a new car in a bankruptcy

Posted on April 21, 2010
Many bankruptcy filers enter into a Chapter 13 case with a car lease. However due to the 60 month duration of their case, their lease expires before they receive a discharge of debt. As such, many Debtors have a need to either purchase their existing lease or to enter into a new contract...

How Debt Settlement Companies Plan to Get Around New Consumer Protection Rules

Posted on April 15, 2010
In February of this year, President Obama signed into law the new Credit Card Act, which reglulates how banks and other collections agencies can market and promote credit cards. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has enacted several laws that protect consumers from fraudulent and deceptive practices of creditors as well as shaddy companies that [...

Home owners are protected from deceptive banks

Posted on April 08, 2010
The Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act is a law which allows consumers to take legal action against unfair or deceptive business activity. M.G.L c. 93A is the Massachusetts statute which is used in order to deal with such matters. Violation of the regulation gives the individual litigant an opportunity to obtain actual damages and equitable relief, [...

How to fix a false statement on your credit report

Posted on March 20, 2010
In order to determine if you should be granted the use and privilege of a credit card, mortgage, car loan or other source of funding, most creditors rely heavily on your credit report. These credit reports are generated by information provided by your current creditors, that is those who you owe money for goods and [...

How bankruptcy can affect children

Posted on March 02, 2010
The affects of bankruptcy can have a lasting impact on a person. Once a child is involved the affects can last for a long time. The topic of dealing with the affects of bankruptcy on children is not a topic that has received much attention over the years, but this topic is one that should [...

Why Your Tax Forms Are So Important to Your Attorney

Posted on March 01, 2010
When you work with an attorney on a bankruptcy filing, there?s a long list of documents you?ll be asked to gather and give to your attorney. Some of the most critical documents you?ll gather are your last three years? worth of tax filings, both state and federal...

Why Your Tax Forms Are So Important to Your Attorney

What Happens at My Chapter 7 Court Date?

Posted on February 15, 2010
When you go into Bankruptcy Court for your Chapter 7 hearing, you appear before a Bankruptcy Trustee in what is known as a ?341 Meeting.? Your hearing takes place in a conference room rather than a courtroom; however, you must be neatly groomed and appropriately dressed as for any official occasion...

Personal Bankruptcy Filings Rising Fast

Posted on January 05, 2010
In today’s Wall Street Journal, I found a great article by Sare Murray and Conor Dougherty about the increase in bankrutpcy filings. The number of Americans filing for personal bankruptcy rose by nearly a third in 2009, a surge largely driven by foreclosures and job losses...

How do you sell your home in a Bankruptcy

Posted on November 29, 2009
There are two main chapters (or types) of Bankruptcy that Consumers typically file. Chapter 7 (liquidation) and Chapter 13 (reorganization). In order to sell your property in either of these, the bankruptcy court must not have an interest in the property or give permission to effectuate a sale...

How the HAMP loan modifications effect your credit score

Posted on November 19, 2009
This post discusses (1) how they are being reported, (2) how they should be reported, (3) what you can do to get your HAMP-modified mortgage reported correctly, and (4) possible effects even the ?correct? reporting might have on your credit score. How HAMP-modified loans are being reported now Many servicers are reporting the modified mortgages to the [...

Banks?s must Produce the Note to foreclose

Posted on November 08, 2009
I recently came across a great article drafted by a former paralegal of our firm, Rick D. Misitano regarding foreclosure defense. Below are the pertinent parts of that article. When a lender can?t produce the original note, allowing a foreclosure to proceed puts the homeowner at risk of owing that debt again to another party in [...

How to Remove a Judgment Lien from your property

Posted on November 05, 2009
Many homeowners have found themselves in the position of owing money on a debt which they simply can not pay back, or have been sued by someone and failed to respond to the law suit. When this happens, the Plaintiff often will attempt to collect on their judgment by putting a lien on the homeowner?s [...

Will you loose an investment property in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy?

Posted on October 12, 2009
Before a Debtor files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, there are certain considerations to take into account. One of the most significant considerations is whether the Debtor will loose any property. The general rule is that no Debtor in a Chapter 7 case should have more then one home with equity...

THEY CHANGED THE LOCKS!! NOW WHAT??

Posted on September 11, 2009
Agents and brokers have been asking us what happens when a lender winterizes a home and changes the locks on a homeowner while they are in the process of doing a short sale. First of all, let me make it perfectly clear: A homeowner remains the homeowner until they no longer own their home...