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Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 20:41:02

How Can Bankruptcy Help Me?

Posted on February 28, 2011
As a Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, I meet quite a few people who are investigating what bankruptcy can do for them. Often the question will arise: How Can Bankruptcy Help Me? I think it is a great question, and it is one that I try to answer for each and every individual that walks through my [...

NACBA Goes to Washington

Posted on February 28, 2011
The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) meet in Washington, D.C., in April. The deadline for discounted “early bird” registration is Friday, March 4, 2011. The 19th annual NACBA convention on April 15-17, 2011, is being combined with the annual members-only Capitol Hill meeting on April 13-14, 2011...

How Should I List My Bankruptcy Exemptions in Light of the Supreme Court Case of Schwab v. Reilly?

Posted on February 28, 2011
The recent Supreme Court decision of Schwab v. Reilly dealt with a rather technical question of just what are debtors protecting when they claim an exemption in their bankruptcy? The Court said that a debtor must indicate that they are claiming an exemption for the full value of the item not just a portion of [...

Mortgage, Car Payments Not Reported After Bankruptcy

Posted on February 27, 2011
You’ve made your mortgage or car payments after bankruptcy. Your credit report says “zero payments made”. That’s as it should be, and it’s for your benefit. (Your credit will rebuild anyway. Here’s more, and here’s even more...

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Can I Get Out of a Bad Oil and Gas Lease If I File Bankruptcy?

Posted on February 27, 2011
Many landowners, particularly struggling farmers in Upstate New York, are trying to get out of gas leases they signed several years ago and replace them with new gas leases. It could make a difference of over $1,000,000 to the landowner. Filing bankruptcy could be the tool they need...

Where Does Bankruptcy Law Come From? Part 1: The Code

Posted on February 25, 2011
Bankruptcy law in the United States is an amalgam of rules that comes from various sources sometimes with an exquisite harmony — like a fine orchestra — and sometimes with great disharmony — like an engine with a blown bearing. The variety of sources for the law makes it particularly complex to practice as a [...

Uniform Bankruptcy Law? Your State Does Matter!

Posted on February 23, 2011
As explained by Professor Daniel Austin of the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Mass. in the December/January 2011 American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, the U. S. Constitution in Article 1, the Bankruptcy Clause, authorized Congress to establish uniform laws regarding bankruptcy throughout the United States...

No Mo? DOMA? Don?t Know! Can Same Sex Couples File Bankruptcy? Go for it.

Posted on February 23, 2011
The Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] , 1 U.S.C. 7, defines the word spouse in federal law to only include a person of the opposite sex. DOMA has been cited to preclude same sex married couples or couples joined by same sex civil unions from jointly filing bankruptcy...

The IRS Does Not Send Emails, Especially Asking For Personal Information

Posted on February 23, 2011
Your Finances and personal information need to be guared. Beware of phishing scam that says the IRS needs information. See this alert from the NC Attorney General, which anyone from any state can benefit from reading. Scammers try to get your personal information any way they can, and a new way is emailing you posing as [...

Vendors Selling to a Bankrupt Debtor

Posted on February 23, 2011
Vendors are often afraid to sell to a bankrupt debtor on normal credit terms. At first glance, this makes a lot of sense. A debtor who is liquidating in bankruptcy doesn’t seem like a very good credit risk. However, what about those businesses seeking to reorganize in Chapter 11? The bankruptcy laws provide incentives and [...

Can Collective Union Action Force Mortgage Modifications?

Posted on February 20, 2011
Congress has been unable to pass any legislation that would allow for effective modification of mortgages. And the HAMP program is failing miserably. Two New York unions, however, have come up with the idea that collective action through the market may get the needed results...

Bankruptcy World Loses Two Advocates in Less Than a Month

Posted on February 19, 2011
Bankruptcy Judge Wesley Steen retired, effective January 17, 2011, from his position as Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Texas. He was my judge in Victoria, Texas and one of my judges in Houston. Judge Steen was also the bankruptcy judge in Laredo, Texas...

Bankruptcy Clients Of The Month: Parents In Financial Trouble

Posted on February 17, 2011
Bankruptcy clients of the month: Parents. Specifically, parents with adult kids that need monetary help. I seem to be seeing a lot more people whose adult children have moved in with them. As the economy grows worse, children seem to be moving home in greater numbers...

Disclose Foreign Bank Accounts Now To Avoid Jail

Posted on February 17, 2011
All citizens and residents of the United States are required to disclose foreign financial accounts that aggregate more than $10,000 in value by the Bank Secrecy Act . The failure to disclose or otherwise comply can result in heavy civil penalties and even criminal prosecution...

Bankruptcy debtors may benefit from short selling their home

Posted on February 17, 2011
As a bankruptcy lawyer, I have often advised clients not to bother with a short sale if they?re filing bankruptcy. They are such a headache, and what is the point anyway? The bankruptcy discharge will wipe out the debtor?s obligation on the house. However, Jacksonville real estate lawyer David J...

Beware the ?Missing Loan Documents? Letter

Posted on February 16, 2011
Recently, a colleague of mine was given a letter from a client. She had received it from a law firm, and it said: Dear Borrower: We are your mortgage company’s lawyers. We are attempting to reproduce certain loan documents that are now missing from your loan file...

Valentine?s Day and Bankruptcy

Posted on February 14, 2011
Of course you love your sweetie. Honeybunches is your best baby. And I’m sure that snookums is true blue to you in every way. Have you checked your credit? Financial infidelity is a leading cause for divorce, not to mention bankruptcy. For better or worse, your marriage is a financial partnership as well as a [...

In A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy And Want To Sell A House

Posted on February 14, 2011
If you are in Chapter 13 bankruptcy and you want to sell your house, it isn’t hard so long as you let your lawyer know early, and discuss how to do it before you get underway with the sale. Permission must be granted by the bankruptcy judge in charge of your case or your [...

In Bankruptcy? Don?t Fear the 1099-C

Posted on February 13, 2011
This year, it seems that more creditors than ever are sending IRS Form 1099-C to their debtors who have filed bankruptcy or settled debts with them. While in many cases it is unnecessary for the creditor to do this, it is nothing to fear. If a debt is discharged in bankruptcy, it is not treated [...

Tell A Debt Collector Where To Put It

Posted on February 12, 2011
This past week, I had a consultation with a frantic debtor who really did not want to file bankruptcy. She was facing a garnishment of her wages and did not understand the garnishment. Back in 2003, a debt collector had sued her and obtained a judgment for approximately $1100...

Tell Your Attorney Everything: Including Your Income And Expenses.

Posted on February 11, 2011
Always tell you bankruptcy attorney everything. There are a number of posts about disclosing all of your assets and all of your debts, but everything includes your income and expenses as well. And not just current income; please tell you attorney about bonuses you expect, receivables you are going to get, or anything else that [...

Tell The IRS Where To Put It

Posted on February 10, 2011
Business owners who find themselves liable for unpaid payroll taxes are in deep trouble. The trust fund portion of the tax, the amount withheld from employees’ checks, becomes a personal debt of anyone in the business who could have paid that money over to the IRS...

Do-It-Yourself Foreclosure Help Increasing But It?s Still Good to Talk to a Bankruptcy Lawyer

Posted on February 07, 2011
A recent New York Times article, Foreclosed Homeowners Go to Court on Their Own, begins: ALBUQUERQUE ? Saving your home from foreclosure is increasingly a do-it-yourself project. The article features an hour-long workshop started in my state of New Mexico by the nonprofit Fair Lending Center, a legal aid group...

How To Track Your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

Posted on February 07, 2011
Tracking your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy progress will help you in reaching the finishline and obtain the discharge. By tracking your case on a regular basis you will know first hand when your payments have been received and what creditors have filed a proof of claim...

Means Test for Conversion to Chapter 7? Appeals Court Soon to Weigh In

Posted on February 06, 2011
When a chapter 13 bankruptcy debtor’s circumstances change during the case, making it difficult for the debtor to continue making payments under the chapter 13 plan, the debtor should ask his or her lawyer about converting the case to chapter 7...

Facebook and Legal Ethics: Be Careful Out There

Posted on February 05, 2011
While the use of social media offers great opportunities in networking and client development for lawyers, a recent article in the American Bar Association Journal highlights some of the potential pitfalls. Seduced: For Lawyers the Appeal of Social Media is Obvious...

BLN Member Brett Weiss Testifies On Proposed Changes to Bankruptcy Rule 3001 and Official Form 10

Posted on February 04, 2011
On February 4, 2011, I was honored to have been asked to testify on behalf of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) before the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules. The Committee proposes changes to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and submits them to the U...

Converting Your Case From A Chapter 13 To A Chapter 7

Posted on February 04, 2011
In a chapter 13 case, you are required to make monthly payments to a chapter 13 trustee who will take your money and distribute it to your creditors according to a plan approved by the bankruptcy court. Typically, people would choose to file a chapter 13 in order to save a house from foreclosure; try to [...

Bankruptcy and Emotions

Posted on February 03, 2011
Keep your emotions in check when dealing with your financial problems. No one wants to file bankruptcy, but sometimes it?s your only meaningful option. ?I don?t want to file bankruptcy,? a client said to me the other day. ?No one does,? I replied. I explained that any good bankruptcy lawyer will explain non-bankruptcy options?like debt [...

Same Old Debt as Last Year? Stop Living a Financial ?Groundhog Day?

Posted on February 02, 2011
On Groundhog Day, it is fitting to consider whether you are living in a financial ‘Groundhog Day.’ Remember the Bill Murray movie? A self-absorbed weatherman is doomed to repeat the same day over and over, until self- awareness is achieved...

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