Bankruptcy

BAPCPA at 4 Years – Has It Solved Anything?

Posted on January 30, 2010
I have been representing debtors in bankruptcy cases filed in the Northern District of Georgia for over 20 years. Until the law changed in 2005, filing bankruptcy was a fairly straightforward process – often I would meet with a client, decide whether to file and select Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, collect information about creditors, develop a budget, then file that day...

Student Loan Discharge Case Heard by U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on January 30, 2010
Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving the question of discharge of student loans in a Chapter 13 case. The case arose from a Chapter 13 petition filed in 1992 by Francisco Espinoza, an American Airlines baggage handler...

Hiring Has Not Picked Up: A Look at Unemployment Claims Stats

Posted on January 25, 2010
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, further evidence that the job market recovers at a very slow and bumpy pace. California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and even Georgia have experienced the highest recent increases in unemployment claims...

Georgia Personal Bankruptcy Filings Continue to Increase

Posted on January 22, 2010
According to a recent article regarding Georgia bankruptcy published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it is nothing new that Georgia has one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation. What is new, suggests the AJC article, is who is filing: large numbers of people who have not previously had problems with financial instability...

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Giant Debt Collector Law Firm Mann, Bracken Out of Business

Posted on January 17, 2010
A number of stories have recently appeared in bankruptcy and consumer rights blogs suggesting that the Atlanta based collection firm Mann, Bracken, LLC has gone out of business.   On his Caveat Emptor blog, Minnesota bankruptcy attorney Sam Glover has written several posts about the Mann, Bracken firm including one on December 22, 2009 stating that the calls to the firm's phone number instructs callers to communicate directly with their creditors...

Free Tool to Calculate Your Median Income for Bankruptcy Purposes

Posted on January 09, 2010
As you probably know, your eligibility for bankruptcy protection is determined in part by your household income.  The Bankruptcy Code requires us to calculate your median income by looking at gross income earned by you, your spouse and any other working member of your household during the 6 months preceding the current month...

Bankruptcy Filings Increase Among Middle Class

Posted on January 04, 2010
This weekend's AJC Business story entitled "Bankruptcies hit State Hard" confirmed what I have been seeing on a weekly basis in my Atlanta area bankruptcy practice – more people who were solidly "middle class" are finding themselves facing huge debt loads and the prospect of a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing...

Use Online Access Keep Track of the Disbursements in Your Chapter 13 Case

Posted on December 18, 2009
Once you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and begin contributing monthly to the payment plan, you may wonder where your money is going, who?s being paid and how much money you still owe until you get your Chapter 13 discharge. As a Chapter 13 debtor, you can have access to much of the same information that the Trustee and your attorney have...

Has "Financial Repression" Stopped You from Filing Bankruptcy?

Posted on December 15, 2009
Editors note:  In this compelling guest post, Charleston bankruptcy lawyer Russ DeMott describes what he calls "financial repression" – the tendency of honest, hardworking men and women to delay or forego bankruptcy protection because of the administrative and expense burdens added to the bankruptcy filing process by the 2005 BAPCPA changes to the bankruptcy laws...

BAPCPA at 4 Years ? Has It Solved Anything?

Posted on December 14, 2009
I have been representing debtors in bankruptcy cases filed in the Northern District of Georgia for over 20 years. Until the law changed in 2005, filing bankruptcy was a fairly straightforward process – often I would meet with a client, decide whether to file and select Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, collect information about creditors, develop a budget, then file that day...

Student Loan Discharge Case Heard by U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on December 11, 2009
Earlier this month the U.S.  Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving the question of discharge of student loans in a Chapter 13 case.   The case arose from a Chapter 13 petition filed in 1992 by Francisco Espinoza, an American Airlines baggage handler...

Georgia Among Top Five in Bankruptcy Filings Per 1000 Residents

Posted on December 05, 2009
Filing bankruptcy reshapes America. This chart from the EconomicCrisisBlog.com graphically illustrates what many of us in the Atlanta area already know – Georgia has one of the nation's highest rates of bankruptcy filings. Read more on Georgia Among Top Five in Bankruptcy Filings Per 1000 Residents…

Christmas Shopping and January Bankruptcy

Posted on November 21, 2009
As we approach the Christmas holiday season, I want to remind my readers of two things.  First and foremost, I want to wish all of my clients and blog readers a happy and healthy holiday season.   Financial struggles will come and go but if you have your family and your health, not a whole lot of other things matter...

Will a Personal Bankruptcy Affect my Small Business if I am Self Employed?

Posted on October 24, 2009
With a sluggish economy, I have met with an increasing number of small business owners who are considering personal bankruptcy to deal with credit card debt and personal loans, but who want to keep their business assets and credits separate.  Is this possible...

FDCPA Does Not Give Debt Collector the Right to Leave Messages on Your Phone Answering Machine

Posted on October 18, 2009
As you may know, there are both federal and state laws that offer a variety of protections to individuals who are in debt and who are being dunned by debt collectors.  The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act offers a variety of protections in cases involving collection agencies (as opposed to the actual creditor)...

Median Income Numbers for Georgia Go DOWN!

Posted on October 13, 2009
For the first time since means testing was instituted in 2005, the median income number in Georgia have gone down.   This means that potential Chapter 7 debtors will have a more difficult time avoiding a "presumption of abuse" and the extra cost and hassle of means test calculations...

Should I File Chapter 13 While I am Receiving Workers' Compensation?

Posted on October 09, 2009
If you have been hurt on the job in Georgia and rely on weekly wage benefits from workers'  compensation you know that temporary total disability benefits payable per Georgia law will require you to downsize your standard of living.   Sometimes the financial strain caused by your loss of a regular paycheck may lead you to consider Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy...

FBI Warns Against Bankruptcy Fraud

Posted on October 08, 2009
My Bankruptcy Law Network colleague Rachel Foley from Kansas City has written a useful article on the Bankruptcy Law Network blog that brings to light a problem that many debtors (and perhaps many debtors' attorneys) don't think about too much – bankruptcy fraud...

Another Debtor Ripped Off by a Foreclosure Scam (Part 2)

Posted on October 04, 2009
Last month, I wrote a post describing a case that was recently heard by one of the judges in the Northern District of Georgia.  In this case, a debtor had filed a Chapter 13 the day of a foreclosure.  The lender was not aware of the bankruptcy so it went ahead with the foreclosure sale...

Another Debtor Ripped Off by a Foreclosure Relief Scam (Part One)

Posted on September 09, 2009
This afternoon (September 9), I had a chance to observe a very interesting case heard by one of the judges in the Northern District of Georgia.  The issue at hand was a motion filed by a mortgage creditor to "validate" a foreclosure that had been cried out on the courthouse steps back in July...

What Happens if my Chapter 13 Case is Dismissed?

Posted on August 27, 2009
Earlier this week, I wrote a post entitled Should I Oppose the Chapter 13 Trustee's Motion to Dismiss.  In that post I spoke about the relatively common scenario whereby a Chapter 13 debtor will fall behind on payments to the trustee or an unexpected claim will cause the plan to run longer than 60 months...

Should I Oppose the Chapter 13 Trustee's Motion to Dismiss

Posted on August 25, 2009
As you may know, Chapter 13 cases function as payment plans whereby you send your Chapter 13 trustee a monthly payment and the trustee disburses those funds to creditors. (...)

Loan Modification Myths Busted

Posted on August 12, 2009
Can you modify your mortgage loan to reduce your principal balance? (...)

An Unexpected Inheritance While in Chapter 7

Posted on July 11, 2009
This past week, I received a call from one of my Chapter 7 clients.  Earlier this week, he had received a call from his brother advising him that he was a beneficiary of the estate of a great aunt who had passed away earlier this year.  According to my client, his interest in this estate was in the form of a 1/9 share of two parcels of property...

Can I Leave Selected Debts Out of my Bankruptcy Filing?

Posted on June 30, 2009
I get this question at least once a week - "I need to file bankruptcy but I don't want to include my [mortgage] [car loan] [debt to my brother] [credit card co-signed by my company].   Let's leave this debt off my petition. (...)

Why Tax Refunds Payable to the Chapter 13 Trustee Will Do Little to Decrease Your Plan Balance

Posted on June 24, 2009
At least two of the three Chapter 13 trustees in the Northern District of Georgia require a Chapter 13 plan provision which provides that any tax refund payable to the debtor during the term of the debtor's plan shall be paid to the Chapter 13 trustee...

"Debt Settlement" vs. Bankruptcy

Posted on June 21, 2009
Although I am a bankruptcy lawyer, I tell everyone who visits my office for a consultation the same thing:  "bankruptcy is a last resort - do not file for bankruptcy unless you have no other choice.  It will damage your credit and negatively affect your financial future for months or years to come...

Have You Had Any Success in Recovering from Bankruptcy?

Posted on June 02, 2009
I was recently interviewed by a national magazine about how my clients recover from Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Some of the tips I discussed during the interview included: asking a friend or relative to add you as an authorized user on a MasterCard or Visa opening a savings and/or checking account at a credit union and establishing a pattern of regular deposits requesting a small loan from that credit union and paying back each installment on time opening a credit account with a gasoline retailer finding a co-signer to open an unsecured credit card account I explained to the reporter that I am hearing from my clients that large credit card companies are soliciting them for cards as quickly as 6 months post discharge - no surprise in that successfully discharged debtor are a great credit risk, having no debt and no option to file bankruptcy The reporter, who is a very nice and informed gentleman, would like to speak to anyone who has had success in re-establishing credit after Chapter 7...

If I Do Not Reaffirm My Mortgage in Chapter 7, Do I Automatically Lose Title to my House?

Posted on May 28, 2009
I have been getting a lot of questions recently about reaffirmation and about the consequences of not reaffirming a mortgage loan.  I have previously written about the consequences of not reaffirming a mortgage debt.   The 2005 BAPCPA changes to the Bankruptcy Code attempts to force debtors to choose between reaffirmation or surrender of their collateral...

Pay Attention to Your Chapter 13 Payroll Deduction

Posted on May 26, 2009
In the Northern District of Georgia, every Chapter 13 case must be filed as a "payroll deduction order" case.  In other words, you must fund your Chapter 13 with a payroll deduction.   In my experience the trustees will allow direct payment of Chapter 13 plan payments only when a debtor is self employed or if the debtor can convince the trustee that the debtor's job would be in jeopardy if the employer received a payroll deduction order...

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