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Bankruptcy

The Debt Podcast

Hosted by Jay S. Fleischman, a bankruptcy and consumer lawyer located in New York City. Information and news designed to help you learn more about bankruptcy, debt relief, and consumer credit options.

Post Frequency: 4.9/day

Last Entry: November 23, 2010 at 18:33:08

Can?t Access ECF? Another Possible Problem and Its Solution

Posted on June 09, 2009
Last month I wrote a post about problems I had been having accessing the Bankruptcy Court’s ECF system and a workaround to solve that problem. In that post I spoke about a problem that arises when your browser sees the ECF bankruptcy pleading filing screen as a disallowed pop-up, thereby leaving you with a blank [...

When Preparing for Bankruptcy, You Can?t Be Too Careful

Posted on June 09, 2009
I was sitting in bankruptcy court this morning, waiting for my cases to be called, when something unusual caught my attention. The trustee who was presiding made a very sarcastic remark. Now, I have to tell you, for some trustees that wouldn’t seem unusual...

What Happens If A Creditor Contacts Me After My Bankruptcy?

Posted on June 09, 2009

Attorney Liens in Bankruptcy

Posted on June 07, 2009
It is not uncommon for debtors to have attorney fee claims against themselves and/or future property of the estate. The most common example is an attorney fee lien agreement on a personal injury case. In the event of recovery in those cases, the attorney typically receives 33% or more of the gross settlement or judgment...

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What Happens if I Stop My Chapter 13 Payment?

Posted on June 07, 2009
If you stop making Chapter 13 payments and do nothing else, your bankruptcy case will be dismissed and the court will not enter a discharge order. This means you will lose the benefits of your bankruptcy and will no longer be protected from your creditors...

Bankruptcy Debtor Education Class (2nd Course)

Posted on June 06, 2009
When you file a bankruptcy case, you may get a letter from a company that makes it seem as if you have to take a course from them, now that you have filed for bankruptcy. You don’t. Read the letter carefully, because it might be an advertisement for the Financial Management Course that is given [...

What Is The U.S. Trustee?

Posted on June 06, 2009
Congress established the Office of the U. S. Trustee as part of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 to act on behalf of the executive branch and regulate or supervise certain aspects of the bankruptcy process. According to the official website the US Trustee program consists of the Executive Office for U...

Chapter 13 Plans Which Vest Property of the Estate in the Debtor Too Early Can Result in Loss of Assets

Posted on June 05, 2009
A recent Idaho bankruptcy court decision, In re Jackson, 2009 WL 562621 (Bky.D.Idaho March 5, 2009), shows how critical it can be to correctly choose, in a chapter 13 plan, whether property of the estate should or should not vest in the debtor upon confirmation of the plan...

The stigma of bankruptcy

Posted on June 05, 2009
Why is it that consumers and small business owners see bankruptcy as a mark of shame to be avoided at all costs when bankruptcy is touted as a new beginning and a positive step for corporate America? Is there really anything different about “bankruptcy” when the debtor is General Motors than when it is Joe [...

Should I Talk With a Bankruptcy Lawyer Instead of A Debt Settlement Company?

Posted on June 04, 2009
More and more, I’m seeing folks in my office after attempting debt workouts through debt settlement companies. Usually, the debt settlement companies that these people used were ones that advertise heavily on television and in other media. And usually, the potential clients have paid a lot of money to these debt settlement firms and gotten very little out of it...

Eugene Melchionne, Connecticut Bankruptcy Lawyer, Elected To Lead Bankruptcy Law Network

Posted on June 04, 2009

Statement of Financial Affairs: Question 6

Posted on June 04, 2009
This is the sixth in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks. Question 6 of the Statement of Financial Affairs is a two-parter. The first part asks about “Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors,” and the second part asks about receiverships...

Hear GM and Chrysler Bankruptcy Hearings Online

Posted on June 03, 2009
You may listen online to the audio recordings of the Chrysler LLC, 09-50002, and General Motors Corporation, 09-50026, bankruptcy hearings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. Available Online: Recordings of GM and Chrysler Bankruptcy Case Hearings The recordings are being made available online through through a pilot project of [...

Top 20 Cities for Credit Card Spending

Posted on June 03, 2009
Forbes.com says the top 20 American cities for credit card (over)spending are: Miami, FL Tampa, FL Los Angeles, CA Jacksonville, FL Orlando, FL Riverside, CA San Diego, CA San Antonio, TX Las Vegas, NV Sacramento, CA Virginia Beach, VA Pittsburgh, PA Phoenix, AZ Columbus, OH Cleveland, OH Charlotte, NC Austin, TX Cincinnati, OH Indianapolis, IN Houston, TX Miami households owe 22...

Tell Your Bankruptcy Attorney Everything

Posted on June 03, 2009
You have decided to file bankruptcy and even taken the first step of finding competent counsel to help. Hopefully you have met with the attorney and he has given you some forms to fill out or told you what he needs to prepare the paperwork. You need to get him the information right away so he [...

After Filing Bankruptcy, Banks Can?t Keep Your Money For Pre-petition Debts

Posted on June 02, 2009
It is a good idea to make sure that you don’t have funds in bank accounts at banks you owe money to, particularly if you are going to file for bankruptcy. Banks will often keep the funds in your account on the day your file for bankruptcy to set off against the debt owed to [...

?Stealth? Plan Provisions: Confirmation of Chapter 13 Plan Did Not Alter Domestic Support Obligation

Posted on June 02, 2009
A Tennessee bankruptcy court recently ruled that confirmation by the court of a chapter 13 plan did not affect the debtor’s obligation to continue paying his ex-wife’s house payment. The chapter 13 plan did not specifically say that the ex-wife’s rights were being altered by the proposed plan, although the plan implicitly treated the ex-wife as [...

Credit Union Automatic Deductions & the Automatic Stay

Posted on June 02, 2009
Banks and credit unions love to have automatic payroll deductions from their customers. It helps them guarantee as long as you work, you pay them. What happens when you file bankruptcy? The bank or credit union should think twice about continuing to “accept” these payroll deductions...

One Violation; Two Lawyers

Posted on June 01, 2009
A simple enough situation. After a bankruptcy case was filed, a large telephone and Internet ervice provider sent bills from its special bankruptcy administration office for a pre-bankruptcy debt. I filed a motion for sanctions. The provider then sent a notice of termination of services...

Can You Get Rid Of A Mortgage: An Update

Posted on May 31, 2009
A Massachusetts Chapter 13 debtor has been able to remove (”cancel” or “rescind”) a second or refinancing mortgage, without having to pay the full principal balance, if there was a serious defect in the closing papers. See Cancel That Mortgage: Why Bankruptcy and Remove That Mortgage !! A recent intermediary appellate decision just changed that ruling...

Does The Stress Over Debts or Mortgage Foreclosure Lead to Suicide?

Posted on May 31, 2009
Suicide can be a tragic byproduct of the current financial and mortgage foreclosure crisis. We have all heard of people jumping out of buildings in last century’s Great Depression. But how many actual suicides or attempts at suicide have occurred because of today’s situation? At the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys annual convention in Chicago, [...

Married Debtors; Separate Bankruptcy Estates

Posted on May 31, 2009
Two spouses file one bankruptcy case. They get one trustee, one case number, one meeting of creditors, etc. But they are still two separate people with two separate bankruptcy estates. Here’s why it’s important. If someone dies within six months after a bankruptcy is filed, the inheritance is property of the bankruptcy estate...

Personal Bailouts - Should You Bailout A Friend or Relative?

Posted on May 31, 2009
In this era of corporate bailouts, it makes you wonder how many individual bailouts are happening, and, more importantly, is it the right thing to do? Three times in the past week, a client has called to request that we close the file because they no longer have to file for bankruptcy...

To File Your Case, Your Lawyer Will Need All Info, All At One Time

Posted on May 30, 2009
When you file your bankruptcy case, whether it is a Chapter 7, Chapter 13, or Chapter 11, you will have to put together a lot of financial information, and make it available to your attorney. The more complicated your financial situation, the more information you will need to provide, but almost everyone finds that it [...

I Didn?t File For Bankruptcy! How Can The Trustee Sell My House?

Posted on May 30, 2009
I had a client come in to see me recently. She had received a notice from a Chapter 7 Trustee that the Trustee was going to hire a real estate agent to market and sell the client’s house. The client had not filed for bankruptcy, so how was this possible? The answer became apparent after reviewing the notice from the [...

Seventh Circuit Says ?Give back the Car? in bankruptcy - Even in Chicago

Posted on May 30, 2009
If your car is repossessed before you file a chapter 13 bankruptcy case, you want it back. You want a chance to make your payments. In most of the country, if the car is repossessed before chapter 13 bankruptcy, the lender has to give it back so you can have your chance to keep your [...

Lawyer Fails to File Bankruptcy or Otherwise Carry Out Debt Repayment Plan; License to Practice Law Revoked

Posted on May 30, 2009
In Santulli v. Texas Board of Law Examiners, 2009 WL 961568 (Tex.App.-Austin, April 10, 2009), the Texas Court of Appeals upheld the revocation of a lawyer’s license to practice law, based upon his failure to either make payment arrangements for his outstanding debts or discharge them in bankruptcy...

Resolving a Motion for Relief - A Costly Exercise

Posted on May 30, 2009
Many Chapter 13 cases arise from mortgage payment problems. A significant number of Chapter 13 debtors enter into bankruptcy with a mortgage arrearage and they use the arrearage cure mechanism of Chapter 13 to stop the foreclosure process and to pay back the missed mortgage payments over time...

List all of your assets in your bankruptcy case - it?s a crime not to

Posted on May 29, 2009
I’m not filing bankruptcy on my motorcycles. Some debtors believe that if they file a bankruptcy case, they get to keep all their property. That’s not true. A debtor in chapter 7 gets to keep his or her exempt property. However non-exempt property could be sold by the trustee to pay creditors’ claims...

You can recover damages if creditors harass you after you file your bankruptcy case

Posted on May 28, 2009
One of the most important benefits of your bankruptcy case is the automatic stay. In plain English, this is a great big stop sign to your creditors. Once your bankruptcy is filed, they have to stop bothering you. No more calls at home. No more calls at work...

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