There’s no free bankruptcy advice in my office. Unlike many, we charge for that initial meeting with a lawyer. (There’s no free lunch either.) That makes us different from lots of other bankruptcy lawyers. Different enough to offend a prospective client who called up this week. He was unwilling to pay for a consultation, and stormed […]
High Income Earners Pass Bankruptcy’s Means Test
ALERT: Being above the median income on the means test is not an automatic bar to filing bankruptcy I’m so used to railing against deliberate campaigns of misinformation about bankruptcy that I forget that there’s a lot of innocent ignorance out there. Start with “qualifying” for bankruptcy. A very earnest and ethical financial counselor was […]
When You Can’t Pay Your Bills Because Of The Virus
The coronavirus has us locked at home where the worry demons play unrestrained in our heads. Money troubles cause us worry, in “good” times. These are hardly good times. As more and more of us are hit with shelter-in-place orders that keep us from work and our kids from school, we have even more time […]
Chapter 13: Know Who Gets Paid First Under Your Plan
Who gets paid in Chapter 13, and in what order, makes a huge different when charting your course. Sometimes, we must realize that reality exists outside of television shows. And when real-world reality hits some debtors, it’s a trainwreck. It comes up for me when Chapter 13 clients and I sit down to write the […]
Scofflaws Must Pay When They Violate The Stay
Debtors in bankruptcy got back the right to collect all of their damages for violations of the automatic stay when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals en banc overturned the Sternberg case. We conclude that Sternberg misconstrued the plain meaning of §362(k). To the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion, Sternberg is overruled. I thought […]
Unfiled Tax Returns Are A Life Sentence
Unfiled tax returns upset all the normal rules about discharging taxes in bankruptcy. This story tells you why. Two clients, each with $200,000 in tax debt, came to my office this week. One can escape it all now; the other is facing several years before bankruptcy will do anything for him. What’s the difference? Filed […]
How Chapter 13 Cuts Car Loan Down To Size
Car lenders who make new car loans with an underwater trade-in will face the music in Chapter 13. The Supreme Court declined to review a 9th Circuit decision that stripped car loans of their protected specially protected status in bankruptcy; as a result, Californians will continue to benefit from the debtor-friendly decision in Penrod, rising out of […]
Three Barriers To Getting Out Of Debt
Three emotions, not reasons, keep people from filing bankruptcy and getting out of debt. While not as sexy as the seven deadly sins, these emotions still keep my clients mired in debt long after logic says “quit”. Fear Stubbornness Pride These emotions keep people mired where they are. They block the road forward. Fear Fear of […]
Avoid Paying Taxes On That 1099 Form, Legally
It’s tax time and the mails are full of IRS form 1099. If you managed a short sale of your property; suffered a foreclosure; filed bankruptcy; or settled your debt for less than you owed, you probably got a 1099. But that’s not the end of the tax story. Receipt of the form does not […]
What’s New In Bankruptcy Law in 2021
The new year of 2021 brings us face to face with a desolate economic landscape and the hope of better things to come. For some significant slice of Americans, bankruptcy will be a consideration. You’ll want to know what’s new in 2021 in the array of bankruptcy options and alternatives. I’m writing after passage of […]
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