When her soon-to-be-ex filed bankruptcy, my client got a 1099-C for the joint credit card. The form claimed that the debt was cancelled. Therefore, she had additional income equal to the card balance. Only, none of the statements on the 1099 were true. The debt wasn’t discharged as to the non filing spouse. One spouse’s […]
Is Your Choice Of Bankruptcy Chapters Really Dictated By Your Stuff?
Through my Twitter feed came a link to the pro’s and con’s of filing bankruptcy from the business section of the Chicago Tribune. Good chance to see how non lawyers see my world, I thought. Bankruptcy was all about protecting “stuff”, said the writer, and the choice of chapters is driven by the kind of […]
Get The IRS To Feed Your Savings
Lucky enough to get a tax refund this year? Then celebrate America Saves week by telling the IRS where to put it. I mean, where to deposit it. Refund jump starts savings A tax refund is the perfect place to boost your savings. And you don’t have to choose between spending it all or saving […]
Don’t Let The IRS File A Return For You
Bankruptcy works lots of magic with tax debt, but the magic fizzles out when it comes to SFR’s. In my vocabulary, SFR is almost as doleful a phrase as KIA or DOA. Three times in 10 days, I’ve had to explain to clients that the taxes associated with an IRS Substitute For Return are […]
Will You Have Money For A Lifetime?
The financially literate manage their money for the long haul so they have money for a lifetime. In a world of biweekly paychecks and monthly billing cycles, it’s easy to let your perspective shrink to 30 day increments. But that view is incredibly short-sighted. Your working life isn’t everything Most of us don’t work for […]
Find The Lost Tax Deduction When Lender Misreports Mortgage Interest Paid
How can you pay thousands of dollars in mortgage payments in a year, and get a tax Form 1098 for a fraction of actual mortgage interest paid? That’s what my client wanted to know. His monthly mortgage payment is $2715. The loan is currently interest only. All the payments were made. And yet, the Form 1098 […]
Mortgage Lenders Stop Lurking And Start Foreclosing
I’m re-upping this post from nearly two years ago because I’ve seen a surge in foreclosure notices on old and irregular home loans. There is equity now in those homes, so they are at risk of foreclosure. They hadn’t paid the line of credit loan on their home for seven years. All was quiet […]
What Are Your Rights In A California Foreclosure
The old saw about Oakland, California is that there is no “there” there. I suggest it’s the same about being “in foreclosure”: foreclosure is not a place, it’s a path. Nothing legally meaningful changes until you get to a foreclosure sale. Everything before that is prelude. Yet several Bay Area clients have asked whether they can remove personal […]
Best Bankruptcy Advice of The Year
Readers of Bankruptcy Soapbox vote for their favorite bits of bankruptcy and money advice with their eyeballs. I’ve tallied the eyeballs on the 48 posts written in 2018, and, cue the fanfare, present the top 10 most-read new posts for 2018. And in fact, this advice will stand you in good stead in 2019. […]
So You Keep Your Home Through Bankruptcy- What Then?
What happens to your home after your bankruptcy case is over? Most people who file bankruptcy are terrified that just filing bankruptcy will cost them their home. They won’t let me keep my home, will they? Sure they will. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee doesn’t want the house if there’s no value in it, He’s […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- …
- 69
- Next Page »