Banks and credit unions collected nearly $24 billion last year in overdraft fees, the majority of them overdraft fees on debit cards, according to the Center for Responsible Lending. Once thought to be a convenient and safe alternative to credit cards, debit cards have been transformed to a bank profit center. Card holders are unwittingly […]
Chapter 13 debt limits double for couples
Each debtor in a Chapter 13 was entitled to debts within the debt ceilings for Chapter 13 eligibility according to a recent bankruptcy decision out of Kansas called Dana Werts. That effectively doubled the amount of debt a married couple could have and still meet the debt limits of Chapter 13. [Since this decision, Chapter 13 […]
Lenders slow to act following relief from stay
The automatic stay is the hallmark of bankruptcy, so when the judge lifts the stay to permit a lender to foreclose, we tend to think the curtain has come down on our client as homeowner. Well, maybe not, or at least, not yet. In some cases, the road to foreclosure seems to be a wandering […]
Lawyers ask “How does bankruptcy work?”
The good folks at the Collaborative Law gathering yesterday had the same questions that their clients have: when is the right time to file bankruptcy? what happens when you file? what does it do to (for?) your life? Collaborative Law, as I understand it, involves couples in a cooperative effort with a shared set of […]
Required financial management education: BAPCPA’s one good thing
Once again, a client told me that if she’d known before what she learned in the financial management class required to get her bankruptcy discharge, she probably wouldn’t have needed bankruptcy in the first place. Pretty strong words, from someone who admitted that she approached the required class with low expectations. She announced that she […]
Is defaulting on mortgage immoral?
Falling home prices have lead to a surge of strategic defaulters, in real estate columnist Kenneth Harney’s words: people who abruptly choose to stop making mortgage payments. These folks have made an economic decision that continuing to pay on a house that is significantly underwater does not make economic sense. Harney is clearly bothered by […]
Wage garnishment ends with bankruptcy filing
We were exploring the timing of a bankruptcy case, trying to live free in the house to be foreclosed while avoiding a garnishment on the working spouse’s wages. I was thinking about comparing the cost of a garnishment to the cost of renting a house: the client was thinking that a wage garnishment was forever! […]
Small businesses increasingly seek bankruptcy relief
Mom and pop businesses are beginning to dominate the list of my new clients over the past 30 days. Retail businesses, construction, internet sales, real estate, all are reaching the end of their ropes. Distressingly, these include a high percentage of long running, well established businesses. Often, the business has been supported on the credit […]
Judicial review of debtor’s attorneys fees
At a hearing on the approval of my attorneys fees in a Chapter 13 case, the judge questioned the fees I attributed to defending a motion for relief from stay which was granted after three hearings. Wasn’t this a lost cause from the start, she asked? My reply was that I had raised questions of […]
Foreclosure the day after tomorrow
The email said: ” We saw you two months ago about bankruptcy. The foreclosure is Tuesday. Can you help?” I wanted to reply: “Where have you been in the past two months? What were you thinking to wait til now to start filing bankruptcy?” Instead I said: “Bring information, money and be here in two […]
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