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.
10 What really causes bankruptcy
The pundit’s proposition that irresponsibility was the cause of bankruptcy made me furious. Four decades of bankruptcy practice suggests that the root causes of bankruptcy relief have much more to do with laudable human activities and unavoidable bad luck. See if you agree.
9 Chapter 13 discharges HOA debts
Thirteen years after the miserably written bankruptcy reform act became law, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made one thing clear: the discharge in a Chapter 13 case wipes out the debtor’s personal liability for HOA dues that arose after the filing of the case.
8 What the automatic stay doesn’t stop
Filing bankruptcy automatically makes the continuation of most collection actions unlawful. That’s the power of bankruptcy. But that power has its limits. These five kinds of legal actions can proceed despite a bankruptcy filing.
7 Are you screwed if you omit a creditor from your bankruptcy
What happens if you accidentally leave a creditor out of the list of creditors filed in your bankruptcy case? Having screwed up, can you recover? We look at when you can fix the mistake and whether that fix really solves the problem.
6 True story of a family who settled their debt for 3 cents on the dollar
My client, with a fine income, a home, and a working spouse, escaped $370,000 in credit card debt for pennies. The power of Chapter 13 is that you keep your assets and pay only what your income or your assets allow. Protection while you pay and no tax when debt is discharged. Sweet.
5 What is life REALLY like after bankruptcy?
Creditors and the debt-settlement companies want you to think that life as you know it ends if you seek relief in bankruptcy. Tain’t so. Here is a clear-eyed look at seven ways that your economic life changes after your discharge. None are negative.
The Affordable Care Act imposed a penalty for not having health insurance, collected by the IRS. I caught the IRS trying to collect that penalty twice: once as a part of my client’s tax debt for the year, and again as a separate tax on the IRS proof of claim. Challenged, the IRS reduced its demand.
3 New law gives heirs and divorced people equal mortgage rights
Homeowners who got title through inheritance or a divorce decree have historically been treated as outsiders by mortgage servicers. If the present owner wasn’t also the sole borrower on the secured loan, mortgage modification and even monthly statements were denied. No more under new federal law.
2 The Motley Fool offers truly foolish advice on filing bankruptcy
In which I go off on a national financial service focusing on all the wrong things when looking at bankruptcy as an option for financial woes. The question of whether to file bankruptcy has no simple or universal answer, and is NOT, in my view, driven by its effect on your credit score.
1 CFPB rule gives all bankruptcy filers a right to monthly mortgage statements
Mortgage servicers can no longer hide behind bankruptcy law to justify withholding monthly mortgage statements to a borrower who wants to pay the home loan. Federal law now requires monthly statements, and protects servicer from a claim that it violates the law by doing so. Score one for homeowners!
Next time, I’ll assemble my personal favorites from this year’s batch of posts.
Have a happy and prosperous New Year.
