Clients who want the benefits of bankruptcy without any change in the way they want to live life have been the theme of my practice lately. This seems to come out when we do a Schedule J budget in a Chapter 13: they want $300/month in recreation, $1400 in food, and $300 in clothing. While […]
The DOJ War On Chapter 13 Debtors
What’s wrong with the picture when United States Trustee is offended by Chapter 13 success? I heard a distressing story about the war against debtors recently. It seems a high rate of successful Chapter 13 plan completions triggered multi-day audit of the trustee by the United States Trustee. The UST likes to remind us that it […]
Your Rights When Your Home Is Foreclosed
The foreclosure sale is over and the bank now owns the home. You’re now living in someone else’s property. What next? If you were the homeowner in California, here are your choices after the foreclosure: Your rights before the foreclosure sale
Foreclosure Looms But The Bank’s Numbers Don’t Add Up
The bank wants to foreclose on my client’s home. They claim he’s months behind. Only the numbers in their relief from stay papers filed in the bankruptcy don’t add up. The mortgage balance is one thing here, and other thing there. They file a declaration under penalty of perjury saying they have the note, followed within […]
Free Expert Help With Your Bay Area Home Loan Modification
Applying for a mortgage modification is equal parts torture and miracle drug. It can mean the difference between staying in your home and foreclosure. Yet it comes with more questions than answers. What’s the difference between HAMP and HARP? Do I want to appear broke or prosperous? Should I default before I apply? Critical questions, the […]
California Law on Cancelled Debt Mirrors Federal Law
I’ve always assumed that California law excluded from income debt forgiven in bankruptcy, just as federal tax law does. When a client asked me to confirm that the treatment was the same, I realized that this was one of those things I had just assumed. As a lawyer, I ought to know the danger […]
Was Your Credit Score Trampled By Unwanted Wells Fargo Accounts
Fake Wells Fargo accounts opened without consent may adversely affect victims’ credit scores. Are you affected? Wells Fargo employees opened an estimated 500,000 unauthorized credit card accounts and more than 1 million deposit accounts. Your credit score is figured in part on new credit accounts and available credit. If you banked with Wells Fargo, […]
Glimmer of Hope For Change In Student Loan Dischargeability
A small opening in the legal barrier to discharging student loans in bankruptcy has appeared in a case called Roth. To discharge a student loan in bankruptcy, the borrower must show that repayment of the loan would cause he and his dependents undue hardship. The test for what constitutes “undue hardship” is many circuits the […]
Social Security Safe In Bankruptcy
The Chapter 13 trustee objected to the debtors’ repayment plan because they did not plan to devote their Social Security income to repaying creditors. And, he complained, they proposed to keep and pay for vehicles that are luxury items. The plan is not proposed in good faith, he claimed, as required by the Bankruptcy Code. The […]
Costs of Incarcerated Kid Dischargeable in Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy “reform” a decade ago expanded protections for those owed family support. Any debt “in the nature of support” can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, regardless of to whom it’s owed. Orange County tried to ride that change in the law to make its claim against the mother of a kid in juvie survive her bankruptcy. Last week, the 9th Circuit […]
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