The automatic stay is the signature feature of American bankruptcy, but the stay has important exceptions. Just by filing a bankruptcy case, a federal court injunction instantly prohibits your creditors from actions to collect a debt from you or your assets. But, there’s a whole list of actions that aren’t included in the stay. We […]
Bankruptcy Judge: The Phantom In Your Case
Will the judge approve my bankruptcy case? Do I have to explain to the judge why I’m in bankruptcy? What if the judge makes a plan I can’t pay? When you’re considering bankruptcy, you start to think about your upcoming encounter with a federal bankruptcy judge. Black robes. Sober face. Gobs of power over your […]
Debts You Can’t Wipe Out In Bankruptcy
Three kinds of debt survive bankruptcy discharge, because they are unlike the other sixteen non dischargeable debts. Those three exceptions to discharge look, not at the kind of debt such as taxes, or support or student loans. Rather the exceptions look at how the debt arose. These exceptions prevent bad actors from escaping the consequences in bankruptcy. […]
The Strange Rules When A Creditor Is Left Off Bankruptcy Schedules
What happens if you miss putting a creditor on your bankruptcy schedules? In the bustle of preparing to file bankruptcy, a slip up is not uncommon. Notice is one of the fundamental rules of bankruptcy. Everyone to be affected by a bankruptcy case gets notice. That notice provides the creditor with an opportunity to participate […]
$7000 Off The Price Of The Car In Chapter 13
How would you like to reduce your car payment, by lots? In a recent case, Chapter 13 allowed my client to save $7000 off the loan balance based on an examination of the car finance contract. You couldn’t see the issue from the monthly statement. When I got the finance agreement itself, I found the […]
Bankruptcy Alphabet: E is for Exemptions
E stands for exemptions in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. Exemptions describe the possessions you get to keep when you file bankruptcy. E could also stand for Exception, since exemptions are the only place in bankruptcy law where the law is explicitly different from state to state. Exemptions vary The Bankruptcy Code gave the states the right […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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