Ruling against the California Franchise Tax Board, the 9th Circuit upheld Oakland bankruptcy judge Edward Jellen’s decision in the Chapter 13 case of Brenda Marie Jones. At issue was whether Jones could discharge a state tax debt in her Chapter 7 case; the question turned on an arcane question of what the Bankruptcy Code means […]
Self Employed, But Not By Choice
One of the thorniest problems I’m confronting in the Great Recession is what advice to offer to those who are self employed only because there is no option. In the past year, I’ve seen half a dozen folks whose small business isn’t really making it. In better times, I would have urged them to acknowledge […]
Debtor Bites Collector Over Stale Debt
The collection law firm had to pay, not the debtor, when they sued a disabled man on a stale debt without facts to validate the claim. The consumer got an award of actual and punitive damages totaling $311,ooo from the debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act . The case, McColllough v. Johnson, Rodenburg & […]
Zombie Debt Collectors Must Come Clean
Debt collectors in New Mexico must now warn debtors that a debt they are trying to collect may be too old to be enforced by lawsuit. The warning must also tell the consumer that any payment on the old debt will restart the statute of limitations. This comes about by rule instituted by New Mexico’s […]
Word rant: seizure of mortgaged homes
Perhaps I’m feeling particularly crotchety today, but the use of the word “seize” to describe foreclosures seems to me a bit overblown. Headlines like these abound: California Foreclosures Jeopardize Renters as Banks Seize HomesBanks Seize 288K Homes in Q3,Banks seize record number of homes Webster’s dictionary offered this as one definition of seize: To take […]
Money management and the things we “deserve”
American Express radio commercials are touting a women’s money group, The Smart Cookies, who, we’re told, got control of their personal debt problems within two years. The five women they featured collectively owed $50,000, which seems small relative to the clients I see. But what set my teeth to grinding was one woman’s assurance that it […]
Ending the debit card gotcha
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 trustees, money, and goodwill
Date line: July, 2008 I’ve spent the last three days at the annual meeting of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees in San Francisco. Strewn through the convention site are banners thanking those who have contributed money to put on the gathering of Chapter 13 trustees. Those three sponsors at this event are exclusively […]
Credit counseling, well understood, is just another bankruptcy hoop
While there are an endless number of misconceptions about filing bankruptcy, the one I’ve encountered more often in the past weeks is the belief that participation in a debt management program or debt settlement program meets the new requirement for a “credit briefing” as a condition of filing bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy “Reform” Act of 2005 […]
Where’s the UST?
Sort of unwittingly, I got involved in one of the bigger issues plaguing bankruptcy courts recently: the claim filed in the bankruptcy by the debt buyer without supporting documentation. I objected to a claim filed a client’s case by Roundup Funding, who had never had any contact with my client prior to filing. There were […]
