A hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Tuesday September 25, 2007 by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Comercial and Administrative Law to consider testimony on the topic, Hearing on Straightening Out the Mortgage Mess: How Can We Protect Home Ownership and Provide Relief to Consumers in Financial Distress? 
On September 20, [...]

There is a new bill floating around in Congress which is gathering quite a bit of attention in the Bankruptcy world.  The bill, if passed and signed into law in its present form, would allow Bankruptcy Courts to alter mortgages between homeowners and predatory lenders.  Under the current bankruptcy law, bankruptcy attorneys and courts are [...]

In the Northern District of Illinois a debtor is not required to pay interest on unsecured debt in a chapter 13 case, based on a ruling by Judge John H. Squires. The bankruptcy code “does not mandate” payment of interest to unsecured claims, says Judge Squires. A debtor is required to satisfy the [...]

You may keep up to $7,500 worth of work tools if you file bankruptcy and use the Kansas exemption scheme.
Kansas residents are allowed to exempt the following items of personal property under the “tools of trade” exemption: books, documents, furniture, instruments, tools, implements and equipment, the breeding stock, seed grain or growing plants stock, or [...]

The Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ruled today that the “applicable commitment period” is a math formula, as far as “above median” income Chapter 13 debtors with no “disposable monthly income” are concerned. If this view prevails in the circuit, higher income folks with high fixed-costs may end up being able to skirt the [...]

One of the practical problems caused by the means test arises from the imposition of IRS derived budget figures on debtors who are subject to the means test.   Specifically, a common complaint I get from my client is that the IRS housing standards  frequently have no relationship to real life

This question comes up a lot and there are many different and confusing answers available on the internet.  The term was coined by our beloved Internal Revenue Service as a means of taxing the benefit received by a tax payer when he, she or it is relieved of paying back a loan.
The IRS takes the [...]

Two things that you can expect about your mail after you file for bankruptcy: Threatening letters from credit card companies, collection agencies and attorneys should stop, and all sorts of other solicitations will start.
Besides offers of high interest credit cards, you will also get offers for credit counseling and financial counseling.
If you liked that [...]

Most people have heard of syndicated talk show host Dave Ramsey, the debt-hating author of the Total Money Makeover. If you’ve listened to his show for more than five minutes you know that this guy is a die hard bankruptcy-hater.
But you also know that Dave filed for bankruptcy some years ago after going belly-up [...]

Kansas exemption law shields a $20,000 car from seizure by your bankruptcy trustee. That means you can keep your car when you file bankruptcy if your car is worth less than $20,000.
You may also keep your car if it has a lien on the title and has less than $20,000 in equity (the difference [...]