Completing a Chapter 13 Plan is quite an accomplishment for anyone, and it’s something to be proud of, no matter the circumstances. I recently discovered that one of my clients had not only completed her Chapter 13 Plan payments (which totaled more than $1000 per month for 60 months) but that she had never [...]

Child support you receive is counted as income for purposes of the “means test” in both chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases.  In a chapter 7 case, there is little that can be done if the inclusion of child support income causes your means test income figures to become too high to file under that chapter.  [...]

If you crank up your computer this morning to the MSN homepage, you see a featured article called “facing foreclosure – 9 options” written by MSN’s money writer Liz Pulliam Weston. Her 9 options include: Make a budget; consider getting help; check your refinance options; be realistic; get organized. And if a loan modification [...]

Pending bankruptcy legislation would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages in Chapter 13 in order to slow down the foreclosure crisis in this country. Mortgage bankers oppose the bills even though it could ultimately benefit their industry.
Today, they rolled out former Republican Congressman Dick Armey in the Wall Street Journal to attack former Republican [...]

My husband and I are thinking about filing for chapter 13 in Arkansas. We bought two new cars in the last 6 months. One of the cars we bought was only worth $30,000 but we financed over 45 thousand for it.
My husband spoke to an attorney and

While paying a student loan outside a Chapter 13 plan may be an option in bankruptcy, student loan debt may help an above median debtor pass the means test and file a Chapter 7.   A monthly student loan payment is a valid additional circumstance allowing a debtor with above-median income to file for Chapter 7 [...]

If you are considering bankruptcy and happen to have the proceeds of your recent student loan sitting in your bank account, what happens to this money? Is it subject to being taken by the trustee to pay your creditors? If so, your education plans could be derailed: you could be unable to pay [...]

Recently, on MSN.com, columnist Liz Pulliam Weston, wrote an opinion piece entitled, “Let’s Punish Lenders Of Easy Credit.” Ms. Weston points out that in the year following its implementation, revolving debt rose at a sharply increased level than previous years (despite nearly 2 million folks rushing to file before the law changed on [...]

Well, actually you should not be getting any mortgage statements during your Chapter 13 case. But this technical violation might help remind you to make your monthly payments. Even better, this technical violation may provide you the “smoking gun” of evidence that your creditor is violating bankruptcy laws.

Lately, most people are surrendering their real estate in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Proceedings.  This is because there is usually little if any equity left in the property.  In fact, in many cases, surrendering the property is recommended in light of future interest rate adjustments which will increase monthly payments, negative equity, and the fact that [...]