What happens to your tax refunds during the life of your Chapter 13 in the Western District of Missouri? Good question. As of two weeks ago the rules have changed. Previously you could keep the first $1,000 without scrutiny or question. Any amount between $1,001 and $2,500 you would send a [...]

I recently received the following question from a reader of my Atlanta Bankruptcy blog:
In my research, I have found out that I should and have the right to file “Notice of Conversion” along with a maximum $25 court filing fee in order to have this done. I would like some direction or guidance to [...]

Some of the categories of expense on the bankruptcy means test form (Form B22A for chapter 7, Form B22C for chapter 13) are “special.” This is because unlike the categories which use an IRS standard allowance to determine one of your household living expenses, the “special” categories use the actual expenses you incur for [...]

Student loans are hard to get rid of; even in bankruptcy. Congress only allows a bankruptcy court to discharge student loan debt when not doing so causes undue hardship for the debtor or the dependents of the debtor. The discharge rule for student loans is short and is set out in 11 USC §523(a)(8). Undue [...]

The impact on your credit score is the same for a short sale, a deed in lieu, or a foreclosure, a Fair Isaacs representative told bankruptcy lawyers at this weekend’s seminar. It is, he said, the 120 day late payments, which he presumed underlay each of these alternatives, that damages the FICO score. [...]

Senate Bill 2636 (introduced by Harry Reid, D, NV), which contains a provision that would allow a bankruptcy judge to modify a distressed home mortgage loan in chapter 13 bankruptcy, will be up for a vote by the full Senate this week.
Mortgage lenders are fighting this bill, which would help 600,000 Americans save their [...]

One of the changes which became effective January 1, 2008, for the bankruptcy “means test” concerns expenses for health care.  Lines 19B and 31 of Form B22 (chapter 7), and lines 24B and 36 of Form B22C (chapter 13), now constitute a two-part listing for health care expenses, including a minimum allowance you are entitled to [...]

February 23, 2008 – Debt reduction companies rarely deliver on their promises, and often take your money and run. At least in Florida something is being done to stop them, when this week Florida’s Attorney General, Bill McCollum, filed a lawsuit against debt reduction companies in Clay and Broward counties.

Giving away your money to your relatives before you file your bankruptcy case and lying on your bankruptcy paperwork may land you in federal prison, as this Wichita man learned out Friday.
A Kansas federal court jury found this former car dealer guilty of making a false statement and bankruptcy fraud. The man is awaiting [...]

It happens all the time. Someone files a chapter 13 case, lists their creditors to the best of their knowledge, and all of a sudden it’s a feeding frenzy no different than sharks chumming on something bloody at my favorite surf break. But who are these sharks?