Make no mistake, in the State of Missouri when a foreclosure sale is cried on the courthouse steps your house will be gone. Do not ignore the letters from the mortgage company or the certified letters from attorneys. You only have the following options to stop a foreclosure: 1) Sell the property, [...]

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Are Borrowers Free to Lie?, talks about a recent Bankruptcy Court decision in the Northern District of California. In re Hill dealt with an attempt by National City Bank to hold the Hills’ mortgage loan non-dischargeable, meaning that, despite the loss of their home due to foreclosure [...]

Once a court has held that a creditor has willfully violated the automatic stay, it turns to the issue of damages. Certainly verifiable out-of-pocket expenses suffered by the debtor are fully recoverable. So are the attorney fees incurred for having to bring the motion or adversary proceeding.
But are “emotional” damages recoverable by the [...]

The filing of a bankruptcy case creates an estate that is comprised of all of the debtor’s interests in property. The bankruptcy trustee has the duty of administering the property of the estate. If the property has value that exceeds the exempt value, the trustee will liquidate the property and distribute the net [...]

When someone files a Chapter 13 plan and/or modification to the Chapter 13 plan, the Trustee or Judge may not approve the plan or modification based on non-feasibility of the plan. In simple English, this means the proposed plan/modification is destined to fail. In order to confirm a plan, the court must find [...]

In this article, I will discuss the final duties imposed on creditors when they have been notified that a bankruptcy case has been filed.
7. Duty to stop collection efforts. Creditors obviously have a duty to stop all collection efforts when they receive official notice from the bankruptcy court that a bankruptcy petition has been [...]

The bankruptcy law is a federal law.  In fact, the U.S. Constitution mandates that Congress enact uniform bankruptcy laws.  Doesn’t that mean that an article written about bankruptcy in Virginia will apply in Arizona?  Unfortunately, no: the law differs greatly from State to State.
The main structure of bankruptcy law is federal – passed by Congress [...]

If you are in the Western District of Missouri, Kansas City Division, there are 10 Chapter 7 Trustees. You can never choose the trustee for your case, they are assigned by the Court at the time of filing. So far we have introduced you to Mr. David C. Stover, Ms. Erlene Krigel, Ms. Janice Stanton [...]

As I previously discussed, there are several duties imposed on creditors when they have been notified that a bankruptcy case has been filed, especially if they have taken any collection actions after the filing. More of these duties include:
4. Duty to stop income execution and return funds. A creditor has an affirmative [...]

Once a creditor has been informed that a bankruptcy has been filed, and if they have taken any steps since the filing, they have several duties. Failure to perform one or more of these duties can lead to an award of damages and legal fees. Some of these duties include:
1) A duty to [...]