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 [...]
May 2008
Only people with a legitimate business need, as specified by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, can look at you report without your permission. For example, if you apply for credit, insurance, employment, or to rent an apartment, the company is allowed to obtain your report. A Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) is not allowed to give [...]
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 debtor? [...]
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 proceeds to [...]
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 that the [...]
If all your assets and income are protected by law from a creditor who obtained a judgment against you – you are judgment proof. Your individual state laws determine what property is protected from a creditor. For example, in Texas a creditor, such as American Express or Discover, cannot take your homestead to pay the [...]
