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Archive for November, 2008

Health Savings Accounts, Good Investment? »

Recently the topic of health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA) has become the center of discussion in my office.  Several clients who are employed by the local municipality were encouraged to open FSAs with their employer and others were concerned about protection of their HSAs in a bankruptcy case.
What’s the difference?

Social Security Benefits Not Exempt If Already Received, Minnesota Court Says »

When social security benefits have already been received, but not yet spent on the date a bankruptcy case is filed, the funds cannot be claimed exempt under the federal bankruptcy exemptions, according to In re Carpenter, 2008 WL 4567128 (Bky.D.Minn. Oct. 14, 2008), a recent Minnesota bankruptcy court ruling.
This case held that bankruptcy code section [...]

Living Without Credit – Buying a Car »

With credit becoming harder to obtain, now is a great time to learn to live without credit.  This is the second post in a series intended to discuss how to use non-credit solutions for your purchasing needs.
Some benefits of buying a car with cash are:

No financing costs
No required monthly payments
Not buying a car you cannot [...]

Free Bankruptcy Basics Videos Launched by Courts »

Nine free web videos on about filing for bankruptcy are now available on the federal court website:

Introduction
Types of Bankruptcy
Limits of Debts
Filing for Bankruptcy
Meeting of Creditors

Bankruptcy Crimes

Court Hearings

The Discharge

Legal Assistance

General bankruptcy information is no substitute for personalized advice from a bankruptcy attorney after your financial information is gathered, your circumstances analyzed and [...]

Chapter 13 Payments Misapplied without Penalty »

An appellate court has held that a mortgagee may wrongfully apply post-bankruptcy payments to the pre-bankruptcy account without penalty.  Ameriquest Mortgage kept two separate books to account for mortgage payments, one computerized and one manually.  The computerized account would apply the latest payment to the earliest unpaid month, even if that month was before a [...]

Bankruptcy Judge for Chapter 13 Reform »

No one has advocated Chapter 13 bankruptcy reform, to allow courts to re-write the terms of mortgages secured by homes, longer than the bloggers on this site.
I have not seen our argument for Chapter 13 bankruptcy reform put better than in this Washington Post article.
Kansas bankruptcy attorney Jill MIchaux and San Diego bankruptcy attorney Michael [...]

CREDIT SCORE EFFECT ON MEDICAL CARE »

Your credit score (defined here by Kansas City bankruptcy attorney Rachel Foley)  can effect the health care treatment you receive.
Business Week reports that some hospitals buy software that helps them determine which clients can pay through analyzing their credit score and other financial information.
One horror story in the article concerns a woman with $6,500 annual [...]

Living Without Credit – Layaway Plans »

Layaway is a great way to purchase goods without having to pay the entire cost at one time.  Typically in layaway, the consumer selects items from a store with a layaway plan.  The items are then put in storage and held for the consumer who pays for the items on a regular schedule.  When the [...]

Senate Bill 3690 Proposed to Change Bankruptcy Laws to Help Homeowners. »

On November 17, 2007, Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] introduced a new bankruptcy bill to the Senate to help struggling homeowners save their homes from foreclosure in bankruptcy. Its purpose is “to help struggling families stay in their homes and to ensure that taxpayers are protected when the Secretary of the Treasury purchases equity shares in financial institutions.“

Tax Refunds, Actual Tax Expenses, and the Means Test »

The Means Test reduces income by actual tax expenses, among other permitted reductions.  Problems arise when calculating an actual tax expense where there was a refund in the previous year.
A refund occurs when someone over-withholds from their income to pay their taxes.  No one has a crystal ball, of course, so no one can ever [...]