A recession is loosely defined as a period of two or more financial quarters where the Gross Domestic Product declines.  It is truly difficult to measure; difficult to determine when a recession starts, and difficult to determine when it ends.  Until 1929, all recessions were generally known as depressions.  By contrast, depressions are now measured [...]

The 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, known as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) changed the time that a debtor must be domiciled in a state before the debtor can claim the bankruptcy exemptions of that state.
Under the pre-BAPCPA Bankruptcy Code the debtor generally had to wait 90 days to use [...]

Have you received an offer for 0% financing from your credit card lately?  A careful look at the terms of such offers reveal the continuing traps of the finance industry on consumers.  Time for some grade school math and a different way of looking at the world.
Consider the offer of zero percent for six months. [...]

In an article published on the internet, Credit Suisse has come out in favor of a proposed change to the Bankruptcy Code to allow Bankruptcy Judges to modify residential mortgages.  This is now the second major lender who supports this common sense change.  Citibank previously issued support for the change.  More lenders are considering the [...]

When a debt collector uses illegal debt collection tactics, a consumer can bring a lawsuit under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (”FDCPA”) for damages.  This point is easy to impart.  However, one of the key things about an FDCPA case which is often very difficult to impart is that the case is not about [...]

In a previous article on this site, Is The Credit Card Industry Redlining? I wrote about actions by American Express where customer’s credit limits were lowered based upon where they shopped.
In a New York Times article, “American Express Kept a (Very) Watchful Eye on Charges” writer, Ron Lieber reports on his interview with Susan Korchak, [...]

Congress is debating a change to Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code to allow homeowners with “negative equity” in their homes to reduce the amount owed on their mortgages to the amount of their home’s value. This is the “cram down” legislation, which has failed on many occasions due to the the banking industry’s [...]

ABC News reports:  “Octuplets’ Family Has Bankruptcy History”!
CBS News reports:  “Octuplets’ Family Filed For Bankruptcy”!
ABC and CBS are reporting on the recent birth of Octuplets’ to a woman in California who already had six children and lives with her mother in a three bedroom house.  There’s only one problem:  The mother didn’t file for bankruptcy!  [...]

Every federal district court has a standing order of reference which refers all bankruptcy cases to the bankruptcy court for its district.  The reference can be withdrawn by the district court at any time, usually because a case requires resolution of a conflict between bankruptcy laws and other laws affecting interstate commerce.
These local standing orders [...]

Clients ask “Can I keep making contributions to my retirement plan in a Chapter 13 case?”  They also ask “can I include contributions to my retirement plan in my budget” for purposes of a chapter 7 case.  Why is this important?  If your income after taxes is greater than your expense, your chapter 7 case [...]