When you go to an attorney for a consultation do you hear Charlie Brown’s Teacher in your head?  You are NOT alone.  I too sometimes hear the wah, wah when I speak to other attorneys.  My staff often tells me that I presume that everyone else in the world is as excited about bankruptcy as [...]

I wish that question had an easy answer.  I wish we could say if you have this mortgage, yes, if your situation is that, don’t bother.  But the fact of the matter is that every day I hear a different story.
There are some common themes: it’s hard to get to the right person; when you [...]

In bankruptcy, creditors are permitted to object to the dischargeability of a debt incurred by fraud. Such complaints often initiate very contentious proceedings (and are often combined with complaints to deny a debtor’s general discharge). When faced with a fraud complaint in bankruptcy under Section 523(a)(2), here are some points to remember.

The creditor [...]

Three bankruptcy filings in 12 months seems a bit much, yes?  But it happens.  Perhaps there was carelessness by the filer or an attorney, or perhaps there was misplaced hope that a Chapter 13 case could succeed but then a sudden loss of income occurred.
There is no automatic stay, which means no automatic protection, against [...]

The current economic crisis is making the debt collectors scared.  When there’s no money to put food on the table, even a favorable judgment through the courts means nothing.  “The judgment by itself doesn’t get you paid,” according to Cincinnati debt collection law firm Slovin & Associates partner Randy Slovin.
InsideARM is reporting that the old [...]

In an economy where credit is vanishing even for the solvent, the debt collector’s last threat, to ruin your credit if you don’t pay, has lost its sting.  Up til now, the consumer has been so obsessed with their credit record and their credit score that the first question of my bankruptcy clients is “what [...]

Tell your bankruptcy attorney if you are expecting an income tax refund or economic stimulus payment.

It has been said that one in three people in the United States think that winning the lottery is the only way to become financially secure in life.  Counting on winning the lottery to solve debt problems is not a realistic proposition.  Consider this:
The odds of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime:  1 in [...]

One of the stranger provisions in the proposed Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009 is the requirement that the debtor certify that he attempted to contact the “holder” of the claim to discuss mortgage modification within 15 days prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy case.
First of all, who is the [...]

The bankruptcy means test could be a new source of pain for consumers as the recession deepens.  The 2005 Congress tied everyone together in a community and, perversely, elected to punish consumers who live in the hardest-hit communities more.
In a nutshell, BAPCPA dictates that consumers with average income over the prior six-months which is greater [...]