You just got a few thousand dollars from your tax refund and you want to know what to do with it.  You know you will likely be filing for bankruptcy in the near future because you can’t keep up on your bills.  Does it matter what you do with your tax refund?  Yes it does.
If a [...]

The U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, ruled recently that a chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor could not obtain dismissal of his case by citing his own failure to file payment advices, or other financial disclosure information required by section 521(a), in an effort to avoid losing an asset to the chapter 7 trustee.
In re Acosta-Rivera, 2009 WL [...]

A website offering help over the internet in the form of software used to complete a bankruptcy filing is practicing law.  Unless the website is run by a lawyer, its owner is violating the law by practicing without a license.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of In re Reynoso, 477 F.3d [...]

The current economic crisis has reminded us all to look at our debt to income ratios.  In the recent past, creditors have helped us forget to consider what is an appropriate amount of debt as they encouraged us to put everything on a credit card.  There are some simple standards to follow and a few [...]

What does it mean when collectors threaten you with ‘charge off’.  Sounds serious doesn’t it?  The dirty little secret is that a “charged off” debt has nothing to do with what is owed.  ”Charge off” means that the creditor is taking a tax deduction from their income tax.  With $450 million earned each day on [...]

Depending on the homestead exemption applicable in your state, the Bankruptcy Code allows a Debtor to void and nullify certain judicial liens against a residence if the lien interferes with the homestead exemption. While it is possible to reopen a closed case to avoid a lien, do not wait too long to do so or [...]

A new law aimed at stopping debt collectors who violate fair debt collection standards was proposed by the Oregon attorney general and has been passed by the state senate.  Oregon Senate Bill 328 will give the Oregon Department of Justice the authority to enforce existing Oregon law prohibiting illegal debt collection practices.
For many years Oregon [...]

One of the areas of the Bankruptcy Code that was significantly changed by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) was the placement of a dollar cap on the amount of a homestead exemption that a debtor could claim based upon the length of time that the debtor owned the home.

Often, when consumers are sued for an outstanding debt, they contact the lawyer for the company (or the company) who sued them seeking to work out a payment plan.  If a payment plan agreement is reached, the consumer assumes that the pending lawsuit is no longer an issue.  That is not the case!

Rent-A-Center has been stepping their advertising campaign boasting “no credit checks” and “no credit needed.”  A recent television commercial suggests that using Rent-A-Center’s rent to own model is better in these tough economic times.  Don’t be fooled