Today, after 23 years as Bankruptcy Court Judge in the Northern District of New York, Utica Division, Judge Stephen D. Gerling retires from the bench.
Judge Gerling graduated from Niagara University in 1964 and received his law degree from St. John’s University in 1967. He served as a military police officer in Vietnam from 1968 [...]

I met with a potential bankruptcy client today who sold her home 6 months ago.  After paying the mortgage and closing costs, she walked away with a check for $17,000.
If she used that money to pay her living expenses, perhaps purchase some furniture, fix her car, buy an older car, or pay her moving expenses, [...]

A Wisconsin bankruptcy court has held that same sex couples who both file chapter 7 are not required to add their incomes together for purposes of the bankruptcy “means test.”  In this case, In re Roll, 2008 WL 5605001 (Bky.W.D.Wis. Nov. 10, 2008), the court observed that the Wisconsin Constitution prohibited same sex couples from marrying, [...]

Your Chapter 13 Trustee may be very nice and friendly, but he or she is not your friend.  The trustee’s job is to collect your monthly payment and distribute it to your creditors.  The trustee also makes sure that your proposed plan fulfills all of the requirements of the bankruptcy code…that it is proposed in [...]

A New Mexico bankruptcy court recently imposed a fine of $2,000.00 upon a bankruptcy petition preparer (BPP), as a sanction for offering legal advice to the debtors in whose case she had prepared the bankruptcy documents.  The court held that the BPP’s conduct in offering legal advice violated bankruptcy code section 110.
This case, In re Rojero, 2008 WL [...]

With increasing frequency, credit card companies are tracking where customers shop and are penalizing them for purchases that may signal financial difficulties.  If you use your credit card at a red-flagged establishment such as the auto repair shop, the dollar store, or discount stores, the credit card company may reduce your credit line and/or increase your [...]

After years of mailing over a billion credit card applications a year, the credit card companies may be turning over a new leaf.
The offer from American Express:  get up to $300 if you pay off your balance and close your account.
The pendulum swings in the other direction.
The reason?  As with mortgage debt, credit card debt [...]

More than 1 million households would benefit from seeking protection from creditors under a proposed law that would let bankruptcy judges modify mortgage terms

“Consumer debts” incurred after you file a chapter 13 case that are “necessary for the debtor’s performance under the plan” can be included in your bankruptcy case.  With chapter 13 plans requring payments for up to five years, it is likely that, while your case is pending, you may incur additional debts.  What happens with these [...]

A new bill, H.R. 1106 to Prevent Mortgage Foreclosures and Enhance Mortgage Credit Availability, has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and is scheduled for a vote on the floor Thursday. The sections for mortgage modification in chapter 13 bankruptcy are in the first part of the bill.  H.R. 1106 incorporates H.R. 200 [...]