Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day and What You Can Do About It (way to go with the pithy title) came to my attention recently, and strikes me as a good investment for consumers.  If you eliminate $15 in fees the book will pay for itself, and you might even find [...]

When you file your bankruptcy case, whether it is a Chapter 7, Chapter 13, or Chapter 11, you will have to put together a lot of financial information, and make it available to your attorney.  The more complicated your financial situation, the more information you will need to provide, but almost everyone finds that it [...]

I had a client come in to see me recently.  She had received a notice from a Chapter 7 Trustee that the Trustee was going to hire a real estate agent to market and sell the client’s house.
The client had not filed for bankruptcy, so how was this possible?
The answer became apparent after reviewing the notice from the [...]

If your car is repossessed before you file a chapter 13 bankruptcy case, you want it back.  You want a chance to make your payments.  In most of the country, if the car is repossessed before chapter 13 bankruptcy, the lender has to give it back so you can have your chance to keep your [...]

I’m not filing bankruptcy on my motorcycles.  Some debtors believe that if they file a bankruptcy case, they get to keep all their property.  That’s not true.  A debtor in chapter 7 gets to keep his or her exempt property.  However non-exempt property could be sold by the trustee to pay creditors’ claims.
A debtor I know just [...]

The greatest mistake most people make with their finances is to set goals and plan.  In a family situation, that problem is made worse by failing to set mutual goals.  If one spouse has a goal of buying a great bass boat and the other spouse is working towards a new house, the goals will [...]

Camping just may be your answer for a family vacation during a recession.  One of the stressors that I see in clients right now results from people not being able to go on a vacation.  For many vacation has always been a fantasy and not just during this recession.  Camping just maybe the answer for [...]

I am writing this post for the benefit of fellow lawyers and other colleagues who may be having the same problems I have accessing bankruptcy court records electronically.  If you use Firefox (Mozilla) or Opera as your browser, you will notice that your browser software periodically updates, and sometimes those updates create unintended consequences.  Similarly, [...]

GM Investors holding credit default swaps [CDS] may get a better return on their investment if GM files what would be history’s 4th largest bankruptcy.  A credit default swap is a derivative contract between two parties where one party pays the other party a fee and receives a payoff if the specified investment fails.  It [...]

One of the most important benefits of your bankruptcy case is the automatic stay.  In plain English, this is a great big stop sign to your creditors.  Once your bankruptcy is filed, they have to stop bothering you.  No more calls at home.  No more calls at work.  No more harassing mail. Not even a [...]