If you listen to the radio or watch late night TV, you will hear ad after ad for “debt settlement” companies.  They are selling services that will consolidate debt and avoid the necessity of bankruptcy.   I have previously written a blog post on this blog expressing my concern about the debt settlement industry.  In response [...]

My friend Jay Fleischman is on point that our clients filing bankruptcy are stressed.  Let me posit that the cause of the stress is not “filing bankruptcy” but 1) the situation that lead to the decision to file;  2) fear of the unknown, fueled by bad information and unsupported assumptions about the process; and 3) [...]

In a recent article I reported on two proposals before the Louisiana Legislature to increase the homestead exemption:  one bill would have increased the exemption to $100,000.00 while the second bill would have made the homestead exemption unlimited.
The bad news is that neither of these bills passed in its original form.
However, the Louisiana Legislature did [...]

If you have ever been in trouble with your bank, you have most likely been reported to Chex Systems. Perhaps you’ve had some NSF checks, or maybe you closed an account without settling a negative balance with the bank. No matter the reason, once you are reported to Chex Systems, managing your finances can be [...]

 In the previous articles in this series I discussed various options that are available to a debtor who is in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy but who can no longer make his Plan payments.
Those options are:

A Hardship Discharge.
Modification of your Chapter 13 Plan to allow Suspension of payments for a period of time or to Extend [...]

When a debtor files bankruptcy, part of the process requires that they list all assets (all the stuff that they own) and all liabilitlies for the bankruptcy court to review.   This rule has been in place for a long time, but under the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, the rule was emphasized.  [...]

It is hard, not impossible, to discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy. Only government guaranteed loans were protected from discharge before 2005, now student loans from private banks are protected.  To qualify for discharge, payment of a student loan must present an undue hardship to the debtor or a dependant of the debtor.  The exceptions [...]

The government announced today that it may be suspending the Cash for Clunkers program, which began officially July 1, 2009, but funds began flowing this wee (and which was discussed by my colleague, Dana Wilkinson, South Carolina bankruptcy attorney, earlier this week).   Congress appropriate $1 Billion in funds and according to cnn.com, that money may well be used up [...]

Below are some free resources where you can obtain information about credit:

Of course Credit Law Network where bankruptcy attorneys blog about all things related to credit.
Annual Credit Report website where you can obtain a 3 bureau credit report every 366 days.  The Free Annual Credit Report website may have cute commercials but the reports are [...]

In Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4  I discussed various things that can be attempted to save a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Plan if you are having difficulty making the Plan payments.
You have discussed these various options with your attorney and none of them are available to you.
When all else fails a voluntary dismissal of [...]