My friend and colleague, Brett Weiss, wrote a great post on converting a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. He pointed out a number of good reasons to do it, and a number of benefits. But what if you’re in a Chapter 7, and get behind in your home or car payments? Under [...]
August 2009
Your Chapter 13 case is in trouble. The stay has been lifted on your house, or the plan payments are behind and the trustee is threatening to dismiss your case, or you’ve finally decided that the house isn’t worth the headaches you’re going through, and you just want out. What do you do? One option [...]
When Congress passed the ‘new’ bankruptcy law in 2005, it included a provision that Debtors must prepare and file what is called the Means Test. It looks at all of your income from every source except Social Security benefits. If your income exceeds a certain amount (less allowed expenses) a presumption arises and you are not [...]
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott took legal action to recover $4.6 million that a bankrupt “debt settlement” company wrongfully withheld from its clients in Texas and other states. Additionally, the Texas Attorney General is seeking civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as attorney fees from [...]
The “means test” is complicated and, as is much of the new bankruptcy law, is interpreted in wildly different ways throughout the country. Don’t try to take the test on your own. The means test has been justifiably criticized since the new bankruptcy law (“BAPCPA”) went into effect in 2005. In fact, the means test may [...]
With the grim economic times today, often people who had previously filed bankruptcy are finding that they are facing difficult financial issues today. The question is often asked, can I file bankruptcy today when I had filed a few years ago? As is often the case, the answer depends on very particular circumstances. If you filed a chapter 7 [...]
