As has been often explained, Chapter 7 Debtors with primarily business debt, or otherwise not primarily consumer debt, are not subject to the “means test” adopted in the 2005 bankruptcy reform act. In fact, they are not subject to any of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code allowing Chapter 7 cases to be dismissed for “abuse.” [...]
Dan Press, Virginia and D.C. Bankruptcy Attorney
This year, it seems that more creditors than ever are sending IRS Form 1099-C to their debtors who have filed bankruptcy or settled debts with them. While in many cases it is unnecessary for the creditor to do this, it is nothing to fear. If a debt is discharged in bankruptcy, it is not treated [...]
Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made. John Godfrey Saxe, Daily Cleveland Herald (29 March 1869).[1] Previously, I have outlined the exemptions available to Virginia debtors in bankruptcy – property that a debtor gets to keep from the trustee. They are, to say the least, not [...]
Today the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals entered a very brief opinion upholding the bankruptcy court opinion that is great news for bankruptcy debtors, holding that junior liens — second mortgages, home equity loans, etc. — can be “stripped off” of a Debtor’s principal residence in a Chapter 13 case when they are wholly unsecured by [...]
Tenancy by the entireties, in many states, is one of the most valuable ways for debtors to retain, or exempt, property in bankruptcy. Because entireties property can only be alienated (a fancy word for transferred or sold) by both spouses acting together, only joint creditors of both spouses can attach it to satisfy their debts, [...]
Many people think that bankruptcy courts can’t conduct jury trials, and that all preference and fraudulent conveyance cases in bankruptcy cases (called “adversary proceedings”) have to be tried before the bankruptcy judge without a jury. But this is not true. If you have been sued by a trustee (or Chapter 11 debtor) to recover a [...]
